The 64 hexagrams
Zhouyi hexagrams in the received order: shared texts, distinct divination methods.
24 articles
Qian (乾): six yang lines, read from the hidden dragon to the overreaching one
Qian is the first of the 64 hexagrams: six yang lines, with Qian (heaven) as both trigrams. Read its text in layers: the judgment, the Image, and six line statements that move a dragon from the depths to the heights.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-002Kun (坤): six yin lines, read from stepping on frost to dragons fighting in the wilds
Kun is the second of the 64 hexagrams: six broken yin lines, with Kun (earth) as both trigrams. Read the mare and compass points of the judgment, the Great Image on carrying, and six lines from frost to blood.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-003Zhun: one sentence, "riding a horse, circling", with three different endings
Zhun is the third of the 64 hexagrams, thunder below and water above. Read its judgment, the Great Image of clouds and thunder, and one sentence that opens three lines and ends three different ways.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-004Meng: from "it is not I who seek the young" to opening, embracing and striking
Meng is the fourth of the 64 hexagrams, water below and mountain above. The judgment sets a rule for asking, the Great Image speaks of resolute action, and five lines treat the word meng in five ways.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-005Xu: from "waiting in the outskirts" to "entering the cave", six places of waiting
Xu is the fifth of the 64 hexagrams, heaven below and water above; its name means waiting. Read the judgment, the Great Image of eating and drinking, and six lines that name six places to wait.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-006Song: the judgment sees the end, the Great Image the start, six lines the ways it ends
Song is the sixth of the 64 hexagrams, water below and heaven above, the same trigrams as Xu in swapped places. The judgment says "ominous at the end", the Great Image "plan the start", and two lines are unable to win.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-007Shi: one yang line leading five yin lines, and who leads the army in each line
Shi is the seventh of the 64 hexagrams, water below and earth above, with a single yang line among five yin lines that stand for the multitude. Read the judgment, the Great Image, and six lines of army posts.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-008Bi (比): five yin lines, one yang, and the question of whom to join
Bi has Kun (earth) below and Kan (water) above, and only one yang line, in the fifth place. Read its text in layers: the Judgment, the Great Image "water on the earth", and six line statements about six ways of joining.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-009Xiaoxu (小畜): from "dense clouds, no rain" to "it has rained"
Xiaoxu has Qian (heaven) below and Xun (wind) above, with one yin line among five yang. Read the Judgment "dense clouds, no rain", the Great Image "wind over heaven", and the words return, sincerity and rain.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-010Lü (履): one tiger's tail, three different endings
Lü has Dui (marsh) below and Qian (heaven) above, with one yin line among five yang. Read the Judgment "tread on the tiger's tail", the Great Image "distinguish above and below", and the six ways of walking in its lines.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-011Tai (泰): heaven below, earth above, and the words "no going without a return"
Tai has Qian (heaven) below and Kun (earth) above: three yang under three yin. Read the Judgment, its inner-outer pairs, line 3 and "no going without a return", and the falling wall of the top line.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-012Pi (否): from "wrapping up" to "overturning", how a blockage runs its course
Pi has Kun (earth) below and Qian (heaven) above: three yin lines under three yang. Read the Judgment, the Great Image "restrain virtue and avoid hardship", and the words wrap, rest and overturn that carry the lines.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-013Tongren (同人): gate, clan, wild and outskirts, how wide is the circle of the same?
Tongren has Li (fire) below and Qian (heaven) above, with one yin line in the second place. Read the Judgment "gathering in the wild", the Great Image "sort the clans", and the places named in the six lines.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-014Dayou: one yin line in the fifth place, held up by five yang lines
Dayou is the 14th hexagram: fire above heaven, with one yin line in the fifth place. The Commentary explains its name by position, not quantity; the lines run from "no contact with harm" to "blessed by heaven".
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-015Qian (謙): a mountain within the earth, and what the Commentary says four times
Qian (謙) is the 15th hexagram: a mountain within the earth, one yang line in the third place. The Commentary states one pattern four times, the Great Image ends on taking from many, and "ringing modesty" appears twice.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-016Yu: thunder out of the earth, and "moving in accord" from hexagram to sage
Yu is the 16th hexagram: thunder out of the earth, one yang line in the fourth place. The Commentary applies "moving in accord" at three levels, the Great Image answers with music, and Yu appears in four lines, not two.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-017Sui: thunder within the lake, from "tied to the youngster" to "held and bound"
Sui is the 17th hexagram: thunder below a lake, three yang lines and three yin. Lines two and three mirror each other, the verbs grow heavier up to "held and bound", and the Great Image says only: at dusk, go in to rest.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-018Gu: wind beneath the mountain, and how to count "three days before and after"
Gu is the 18th hexagram, wind beneath a mountain. "Three days before and after" can be counted on the ten stems, and the six statements run from taking charge of the father's affair to not serving kings.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-019Lin: land above the lake, six modifiers for one word and a warning about the eighth month
Lin is the 19th hexagram: land above a lake, two yang lines rising from the bottom. The Commentary says "the firm gradually advances" and mentions the eighth month; six statements keep Lin and change the word before it.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-020Guan: wind over the earth, from "washed but not yet offered" to "observing my own life"
Guan is the 20th hexagram: wind over the earth, two yang lines on top of four yin. The judgment stops between the washing and the offering of a rite, and six statements change who looks at what.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-021Shihe: something in the mouth, from "shackle over the toes" to "cangue over the ears"
Shihe is the 21st hexagram: Li above Zhen, the mouth hexagram Yi with one more yang line. The judgment is four characters; in the lines the two ends wear shackles and the middle four bite skin, cured meat and dried meat.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-022Bi (賁): fire beneath the mountain, from "adorning the toes" to "plain white adornment"
Bi (賁) is the 22nd hexagram, Tai with two lines exchanged. The Commentary on the Judgments separates the pattern of heaven from that of humankind; the statements run from toes to plain white, the only color named.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-023Bo: a mountain on the earth, from "stripping the bed legs" to "a great fruit uneaten"
Bo (剝) is the 23rd hexagram: a mountain clinging to the earth, five yin lines under one yang. The bed is stripped at legs, joint and skin; line five turns to "a string of fish", and a great fruit is left uneaten.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?
HEX-024Fu: thunder within the earth, from "a return not far" to "a lost return"
Fu (復) is the 24th hexagram: thunder within the earth, one yang line back at the bottom. Seven days, the solstice and ten years are counted, and six statements run from a near return to a lost one.
Read first: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: How Upper and Lower Trigrams Form One Figure · Judgment and Line Statements: Whole Hexagram or Single Line?