I Ching

The Hexagrams

Sixty four figures, each one six lines, each one a picture of a moment. Here they all are in order, so you can find the one you have cast and go to its page.

How they are numbered and paired

The order is the traditional sequence, the one every edition uses, and the Learning the I Ching page says who it is named for. It begins with Heaven doubled and Earth doubled and ends with After Completion and Before Completion, which tells you how the book thinks. Nothing finishes. It turns over and begins again.

The sixty four run in pairs, 1 with 2, 3 with 4, and so on. In most pairs the second hexagram is the first turned upside down, so that Hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning, flipped over becomes Hexagram 4, Youthful Folly. Eight figures look the same upside down, Hexagrams 1 and 2, 27 and 28, 29 and 30, and 61 and 62, and each of those is paired with its opposite, every line swapped. Each hexagram's page names its pair.

Every figure below is named as upper trigram over lower, so Thunder over Water means Thunder is the top three lines and Water the bottom three. The Eight Trigrams page gives you the eight pictures.

The sixty four in order

Hexagram 1, The Creative, Heaven over Heaven, pure yang, the force that begins things. Hexagram 2, The Receptive, Earth over Earth, pure yin, the ground that carries. Hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning, Water over Thunder, a push into deep water, the hard first stretch. Hexagram 4, Youthful Folly, Mountain over Water, the learner who has to ask. Hexagram 5, Waiting, Water over Heaven, clouds gathered and the rain not yet fallen. Hexagram 6, Conflict, Heaven over Water, a dispute to be handled with care. Hexagram 7, The Army, Earth over Water, discipline and a cause to organise. Hexagram 8, Holding Together, Water over Earth, people drawing together around a centre.

Hexagram 9, Small Taming, Wind over Heaven, small restraints and small gains. Hexagram 10, Treading, Heaven over Lake, conduct and knowing your step. Hexagram 11, Peace, Earth over Heaven, the two moving toward each other, the easy season. Hexagram 12, Standstill, Heaven over Earth, the two drawing apart, a time when nothing connects. Hexagram 13, Fellowship, Heaven over Fire, people meeting in common purpose. Hexagram 14, Great Possession, Fire over Heaven, plenty held with a light hand. Hexagram 15, Modesty, Earth over Mountain, greatness content to sit low. Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, Thunder over Earth, energy that carries a crowd.

Hexagram 17, Following, Lake over Thunder, going along with what is moving. Hexagram 18, Work on the Decayed, Mountain over Wind, wind stopped by the mountain, rot to be repaired. Hexagram 19, Approach, Earth over Lake, the great approaching the small. Hexagram 20, Contemplation, Wind over Earth, standing back to see the whole. Hexagram 21, Biting Through, Fire over Thunder, the obstacle broken through by firmness. Hexagram 22, Grace, Mountain over Fire, beauty in its place. Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart, Mountain over Earth, something coming apart. Hexagram 24, Return, Earth over Thunder, the turning point back toward light.

Hexagram 25, Innocence, Heaven over Thunder, thunder under the open sky, acting without calculation. Hexagram 26, Great Taming, Mountain over Heaven, strength stored and put to work. Hexagram 27, Nourishment, Mountain over Thunder, the open mouth, what you take in and what you say. Hexagram 28, Great Excess, Lake over Wind, a beam bent past its load. Hexagram 29, The Abysmal, Water over Water, the deep place passed through by keeping on. Hexagram 30, The Clinging, Fire over Fire, clarity that depends on what it holds. Hexagram 31, Influence, Lake over Mountain, the pull between people. Hexagram 32, Duration, Thunder over Wind, what lasts because it keeps moving.

Hexagram 33, Retreat, Heaven over Mountain, stepping back in good time. Hexagram 34, Great Power, Thunder over Heaven, power that must mind its manners. Hexagram 35, Progress, Fire over Earth, the sun rising, advance that is welcomed. Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light, Earth over Fire, the sun gone under, keeping your light inside. Hexagram 37, The Family, Wind over Fire, the household and its order. Hexagram 38, Opposition, Fire over Lake, two that see differently. Hexagram 39, Obstruction, Water over Mountain, the way blocked and a turn inward. Hexagram 40, Deliverance, Thunder over Water, the storm that breaks over the river, release and the knot undone.

Hexagram 41, Decrease, Mountain over Lake, giving something up to restore the balance. Hexagram 42, Increase, Wind over Thunder, a favourable time to use well. Hexagram 43, Breakthrough, Lake over Heaven, resolve and a clean announcement. Hexagram 44, Coming to Meet, Heaven over Wind, the small thing arriving that should be noticed. Hexagram 45, Gathering Together, Lake over Earth, people gathering around a purpose. Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward, Earth over Wind, steady rising by effort. Hexagram 47, Oppression, Lake over Water, exhaustion and what remains. Hexagram 48, The Well, Water over Wind, the rope going down into the water, the source that is always there.

Hexagram 49, Revolution, Lake over Fire, the old order changing because it must. Hexagram 50, The Cauldron, Fire over Wind, the vessel that transforms what is put in it. Hexagram 51, The Arousing, Thunder over Thunder, the shock that wakes everything up. Hexagram 52, Keeping Still, Mountain over Mountain, stillness and the quiet mind. Hexagram 53, Development, Wind over Mountain, a tree growing on the mountain, slow and sure progress. Hexagram 54, The Marrying Maiden, Thunder over Lake, entering a situation on someone else's terms. Hexagram 55, Abundance, Thunder over Fire, the full moment and its passing. Hexagram 56, The Wanderer, Fire over Mountain, fire on the mountain, the traveller who cannot stay.

Hexagram 57, The Gentle, Wind over Wind, the gentle persistence that wears the stone. Hexagram 58, The Joyous, Lake over Lake, the pleasure of open exchange. Hexagram 59, Dispersion, Wind over Water, what was frozen breaking up and spreading. Hexagram 60, Limitation, Water over Lake, water held in the lake, limits that give shape. Hexagram 61, Inner Truth, Wind over Lake, the open centre that others trust. Hexagram 62, Small Excess, Thunder over Mountain, the small step when the big one is out of reach. Hexagram 63, After Completion, Water over Fire, everything in place and already beginning to shift. Hexagram 64, Before Completion, Fire over Water, nothing yet in place and the crossing still ahead.

How to use the pages

From a cast, first. You have thrown your six lines and How to Cast a Hexagram has shown you how to find the second figure. Find both hexagrams here by number and read the two pages together. The first is the shape of now and the second is where it is heading.

As a birth hexagram, second. Each page has a section called As a birth hexagram that describes the person who carries that figure. Read Your Birth Hexagram first, because it explains what I think a birth hexagram is worth and how I weigh one.

By browsing, third. Pick a hexagram whose name catches you. Read it, read its pair, then look at the two trigrams and work out for yourself why the picture earned the name. After a dozen pages read this way you will be able to look at a stack of six lines and know roughly what it says before you have counted anything.

The pages describe the shape of a moment and how to stand in it. None of them tells you what will happen. If you read Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart, and feel a chill, read it again. What it describes is how to stand well while something comes apart, and that is useful knowledge on a day when something is.

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