Book of Changes
The 64 I Ching Hexagrams
This index lists the 64 hexagrams in the King Wen sequence. The short English theme summaries provide basic orientation, kept together so you can compare the sequence without treating each entry as a standalone prediction.
Hexagram 1
hexagram 1: The Creative
Creative force
Strong initiating energy favors purposeful action, but lasting progress depends on discipline, timing, and the ability to keep strength aligned with principle.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 2
hexagram 2: The Receptive
Receptive support
The situation calls for responsiveness, patience, and steady support. Progress comes less from forcing events than from making room for what can genuinely develop.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 3
hexagram 3: Difficulty at the Beginning
Difficulty at the beginning
Early disorder is part of formation. Clarify priorities, gather support, and build structure before expecting a new undertaking to move smoothly.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 4
hexagram 4: Youthful Folly
Learning through uncertainty
Not knowing is the central condition. Ask carefully, learn from consequences, and replace impulsive certainty with disciplined inquiry.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 5
hexagram 5: Waiting
Waiting with purpose
Conditions are not fully ready. Prepare, conserve confidence, and use the interval well rather than treating delay as failure.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 6
hexagram 6: Conflict
Conflict
Competing positions are hardening. Define the real issue, limit unnecessary escalation, and consider where principled compromise or outside perspective can help.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 7
hexagram 7: The Army
Organization and discipline
Collective effort needs clear roles, legitimate leadership, and restraint. Order matters more than enthusiasm when many forces must act together.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 8
hexagram 8: Holding Together
Holding together
Connection is possible when commitments are sincere and timely. Examine what truly creates trust before joining, leading, or asking others to align.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 9
hexagram 9: Small Taming
Small restraints
Minor limits can shape a larger outcome. Attend to details, relationships, and incremental preparation instead of trying to overpower the situation.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 10
hexagram 10: Treading
Careful conduct
You may be moving near stronger forces or sensitive boundaries. Respect, awareness, and correct conduct reduce unnecessary risk.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 11
hexagram 11: Peace
Flow and exchange
Different forces can cooperate productively. Use favorable circulation to strengthen foundations rather than assuming harmony will maintain itself.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 12
hexagram 12: Standstill
Stagnation
Connection is blocked and useful exchange is limited. Preserve integrity, avoid futile forcing, and watch for the conditions that could restore movement.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 13
hexagram 13: Fellowship
Fellowship
Shared purpose can bring people together across narrower interests. Make the common ground explicit and keep cooperation open rather than factional.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 14
hexagram 14: Great Possession
Great possession
Resources or influence are available. The question is how to use abundance responsibly, proportionately, and without letting possession become arrogance.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 15
hexagram 15: Modesty
Modesty
Balanced self-measurement supports durable progress. Reduce excess, acknowledge limits, and let competence show through consistent action rather than display.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 16
hexagram 16: Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm
Energy can mobilize people and plans, but excitement needs direction. Build momentum around something real enough to sustain collective effort.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 17
hexagram 17: Following
Following
Adaptation is useful when it follows what is worthy rather than what is merely convenient. Notice which influence deserves commitment.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 18
hexagram 18: Work on the Decayed
Repairing what has decayed
Something inherited or neglected needs correction. Diagnose the source, accept responsibility for repair, and change the pattern rather than patching symptoms.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 19
hexagram 19: Approach
Approach
Access and influence are increasing. Use proximity to understand, support, and prepare, remembering that favorable openings also have limits.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 20
hexagram 20: Contemplation
Contemplation
Step back far enough to see the pattern and your own role in it. Observation becomes useful when it changes the quality of subsequent action.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 21
hexagram 21: Biting Through
Biting through obstacles
A concrete obstruction requires clear discrimination and decisive handling. Apply only the degree of firmness needed to restore order.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 22
hexagram 22: Grace
Grace and form
Presentation and form matter, but they should reveal rather than replace substance. Refine what is visible without confusing appearance with the core issue.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 23
hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
Splitting apart
Support is being stripped away. Reduce exposure, protect what is essential, and avoid pretending a weakening structure can carry the same load.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 24
hexagram 24: Return
Return
A cycle is turning back toward its root. Small, genuine renewal matters more than dramatic correction; restore the right direction step by step.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 25
hexagram 25: Innocence
Uncontrived action
Act from what is straightforward and appropriate rather than from manipulation or overplanning. Unexpected events are easier to meet when motives remain clear.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 26
hexagram 26: Great Taming
Great restraint
Substantial power is being contained and trained. Accumulate capability, knowledge, and resources so that later action is deliberate rather than premature.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 27
hexagram 27: Nourishment
Nourishment
Pay attention to what sustains people, systems, and attention. What you take in—and what you repeatedly provide—shapes the condition that follows.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 28
hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Great excess
The structure is carrying unusual pressure. Ordinary measures may be insufficient, so identify the overloaded point and respond before strain becomes collapse.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 29
hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water
Repeated danger
Risk or uncertainty recurs. Reliability comes from learning the terrain, keeping to sound practice, and moving without denying the danger.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 30
hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire
Clarity and attachment
Illumination depends on what it is attached to. Choose sound objects of attention and make distinctions clearly without becoming consumed by brightness or certainty.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 31
hexagram 31: Influence
Influence
Mutual responsiveness can change the situation without coercion. Notice what genuinely moves you and others, and keep influence reciprocal rather than manipulative.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 32
hexagram 32: Duration
Duration
Continuity matters more than a burst of effort. Choose a course that can be maintained while allowing methods to adapt as circumstances change.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 33
hexagram 33: Retreat
Retreat
Stepping back can preserve position and clarity when direct engagement is unproductive. Withdrawal is strongest when it is timely, orderly, and purposeful.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 34
hexagram 34: Great Power
Great power
Capacity is high, which makes restraint more important. Use strength in proportion to the situation and avoid turning capability into unnecessary pressure.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 35
hexagram 35: Progress
Progress
Visibility and forward movement are increasing. Use the opening to contribute clearly, build trust, and keep advancement connected to real value.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 36
hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light
Brightness concealed
An unfavorable environment may punish open display. Protect insight, stay inwardly clear, and choose carefully how much of your position to reveal.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 37
hexagram 37: The Family
The family
Stable relationships depend on roles, boundaries, and example. Improve the immediate system of conduct before trying to correct the wider environment.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 38
hexagram 38: Opposition
Opposition
Differences are real and should not be blurred. Small areas of cooperation may still be possible when each side understands where alignment ends.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 39
hexagram 39: Obstruction
Obstruction
The direct route is blocked. Reconsider direction, seek assistance, and use the obstacle as information about what the current approach cannot solve.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 40
hexagram 40: Deliverance
Release
Tension can now be loosened. Resolve what is necessary, forgive what no longer needs carrying, and move promptly once the obstruction has actually cleared.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 41
hexagram 41: Decrease
Decrease
Deliberate reduction can restore balance. Let go of what is excessive so attention and resources can return to what is essential.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 42
hexagram 42: Increase
Increase
Growth is available when benefits circulate rather than accumulate narrowly. Invest where added energy strengthens the whole situation.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 43
hexagram 43: Breakthrough
Breakthrough
A problem needs to be named openly and addressed firmly. Clarity should precede action, and determination should not become aggression.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 44
hexagram 44: Coming to Meet
Coming to meet
A small but potent influence is entering the situation. Recognize its character early and set boundaries before attraction or convenience gives it disproportionate power.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 45
hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Gathering
People or resources can collect around a center. Shared purpose, preparation, and trustworthy leadership determine whether gathering becomes coherence or crowding.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 46
hexagram 46: Pushing Upward
Pushing upward
Steady ascent is possible through modest, cumulative effort. Seek support, do the next workable thing, and let progress build from a sound base.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 47
hexagram 47: Oppression
Constraint
External room is limited, so inner steadiness matters. Distinguish what cannot currently be changed from the commitments you can still uphold.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 48
hexagram 48: The Well
The well
A durable source of nourishment may already exist, but access and maintenance matter. Improve the shared resource and the means by which people draw from it.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 49
hexagram 49: Revolution
Revolution
Real change may require replacing an exhausted form, but legitimacy and timing are essential. Transform only when the case for change is mature and understood.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 50
hexagram 50: The Cauldron
The vessel
Raw material can be transformed into something of lasting value. Focus on the container, process, and culture that make refinement possible.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 51
hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder
Shock
A sudden disturbance demands presence rather than panic. Recover orientation quickly, learn what the shock reveals, and keep essential responsibilities intact.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 52
hexagram 52: Keeping Still Mountain
Keeping still
Stopping is appropriate when further motion would only add noise. Let attention settle, respect boundaries, and act again when stillness has clarified the next move.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 53
hexagram 53: Development
Gradual development
Progress is real but sequential. Build each stage so the next has something stable to rest on; rushing would weaken the development.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 54
hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden
Unequal position
You may be entering a situation without full authority or control. Understand the terms, protect dignity, and avoid assuming influence you do not yet possess.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 55
hexagram 55: Abundance
Abundance
Conditions are full and highly visible. Use the peak actively and responsibly, knowing that fullness is a phase rather than a permanent state.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 56
hexagram 56: The Wanderer
The traveler
You are operating without deep roots in the present setting. Keep aims modest, observe local conditions, and rely on good conduct more than entitlement.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 57
hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind
Gentle penetration
Persistent, subtle influence can reach places force cannot. Clarify the direction first, then reinforce it through repeated small actions.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 58
hexagram 58: The Joyous Lake
Joyous exchange
Open communication and shared pleasure can strengthen connection. Keep exchange sincere so enjoyment does not become flattery or avoidance.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 59
hexagram 59: Dispersion
Dispersion
Rigid separation can dissolve when attention returns to a larger shared center. Remove barriers that no longer serve and rebuild connection deliberately.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 60
hexagram 60: Limitation
Limitation
Useful limits create form and prevent waste. Make constraints clear and proportionate; rules that become oppressive undermine the order they were meant to protect.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 61
hexagram 61: Inner Truth
Inner truth
Trust grows from inward sincerity matched by outward consistency. Listen carefully, test assumptions, and let credibility emerge from congruent action.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 62
hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Small exceeding
The situation favors careful attention to modest matters rather than grand moves. Precision, humility, and manageable steps are safer than overreach.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 63
hexagram 63: After Completion
After completion
A major transition has been achieved, but completion creates a new maintenance problem. Guard details and prevent success from turning into complacency.
Open hexagram detail →Hexagram 64
hexagram 64: Before Completion
Before completion
The crossing is not finished. Keep distinctions clear, avoid premature celebration, and concentrate on the final conditions required for a sound transition.
Open hexagram detail →
Use the hexagrams in a reading
A hexagram is normally read in the context of a cast rather than selected as a standalone prediction. Start with the I Ching online tool, or use the yarrow stalk method, Mei Hua Yi Shu current-time method, or Manual Cast.