I Ching Articles
I Ching hexagrams, readings, and Book of Changes wisdom
65 articles
Try the I Ching tool →I Ching Hexagram 1 - The Creative: Meaning & Interpretation
Cast six unbroken lines and you have Hexagram 1, Qian, The Creative. This page reads that cast: the Four Virtues of the King Wen judgment, the six dragon lines, the rare all-nines text, and the hexagram each changing line turns Qian into.
I Ching Hexagram 2 - The Receptive: Meaning & Interpretation
Hexagram 2 (Kun, The Receptive) is the only hexagram built from six broken lines, and this guide covers what to do when you draw it: the mare judgment, all six Duke of Zhou line texts, the hexagram each moving line turns into, the Confucian Wenyan commentary on Kun, and the all-sixes reading.
I Ching Hexagram 11 - Peace: Meaning & Interpretation
Hexagram 11 (Tai, Peace) is the I Ching's hexagram of open exchange: Earth above, Heaven below, the first-month hexagram of the Chinese calendar whose three rising yang lines gave Chinese the New Year phrase san yang kai tai. This guide covers the Tai judgment, all six Duke of Zhou line texts, the ruling lines, the nuclear hexagram, and what Tai advises in relationship, career, and timing questions.
I Ching Beginner's Guide: How to Consult the Book of Changes
The complete beginner's guide to the I Ching (Yijing), covering its 3,000-year history, the three-coin method, yarrow stalk divination, how to formulate questions, and interpretation principles. Includes guidance from Wilhelm/Baynes, Alfred Huang, and Hilary Barrett.
I Ching Hexagram 3 — Difficulty at the Beginning (Zhun): Growth Through Struggle
Hexagram 3 (Zhun) is the hexagram you get when a beginning has already started and is going badly. This guide reads Zhun line by line: the Water over Thunder trigrams, King Wen's judgment and its instruction to appoint helpers, the six Duke of Zhou line texts, the hexagram each changing line produces, the nuclear hexagram 23, and what Zhun asks of a new venture or relationship.
I Ching Hexagram 15 — Modesty (Qian): The Power of Humility
Hexagram 15 (Qian) depicts Earth above Mountain, great strength hidden beneath a humble exterior. The only hexagram where all six lines are favorable, it reveals that genuine modesty is the most strategically powerful position. Includes Wilhelm/Baynes, Alfred Huang, and Hilary Barrett analysis.
I Ching Hexagram 29 — The Abysmal Water (Kan): Navigating Danger
Hexagram 29 (Kan) is the doubled Water trigram, abyss upon abyss, representing repeated danger that can only be navigated through sincerity, consistency, and inner truth. Explore trigram analysis, King Wen judgment, changing lines, and Confucian commentary with Wilhelm/Baynes, Alfred Huang, and Hilary Barrett.
I Ching Hexagram 63 — After Completion (Ji Ji): Success Is Not the End
Hexagram 63, Ji Ji (After Completion), is the I Ching's hexagram for the moment after you have already arrived: the deal closed, the project delivered, the river crossed. This guide covers what Ji Ji asks you to do with a finished thing: its all-correct line structure, the six changing-line destinations, the King Wen judgment, and the commentary on holding together what is already built.
I Ching Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 4, Youthful Folly, is Meng, the hexagram of the unformed mind and the teaching that forms it, built from Mountain above Water. Its Judgement contains the oracle's own rule about not asking the same question three times, and its six changing lines trace a full arc from first discipline to the correction of another person's fault.
I Ching Hexagram 5: Waiting - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 5, Waiting (Xu), is water above heaven: clouds that have already gathered but have not yet released their rain. It answers a question with "not yet, and not never," telling you to stay fed and cheerful while the situation ripens. This guide covers the trigrams of Hexagram 5, its Judgement and Image, all six changing lines with the hexagram each produces, and how Hexagram 5 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 6: Conflict - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 6, Conflict (Song), places heaven above water and warns that a dispute you are sincere about still cannot be won by pressing it to the end. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines with the hexagrams they produce, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how Hexagram 6 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 7: The Army - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 7, The Army (Shi), means organized force held together by one experienced commander: five yin lines with a single yang line in the second place, water hidden inside the earth. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams of Hexagram 7, and how The Army reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 8: Holding Together - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 8, Holding Together (Bi), means voluntary union around a center worth belonging to, pictured as water lying on earth and ruled by the single yang line in the fifth place. This guide covers the Judgement and the Image of Hexagram 8, all six changing lines and the hexagrams they produce, its nuclear hexagram 23 and opposite hexagram 14, and how Hexagram 8 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 9: Small Taming - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 9, Small Taming (Xiao Chu), is wind above heaven: five strong yang lines held back by a single yin line in the fourth place. Its Judgement promises success but warns of dense clouds that bring no rain, so the counsel is to accept a short delay and refine small things meanwhile. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, and the related hexagrams 38, 16 and 10.
I Ching Hexagram 10: Treading - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 10, Treading (Lu), sets Heaven above the Lake and describes conduct in the presence of a power far stronger than your own - the famous image of stepping on a tiger's tail without being bitten. Hexagram 10 counsels exact footing, courtesy with a spine, and cheerfulness that never becomes flattery. Its six changing lines run from plain shoes at the bottom to reviewing the whole path at the top.
I Ching Hexagram 12: Standstill - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 12, Standstill, is the sign of blocked exchange: Heaven rises, Earth sinks, and the two never meet, so effort stops producing results. Its Judgement says the great departs while the small approaches, and its six changing lines trace the arc from the first sign of blockage to the moment Standstill exhausts itself.
I Ching Hexagram 13: Fellowship - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 13, Tong Ren or Fellowship, is Fire below Heaven: people bound by a shared aim rather than by blood. Its Judgement grants success and permits crossing the great water when the association is conducted in the open, and its single yin line at the second place warns against letting a fellowship become a clique.
I Ching Hexagram 14: Great Possession - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 14, Great Possession (Da You), is fire above heaven: five strong lines governed by a single yielding line in the fifth place, and a Judgement of supreme success with no warning attached. This guide covers its trigrams, Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, and how Hexagram 14 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm (Yu), places Thunder above Earth: sound breaking out of the ground in spring, energy that gathers a crowd because it moves in step with what people already want. A single yang line in the fourth place governs the whole figure, and the Judgement advises installing helpers and setting armies marching. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite figures, and how Hexagram 16 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 17: Following - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching hexagram 17, Sui or Following, is Lake above Thunder, and its Judgement reads: Following has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame. Hexagram 17 describes the time when the right move is to attach yourself to something already in motion rather than start something of your own, and its six changing lines each test what you are attaching to.
I Ching Hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 18, Work on the Decayed, is Mountain over Wind and means an inherited situation has spoiled through neglect and is now yours to repair. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear Hexagram 54 and opposite Hexagram 17, and how Hexagram 18 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 19: Approach - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 19, Approach (Lin), shows two strong yang lines rising beneath four yielding ones: an influence that is growing, welcomed, and working against a deadline. Its Judgement promises supreme success and then warns about the eighth month, and each of its six changing lines names a different quality of approach.
I Ching Hexagram 20: Contemplation - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 20, Contemplation, is the sign of the wide view: Wind crosses the whole Earth, touching every field and settling on none, so the situation asks to be surveyed rather than handled. Its Chinese name Guan means both to look and to be looked at, and its six changing lines run from the child's surface glance to the sage who views his own life from outside it.
I Ching Hexagram 21: Biting Through - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 21, Shi He or Biting Through, is Fire above Thunder: an open mouth with something stuck between the teeth that must be chewed through before the jaws can close. Its Judgement grants success and approves the administering of justice, and its six changing lines grade the obstruction by the toughness of the meat.
I Ching Hexagram 22: Grace - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 22, Grace (Bi), is the hexagram of form and presentation, built from Mountain above Fire. Its Judgement grants success but confines it to small matters. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, and the nuclear and opposite hexagrams.
I Ching Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart (Bo), is Mountain over Earth: five yin lines rising beneath one solitary yang line at the top. Its Judgement says it does not further one to go anywhere, so Hexagram 23 counsels stillness, subtraction, and strengthening the base while the decay finishes.
I Ching Hexagram 24: Return - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 24, Fu or Return, is five yin lines with a single yang line reborn at the bottom, the winter solstice hexagram of the turning point. This guide covers the Thunder-under-Earth trigram pair, the Judgement and the Image, all six changing lines and the hexagram each one becomes, and how Return reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 25: Innocence - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 25, Innocence (Wu Wang), places Thunder beneath Heaven and describes action coming straight from your nature with no second agenda inside it. This guide covers the Judgement and Image of Hexagram 25, all six changing lines with the hexagram each produces, the nuclear and opposite figures, and how Hexagram 25 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 26: Great Taming - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching hexagram 26, Great Taming (Da Xu), places the mountain above heaven and means a very large force is being held back on purpose so it accumulates instead of leaking away. This guide covers the two trigrams of hexagram 26, its Judgement and Image, all six changing lines with the hexagram each produces, its nuclear and opposite figures, and how hexagram 26 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 27: Nourishment - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching hexagram 27, called Yi or Nourishment, shows Mountain above Thunder and draws the shape of an open mouth. Hexagram 27 asks what you are taking in and who you are feeding. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how hexagram 27 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 28: Great Preponderance - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 28, Great Preponderance (Da Guo), describes a load that has grown too heavy for the structure carrying it: four strong yang lines packed into the middle with a weak yin line at each end, pictured as a ridgepole sagging toward the breaking point. The Judgement still ends in success, but only for someone who moves rather than braces. Its six changing lines run from spreading white rushes under an offering to wading in until the water closes over the head.
I Ching Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 30, The Clinging Fire (Li), doubles the fire trigram and teaches that brightness lasts only as long as it stays attached to what feeds it. This guide covers the Judgement and Image of Hexagram 30, all six changing lines, its nuclear hexagram 28 and opposite hexagram 29, and how the Clinging Fire reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 31: Influence - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 31, Influence (Xian), is Lake over Mountain and describes attraction that works without being pushed. Hexagram 31 opens the second half of the King Wen sequence with courtship, and its six changing lines climb the body from the big toe to the tongue. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six lines, the nuclear hexagram 44, the opposite hexagram 41, and how Hexagram 31 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 32: Duration - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 32, Heng or Duration, is thunder above wind and describes a condition that lasts because it keeps renewing itself rather than because it stays still. Its Judgement promises success and no blame while adding that it furthers one to have somewhere to go, and four of its six changing lines are warnings about the wrong kind of persistence.
I Ching Hexagram 33: Retreat - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 33, Dun or Retreat, is Heaven above Mountain: four yang lines withdrawing upward while two yin lines rise from below. Hexagram 33 counsels an early, dignified withdrawal rather than a forced one, placing success in the retreat itself and allowing perseverance only in small matters.
I Ching Hexagram 34: Great Power - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 34, Great Power (Da Zhuang), means strength that has fully arrived and now has to be governed rather than spent. Thunder sits above Heaven, four yang lines press upward, and the text warns through the image of a ram whose horns catch in a fence. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, and the nuclear and opposite hexagrams.
I Ching Hexagram 35: Progress - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
Hexagram 35 of the I Ching, Progress (Jin), is fire above earth: the sun clearing the horizon, an advance that is granted and witnessed rather than seized. This guide covers its Judgement of horses and three audiences, its Image of self-brightened virtue, all six changing lines, the nuclear hexagram 39 and opposite hexagram 5, and how Hexagram 35 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light (Ming Yi), sets Earth above Fire and pictures the sun gone down under the ground: the light still burns, but it has been driven out of sight. This guide covers the Judgement and the Image of Hexagram 36, all six changing lines and the hexagram each one produces, its nuclear hexagram 40 and its opposite hexagram 6, and how Darkening of the Light reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 37: The Family - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 37, The Family (Jia Ren), places wind above fire and reads as the hexagram of the ordered household, where influence spreads outward from a clear center. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines of Hexagram 37, its nuclear hexagram 64 and opposite hexagram 40, and how The Family reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 38: Opposition - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 38, Kui or Opposition, is fire above the lake, two elements sharing one body while moving in opposite directions. Its Judgement grants good fortune in small matters only, and not one of its six changing lines ends in misfortune. That combination makes Hexagram 38 a reading about estrangement inside a bond that still holds, not about a break.
I Ching Hexagram 39: Obstruction - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 39, Obstruction (Jian), means the route ahead is blocked by terrain you did not create, and the correct move is to stop, come back to solid ground, and seek help rather than force a crossing. Water sits above Mountain: danger ahead, stillness beneath. This guide covers its trigrams, Judgement, Image, all six changing lines, its nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how hexagram 39 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 40: Deliverance - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 40, Deliverance (Xie), marks the moment a blockage breaks and the tension drains out of a situation. Thunder sits above water, the storm has already burst, and the Judgement tells you to either return to ordinary life or finish the last errand fast. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, and the nuclear and opposite hexagrams.
I Ching Hexagram 41: Decrease - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 41, Decrease (Sun), is the hexagram of deliberate subtraction: giving something up on purpose so that what matters more can be supported. Lake sits under Mountain, the Judgement allows a sacrifice of two small bowls, and its six changing lines each describe a different way to cut back.
I Ching Hexagram 42: Increase - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
Hexagram 42 of the I Ching is Yi, Increase: the wind trigram Sun above the thunder trigram Zhen, a season when what sits above is reduced so what sits below can grow. Its Judgement backs action and crossing the great water, and its six changing lines run from borrowed strength at the base to the man at the top who gives nothing and gets struck for it.
I Ching Hexagram 43: Breakthrough - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 43, Guai or Breakthrough, is five yang lines pressing upward against a single yin line at the top, the figure of a pressure that has built until it must be released. Hexagram 43 places Dui the Lake above Qian Heaven, and its Judgement instructs you to announce the matter openly rather than settle it by force. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement and Image, all six changing lines of Hexagram 43, its nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how it reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 44: Coming to Meet - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 44, Coming to Meet (Gou), shows one yin line entering beneath five yang lines: something small and unplanned has arrived under a structure that looks unshakable. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how Hexagram 44 reads for decisions, relationships and work.
I Ching Hexagram 45: Gathering Together - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching hexagram 45, Gathering Together (Cui), shows Lake above Earth: scattered people and resources converging on one center. The reading is favorable when that center holds a credible leader and a shared purpose. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how hexagram 45 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward (Sheng), is the hexagram of ascent by accumulation: wood growing up through yielding earth, where effort succeeds because nothing above it resists. This guide covers the trigrams of Hexagram 46, its Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, its nuclear hexagram 54 and opposite hexagram 25, and how Pushing Upward reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 47: Oppression - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 47, Oppression (Kun), means the supply has run dry while the demands on you continue, and the correct response is to spend less, hold your purpose, and stop defending yourself in words. Lake sits above Water, a lake bed drained from below. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how hexagram 47 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 48: The Well - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 48, The Well (Jing), means a source that stays constant while everything built around it changes, so the question is never supply but access. This guide covers the Judgement about the town and the broken jug, the Image of water over wood, all six changing lines with the hexagram each one produces, and how Hexagram 48 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 49: Revolution - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 49, Ge or Revolution, is the sign of a change that has become unavoidable, built from the lake trigram Dui above the fire trigram Li. Its Judgement promises that remorse disappears once the right day arrives, and its six changing lines run from the restraint of the yellow cow's hide to the tiger and the panther.
I Ching Hexagram 50: The Cauldron - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 50, the Cauldron (Ding), is the hexagram of refinement: raw material placed in a vessel, held over a steady fire, and cooked into something worth offering. Its Judgement promises supreme good fortune, and its six line texts read bottom to top as the anatomy of a bronze ritual pot.
I Ching Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 51, The Arousing Thunder, is the trigram Zhen doubled: a shock that arrives without warning and is judged by how steadily you hold your hands while it rolls. This guide covers the Judgement about the sacrificial ladle, the Image, all six changing lines with the hexagram each one produces, and how Hexagram 51 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 52, Gen or Keeping Still, Mountain, is the Mountain trigram doubled: a yang line that has climbed as high as it can go and settled on two yielding lines. Hexagram 52 means stopping at the right moment and staying stopped, and its six changing lines run up the body from the toes to the jaws.
I Ching Hexagram 53: Development - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 53, Development (Jian), answers with one instruction: advance by stages and skip nothing. Wood above mountain gives the image of a tree rooted in rock, and the six lines track a wild goose from shoreline to cloud heights. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how Hexagram 53 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 54 the Marrying Maiden (Gui Mei) is thunder above lake: entering an established situation on terms someone else set. Four of its six lines stand in positions that do not belong to them, which is why its Judgement is one of the bluntest in the Book of Changes. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how Hexagram 54 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 55: Abundance - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 55, Abundance (Feng), marks the peak of a situation: the sun at midday, already tilting toward decline. Hexagram 55 sets the fire trigram Li beneath the thunder trigram Zhen, so its counsel is to see clearly and act now rather than hoard what is full. This guide covers its Judgement, Image, all six changing lines, nuclear hexagram 28 and opposite hexagram 59, and how i ching abundance reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 56: The Wanderer - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 56, The Wanderer, is Fire over Mountain and describes a person operating on ground that is not theirs: a traveler, guest, contractor or newcomer. Its Judgement grants only small success, and grants even that on condition of correct conduct. This guide covers the trigrams, Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how Hexagram 56 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 57, The Gentle Wind, is the trigram Xun doubled: influence that works by getting underneath a situation and staying there, promising success through what is small. This guide covers the Judgement, the Image about spreading commands, all six changing lines with the hexagram each one produces, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how Hexagram 57 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 58, The Joyous Lake, is the trigram Dui doubled, and it means joy that circulates through speech, exchange and shared company rather than joy kept private. Its Judgement promises success with perseverance, its Image sends you to friends for discussion and practice, and its six changing lines separate honest gladness from flattery, distraction and seduction.
I Ching Hexagram 59: Dispersion - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 59, Dispersion (Huan), means that something frozen and stuck is breaking up so its energy can be redistributed. Wind above Water scatters what had hardened, and the hexagram advises building a shared gathering point while conditions are still fluid. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, the nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and readings for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 60: Limitation - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
Hexagram 60 of the I Ching is Jie, Limitation: the water trigram Kan above the lake trigram Dui, banks that give a body of water its shape and its capacity. Its Judgement grants success but forbids persevering in galling limitation, and its six changing lines grade a boundary by taste, from the correct silence of the first line to the bitter austerity at the top.
I Ching Hexagram 61: Inner Truth - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching hexagram 61, Inner Truth (Zhong Fu), is the hexagram of sincerity that carries all the way through to another person without force: wind above lake, four firm lines wrapped around two open ones like a shell around a hollow center. This guide covers the trigram pairing that produces the meaning, the Judgement about pigs and fishes, the Image of delayed executions, all six changing lines with the hexagram each one produces, and how hexagram 61 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.
I Ching Hexagram 62: Small Preponderance - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 62, Small Preponderance (Xiao Guo), is the reading for a time when small things outweigh great ones, formed by Zhen the thunder above Gen the mountain. Its Judgement permits small undertakings, forbids great ones, and promises great good fortune to the questioner who comes down rather than strives upward. This guide covers its trigrams, Judgement and Image, all six changing lines, its nuclear and opposite hexagrams, and how it reads for decisions and work.
I Ching Hexagram 64: Before Completion - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance
I Ching Hexagram 64, Before Completion (Wei Ji), is Fire above Water and the last figure of the King Wen sequence, showing a crossing underway but unfinished. Its Judgement promises success, then warns of the little fox who wets his tail within a step of the bank. This guide covers its trigrams, Judgement, Image, six changing lines and nuclear hexagram.
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