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Hexagram 25 of 64

I Ching hexagram 25 ☰☳ Innocence

I Ching hexagram 25, Innocence, is heaven above, thunder below. In brief: acting without calculation. Counting from the bottom, its solid lines sit in places 1, 4, 5 and 6 and its broken lines in 2 and 3.

Lines, bottom up
⚊⚋⚋⚊⚊⚊ 100111 · 1 = solid
Trigrams
Heaven over Thunder Qian ☰ / Zhen ☳
Every line changed
№ 46 Pushing Upward
In Legge, 1882
p. 109 Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16

Legge, The Yî King, 1882.

Paired with it line by line — changed, turned over or read from the inner lines: 46, Pushing Upward, 26, Great Taming and 53, Development.

Also with Heaven above: 1, The Creative, 6, Conflict and 10, Treading.

Also with Thunder below: 3, Difficulty at the Beginning, 17, Following and 21, Biting Through.

To draw a hexagram of your own, cast the I Ching with three coins.

I Ching Hexagram 25: Innocence

Upper trigram

☰

Heaven (Qian) above

Creative force.

FamilyFather
ElementMetal

Lower trigram

☳

Thunder (Zhen) below

Arousal and shock.

FamilyEldest son
ElementWood

What the text says, in plain terms

The Judgement and the Image of hexagram 25

The Judgement

Innocence: acting naturally and sincerely, without scheming. Honest action brings success; calculated or improper motives bring trouble.

The Image

Thunder rolling under heaven, stirring life into growth. The lesson is to nourish things in step with the season, as nature does.

A summary of meaning written for this site, not a translation — James Legge’s 1882 translation of the full text follows below. How the Judgement and the Image are read, and which translations to use →

Primary source

Hexagram 25 in James Legge’s translation

The Judgement
“Wû Wang indicates great progress and success, while there will be advantage in being firm and correct. If (its subject and his action) be not correct, he will fall into errors, and it will not be advantageous for him to move in any direction.”
The Image
“The thunder rolls all under the sky, and to (every)thing there is given (its nature), free from all insincerity. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, (made their regulations) in complete accordance with the seasons, thereby nourishing all things.”

The lines

  1. Line 1 · bottom The first line, undivided, shows its subject free from all insincerity. His advance will be accompanied with good fortune.
  2. Line 2 The second line, divided, shows one who reaps without having ploughed (that he might reap), and gathers the produce of his third year’s fields without having cultivated them the first year for that end. To such a one there will be advantage in whatever direction he may move.
  3. Line 3 The third line, divided, shows calamity happening to one who is free from insincerity;—as in the case of an ox that has been tied up. A passer by finds it (and carries it off), while the people in the neighbourhood have the calamity (of being accused and apprehended).
  4. Line 4 The fourth line, undivided, shows (a case) in which, if its subject can remain firm and correct, there will be no error.
  5. Line 5 The fifth line, undivided, shows one who is free from insincerity, and yet has fallen ill. Let him not use medicine, and he will have occasion for joy (in his recovery).
  6. Line 6 · top The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject free from insincerity, yet sure to fall into error, if he take action. (His action) will not be advantageous in any way.
James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 109 — read the original text. Words in parentheses are Legge’s own: in his preface he explains that they supply what the original writer left unsaid. “Undivided” and “divided” are his terms for yang and yin lines, counted from the bottom. The Image comes from the second appendix of the book, the Treatise on the Symbolism.

Innocence for a decision

Act from genuine motives and do not overplan for advantage. If something is unexpected, respond honestly rather than manipulating the outcome.

I Ching 25 in love and relationships

Spontaneity and sincerity. Hidden agendas spoil what is otherwise simple and good.

Hexagram 25 at work

Straightforward effort without shortcuts. Unexpected events can happen; integrity is what protects you from them.

The six lines of hexagram 25

Read from the bottom up. This figure runs yang yin yin yang yang yang — what each position means.

Hexagram 25: Heaven over Thunder
Hexagram 25, Innocence, line by line from the bottomlineplace · answer1Line 1 · yang, solidin its placeno answer from 42Line 2 · yin, brokenin its placeanswered by 53Line 3 · yin, brokenout of placeanswered by 64Line 4 · yang, solidout of placeno answer from 15Line 5 · yang, solidin its placeanswered by 26Line 6 · yang, solidout of placeanswered by 3LowerZhenThunderUpperQianHeavenKing Wen sequence · read bottom to topastrohot.com

4 yang and 2 yin lines. Three of the six stand in their proper place, and the pairs 2–5 and 3–6 answer.

What the two trigrams do to each other

Inner and outer

Thunder below — arousal and shock — is the private, inner side of hexagram 25.

Heaven above — creative force — is the world that side meets.

The five-element relation

Metal above controls Wood below. Circumstance restrains the inner position — pressure comes from the situation, not from within.

Read as a family

The father sits above and the eldest son below. A parent over a child, which the tradition reads as guidance, authority or constraint depending on the rest of the figure.

Calculated from the lines

Hexagrams connected to hexagram 25

Hexagram 53, Development

Nuclear hexagram

53 · Development

What is happening beneath the surface.

Lines 2–4 give Gen (Mountain) as the lower trigram, lines 3–5 give Xun (Wind) as the upper.

Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward

Opposite hexagram

46 · Pushing Upward

The situation turned inside out.

Change all six lines and Heaven over Thunder becomes Earth over Wind.

Hexagram 26, Great Taming

Inverse hexagram

26 · Great Taming

The situation seen from the other side.

Turn the figure upside down and Heaven over Thunder becomes Mountain over Heaven.

None of these are assigned by an author — each follows from the arrangement of lines.

The image

Heaven above, Thunder below.

Heaven over Thunder: creative force meeting arousal and shock.

← 24 · All 64 · 26 →

21 Biting Through 22 Grace 23 Splitting Apart 24 Return 26 Great Taming 27 Nourishment 28 Great Exceeding

Sources

  1. James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 109

Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.

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