I Ching Hexagrams: Lines, Trigrams and All 64

What the I Ching is

The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest books of divination from China. At its core are 64 hexagrams. Each one describes a kind of situation: a difficult start, two sides that no longer talk, something just finished, something one step short. When people in ancient China faced a choice they could not call, they cast a hexagram, saw which situation they were in, and read the short text attached to it to think through the next step.

That is still the most useful way to read it today. Treat it as a mirror, not a verdict. The hexagram tells you what your situation looks like right now. What you do about it is still your call.

Six lines make a hexagram

Every hexagram is six horizontal lines stacked from the bottom up. Each line is called a yao.

Yang line: a solid line. It stands for pushing outward, taking the lead, firmness.
Yin line: a line broken in the middle. It stands for receiving, yielding, drawing inward.

Lines are always counted from the bottom up. The lowest is the first line, then the second, third, fourth and fifth, and the top is the sixth. Lower lines are like the beginning of a matter; upper lines are like its far end. That is why, within one hexagram, the first line often says "not yet" and the top line often says "you have gone too far".

Upper and lower trigrams: eight basic pictures

Six lines split into two halves of three. The bottom three are the lower trigram, the top three the upper trigram. There are only eight possible three-line combinations, the famous eight trigrams, and each carries a natural image:

Qian: heaven, strong and always in motion
Kun: earth, carrying and receiving
Zhen: thunder, a sudden start
Xun: wind, slow and steady penetration
Kan: water, danger and falling in, but also water that keeps flowing
Li: fire, light, clinging, seeing clearly
Gen: mountain, stopping and holding still
Dui: lake, joy and open exchange

Put one image above another and you get the scene of a hexagram. Water above thunder, for example, is Hexagram 3: thunder trapped inside heavy clouds, like a project that has only just started and meets resistance everywhere.

Primary hexagram, changing lines, relating hexagram

When you cast, each line is not only yin or yang but also still or moving.

Primary hexagram: the one you cast. It describes where you stand now.
Changing lines: lines that come up as "old yang" or "old yin", meaning they are in the middle of turning into their opposite. These are the lines to read most closely.
Relating hexagram: flip every changing line and you get a second hexagram, which hints at where things may be heading.

With no changing lines, read only the judgment of the primary hexagram. With one, focus on that line's text. With many, compare the two hexagrams as whole pictures instead of reading every line word by word. For the actual method, see how to cast a hexagram yourself.

How to read the judgment and the line texts

Each hexagram has one overall statement, the judgment, and one short statement for each line, the line texts. The originals are brief and very old. Three steps help:

Start with the picture. What are the upper and lower trigrams, and what scene do they make together?
Then read the judgment. It gives the overall lean. A phrase like li zhen, for instance, means it pays to stay upright and keep going.
Finally, map it onto your question. Ask: in my situation, who or what does this picture stand for, and which step am I on?

An example. You ask, "Should I have it out with my business partner this month?" and cast Hexagram 12, Standstill. Heaven sits above, earth below, each moving away from the other with no exchange. The lean: raise it now and your partner probably will not hear it. Do the part you can do well on your own first, and have the conversation once the door opens again.

If you want a more direct lean, see yes or no with the I Ching.

All 64 hexagrams in order

Here are all 64 hexagrams in the received order, with the English names made familiar by Richard Wilhelm's translation. The first 30 form the Upper Canon, the last 34 the Lower Canon. Linked hexagrams have their own plain-language page.

Upper Canon (1 to 30)

1 The Creative, 2 The Receptive, 3 Difficulty at the Beginning, 4 Youthful Folly, 5 Waiting, 6 Conflict, 7 The Army, 8 Holding Together
9 The Taming Power of the Small, 10 Treading, 11 Peace, 12 Standstill, 13 Fellowship with Men, 14 Possession in Great Measure, 15 Modesty, 16 Enthusiasm
17 Following, 18 Work on What Has Been Spoiled, 19 Approach, 20 Contemplation, 21 Biting Through, 22 Grace, 23 Splitting Apart, 24 Return
25 Innocence, 26 The Taming Power of the Great, 27 The Corners of the Mouth, 28 Preponderance of the Great, 29 The Abysmal, 30 The Clinging

Lower Canon (31 to 64)

31 Influence, 32 Duration, 33 Retreat, 34 The Power of the Great, 35 Progress, 36 Darkening of the Light, 37 The Family, 38 Opposition
39 Obstruction, 40 Deliverance, 41 Decrease, 42 Increase, 43 Breakthrough, 44 Coming to Meet, 45 Gathering Together, 46 Pushing Upward
47 Oppression, 48 The Well, 49 Revolution, 50 The Caldron, 51 The Arousing, 52 Keeping Still, 53 Development, 54 The Marrying Maiden
55 Abundance, 56 The Wanderer, 57 The Gentle, 58 The Joyous, 59 Dispersion, 60 Limitation, 61 Inner Truth, 62 Preponderance of the Small
63 After Completion, 64 Before Completion

What you can do in LifeOs

The LifeOs question desk currently offers tarot; I Ching casting is not open yet. If you have one specific question, you can ask it with a single tarot card. Your question is locked when you ask, and later you can come back and note what actually happened. For the I Ching, use this page and the hexagram pages to read your own cast.

Separately, He Luo Li Shu, an I Ching-based method that uses your birth moment as input, goes into your Life Manual alongside seven other traditions. That describes who you are over the long run, which is a different thing from casting a hexagram about one question.

Frequently asked questions

Is the I Ching the same as fortune telling?

No. It gives you a picture of your situation and a lean, not "this will happen on this date". The same hexagram reads differently for different questions, and what you do next is up to you.

Is it bad news if the text says "misfortune"?

Not necessarily. In the old texts, "misfortune" usually means "if you carry on like this, it will cost you". It is a nudge to change course, not a final sentence. Likewise, "good fortune" usually comes with a condition, such as staying honest or waiting for the right moment.

Can I cast again on the same question?

Once per situation is enough. If you keep casting until you get the hexagram you want, you already knew your answer. It is more useful to write down the hexagram and your read, then check back after some time.

Do I need to memorize all 64 hexagrams?

No. Learn the eight trigram images first. Any hexagram can then be read as two pictures, one above the other, and you can look up the texts when a specific hexagram comes up.