The Eight Trigrams

A trigram is a figure of three lines, each line solid or broken, read from the bottom up. Three lines of two kinds give eight figures, and the tradition gave each one a name from the natural world, a place in a family of eight, and a quality. I give the lines here as three digits from the bottom, 1 for a solid yang line and 0 for a broken yin line, the same way the hexagram pages and the How to Cast a Hexagram page write them.

Heaven

Lines 111, three solid lines. Heaven is the father, creative and strong. It is pure yang, all push and no yield, the clear sky and the force that sets everything else in motion. In a hexagram Heaven brings drive, authority and the will to begin. Its picture is the open sky at noon with nothing in it.

Earth

Lines 000, three broken lines. Earth is the mother, receptive and yielding. It is pure yin, and it carries whatever is placed on it without complaint, the way a paddock carries a crop. In a hexagram Earth brings patience, support and the willingness to let something grow in its own time. Its picture is flat ground stretching away under a wide sky.

Thunder

Lines 100, one solid line under two broken ones. Thunder is the eldest son, arousing, and its quality is movement. A single strong line at the bottom pushing up through everything above it, which is exactly what a clap of thunder feels like. In a hexagram Thunder brings shock, a start, a sudden release of energy that gets things moving. Its picture is the first crack of a storm over a dry summer.

Water

Lines 010, one solid line between two broken ones. Water is the middle son, the abyss, and its qualities are depth and danger. The firm line is hidden in the middle, the way a current runs under a flat surface. In a hexagram Water brings difficulty, depth of feeling and the need to keep going through something you cannot see the bottom of. Its picture is a dark river in flood.

Mountain

Lines 001, two broken lines under one solid line. Mountain is the youngest son, and its quality is keeping still. The strong line sits at the top and rests on everything beneath it. In a hexagram Mountain brings stillness, a stop, a pause for reflection, and sometimes an obstacle that has to be gone around. Its picture is a peak that has not moved in ten thousand years.

Wind

Lines 011, one broken line under two solid ones. Wind is the eldest daughter, gentle and penetrating. The soft line is at the bottom, so Wind gets in underneath things and works its way through. The tradition also calls this trigram Wood, for the same reason: a root finds its way into the smallest crack. In a hexagram Wind brings gradual influence, persistence, and the kind of change that is only noticed after it has happened. Its picture is long grass bending on a hillside.

Fire

Lines 101, one broken line between two solid ones. Fire is the middle daughter, clinging, and its qualities are light and clarity. The soft line in the middle is the fuel the flame holds on to, because fire cannot exist on its own. In a hexagram Fire brings clarity, warmth, awareness and attachment. Its picture is a campfire at night with faces lit around it, though I would rather you pictured the fire.

Lake

Lines 110, two solid lines under one broken line. Lake is the youngest daughter, joyous and open. The open line is on top, the surface of the water lying open to the sky. In a hexagram Lake brings pleasure, ease, talk and the openness that lets people meet. Its picture is still water at evening with the light going gold on it.

Two trigrams make a hexagram

Put any trigram on top of any other and you have one of the sixty four hexagrams. The lower trigram is the first three lines of the cast and the upper is the last three, and a hexagram is always named as upper over lower. Hexagram 3 is Water over Thunder. Hexagram 40 is Thunder over Water. Same two trigrams, different figures, and different hexagrams.

Reading the pair is the heart of the method. The lower trigram is the inner situation, the ground the matter stands on, the beginning of it. The upper trigram is the outer situation, what is visible, where the matter is heading. Water over Thunder is movement underneath and danger above it, a push that has run into deep water, which is why Hexagram 3 is called Difficulty at the Beginning. Thunder over Water is danger underneath and movement above, the storm that breaks the tension and lets the river run, which is why Hexagram 40 is Deliverance.

Try it yourself before you look anything up. Take Fire over Mountain, Hexagram 56. Light on top of stillness, a fire on a hillside that burns bright and has to keep moving to find fuel. The book calls it The Wanderer. Take Earth over Heaven, Hexagram 11. The yielding on top and the strong underneath, each moving toward the other, and the book calls it Peace. You will not always land on the name. You will nearly always land on the sense.

The eight doubled

Eight of the sixty four hexagrams are a trigram sitting on itself, and they are the purest expression of each one. Heaven over Heaven is Hexagram 1, The Creative. Earth over Earth is Hexagram 2, The Receptive. Thunder over Thunder is Hexagram 51, The Arousing. Water over Water is Hexagram 29, The Abysmal. Mountain over Mountain is Hexagram 52, Keeping Still. Wind over Wind is Hexagram 57, The Gentle. Fire over Fire is Hexagram 30, The Clinging. Lake over Lake is Hexagram 58, The Joyous. Reading those eight pages is a good way to fix the trigrams in your mind.

Beside the elements

If you know Western astrology you will want to line these up with the four elements, and they will not quite line up. The Elements and Modes page covers fire, earth, air and water as four temperaments, and the eight trigrams are eight pictures of movement and stillness, so the match is rough at best and I would not lean on it.

The same goes for the five elements of Chinese astrology, wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The Five Elements page covers them properly. They are a different system from the eight trigrams, built for a different job, and although they overlap in places, with Wood and Wind sharing a name and Fire and Water appearing in both, the overlap is only partial. Hold them separately.

Where to go next

Cast one. How to Cast a Hexagram gives you the method and one worked example. When your six lines are on the page, read the two trigrams before you read anything else, and say the picture to yourself in plain words. That one habit will teach you the book.

If you would like your own chart read, my readings are here.

Related pages
Yin and Yang