M05 · LESSONS 40–55

Module 5 · The Yijing (I Ching) (Lessons 40–55)

The Yijing (“Classic of Changes”) is a layered textual tradition. Its hexagram figures, names, statements, later explanatory texts, commentaries, and divination procedures should not be collapsed into one period or one author. This module introduces the layers and excavated witnesses, learns the Eight Trigrams and sixty-four hexagrams, compares ways of reading the text, and practices a repeatable close-reading method.

Lesson 40 · What Is the Yijing? The Classic, Commentaries, and Excavated Texts#

Learning goals#

Distinguish the Classic (jing) from the Commentaries (zhuan).
Name the Ten Wings.
Know the Three Changes traditions and several excavated witnesses.

Lesson#

When reading the Yijing, separate the base text, later explanatory texts, and commentaries. The “Classic” consists of sixty-four hexagram figures, hexagram names, hexagram statements, and line statements. A hexagram figure is a symbol made from yin and yang lines; its hexagram statement addresses the figure as a whole, and each line statement is attached to one of its six positions. Qian and Kun also have the special statements “Use the Nine” and “Use the Six,” associated with their all-yang and all-yin figures. A received edition therefore has 384 line statements plus these two special statements.

The “Commentaries,” collectively called the Yizhuan or Ten Wings, explain the Classic. The shorthand “I Ching” may refer to the entire book, but distinguishing its layers helps readers ask when and how a passage entered the textual tradition.

Text layer	Contents	Traditional attribution / general dating
Yijing Classic	Sixty-four figures, names, hexagram statements, line statements	Traditionally associated with King Wen and the Duke of Zhou; the base text is generally placed in the Western Zhou period
Yizhuan Commentaries	Ten essays interpreting the Classic	Traditionally associated with Confucius; generally formed from the Warring States period to the early Han

The Ten Wings are the paired “Appended Statements” (Xici A and B), the paired “Commentary on the Judgments” (Tuan), the paired “Commentary on the Images” (Xiang)—the Great Images for whole hexagrams and Lesser Images for individual lines—plus the “Commentary on the Words of the Text” (Wenyan), “Discussion of the Trigrams” (Shuogua), “Sequence of the Hexagrams” (Xugua), and “Miscellaneous Hexagrams” (Zagua). This distinction matters: “Heaven moves with strength; the noble person cultivates himself without ceasing” is the Great Image for Qian, not an original Qian line statement.

The Rites of Zhou says that the Grand Diviner (taibu), an official responsible for divination, used the Three Changes: Lianshan, Guicang, and Zhouyi. The first two do not survive as complete received books. Archaeological and excavated texts provide evidence beyond later transmitted editions:

Text	Excavation or publication	What it can help investigate
Mawangdui silk Zhouyi	Tomb 3 at Mawangdui, Changsha, excavated in 1973	A hexagram sequence different from the received edition and early commentaries
Wangjiatai Qin slips, Guicang	Jiangling, Hubei, excavated in 1993	Fragments of the otherwise lost Guicang
Shanghai Museum Warring States bamboo Zhouyi	Published in 2003	Early forms of the text
Tsinghua slips, Divination Methods and Other Hexagrams	Published in 2014	Warring States divination methods and hexagram materials

Traditional Confucian scholarship attributed the figures and statements to Fuxi, King Wen, and the Duke of Zhou, and the Ten Wings to Confucius. The Book of Han summarizes this as “three sages across three ancient periods.” Modern scholars use language, thought, and excavated texts to study how individual parts formed; the book is not generally treated as a work completed by one person at one time. Traditional attribution is important in the history of interpretation, but it is not the same as a proven author list.

The Qing Siku Quanshu General Catalogue, “Preface to the Changes Section,” organized later Yijing learning into two broad tendencies—image-number (xiangshu) and meaning-principle (yili)—and six lines of interpretation. Image-number readings use figures, numbers, directions, and transformations; meaning-principle readings focus on ideas and ethics in the text. The six tendencies include divination, omens and auspicious signs, cosmological transformation, Daoist interpretation, Confucian principle, and historical events. This is a Qing cataloguing framework, not a single taxonomy accepted by every era and scholar. Zhu Xi combined elements of image-number and meaning-principle approaches.

Practice#

Memorize the Ten Wings.
In Qian, find the hexagram statement, Tuan, Great Image, line statements, Lesser Images, and Wenyan.
Explain the difference between the Yijing Classic and Yizhuan Commentaries in one sentence.

Check your understanding#

Which Wing contains “Heaven moves with strength; the noble person cultivates himself without ceasing”?
What are the Three Changes?
What is a major difference between the Mawangdui silk Zhouyi and the received edition?

Answers: 1. The Commentary on the Images, specifically the Great Image. 2. Lianshan, Guicang, and Zhouyi. 3. Its hexagram sequence differs.

Lesson 41 · Hexagrams and Lines: The Eight Trigram Figures#

Learning goals#

Draw the Eight Trigrams from memory.
Learn their names, natural images, qualities, and Five-Phase associations.

Lesson#

The Eight Trigrams are the eight possible figures made from three yin-yang lines. A yang line is solid and a yin line is broken. With two possibilities at each of three positions, there are 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 combinations. Always read and draw a figure from the bottom line upward. Kan, for example, is yin-yang-yin from bottom to top. The same direction applies when two trigrams combine into a six-line hexagram.

Trigram	Symbol	Lines, bottom to top (1 = yang, 0 = yin)	Mnemonic	Natural image	Quality	Phase
Qian	☰	111	Three unbroken	Heaven	Strong / creative	Metal
Dui	☱	110	Upper line broken	Lake	Joyful / speaking	Metal
Li	☲	101	Middle line broken	Fire	Clinging / illumination	Fire
Zhen	☳	100	Bowl facing upward	Thunder	Movement	Wood
Xun	☴	011	Lower line broken	Wind	Penetrating / entering	Wood
Kan	☵	010	Middle line full	Water	Pitfall / danger	Water
Gen	☶	001	Bowl overturned	Mountain	Stillness	Earth
Kun	☷	000	Six broken	Earth	Receptive / yielding	Earth

The “quality” column follows the Shuogua: “Qian is strong; Kun is yielding; Zhen is movement; Xun is entering; Kan is sinking; Li is clinging; Gen is stopping; Dui is speaking or pleasing.” A quality is a traditional interpretive term, not a modern personality test. Natural image, quality, and Five-Phase assignment are related but distinct classifications.

The Xici, “Appended Statements B,” also says that yang trigrams have more yin lines and yin trigrams more yang lines. One traditional explanation calls Zhen, Kan, and Gen yang trigrams because each has one yang line among two yin; Xun, Li, and Dui are yin because each has one yin line among two yang. The passage also associates them with sons and daughters. This is a symbolic classification within the text, not a biological or scientific category.

Practice#

Draw and name the Eight Trigrams from memory.
Make eight flashcards with symbol, name, natural image, quality, and phase.
Explain why Zhen is called a yang trigram in one traditional interpretation.

Check your understanding#

What does “Kan is full in the middle” look like?
What is Gen’s quality?
Which phase is assigned to Xun?

Answers: 1. The middle line is solid and the top and bottom lines are broken. 2. Stopping. 3. Wood.

Lesson 42 · The Earlier Heaven Arrangement of the Eight Trigrams#

Learning goals#

Draw the Earlier Heaven trigram arrangement.
Memorize the Earlier Heaven numbers.
Explain its pattern of yin-yang waxing and waning.

Lesson#

“Earlier Heaven” (xiantian) is the name of an arrangement of trigram directions and numbers; it does not mean archaeology has discovered the same diagram in Fuxi’s time. The Shuogua says, “Heaven and earth take their positions; mountain and lake exchange their influences; thunder and wind stir one another; water and fire do not clash.” The Northern Song scholar Shao Yong developed the familiar Earlier Heaven diagram from such passages. Later generations also called it the Fuxi arrangement. Keep the classical sentence distinct from the later diagram.

The arrangement places Qian opposite Kun in south and north; Li opposite Kan in east and west; Dui opposite Gen in southeast and northwest; Zhen opposite Xun in northeast and southwest. In this arrangement, the opposite trigrams often have every line reversed. “Opposite hexagram” (cuogua) or “complementary connection” (pangtong) means that each yin line is changed to yang and each yang to yin. Qian and Kun, and Li and Kan, are examples. The relation describes symbolic structure, not measured map directions.

The Earlier Heaven numbers are Qian 1, Dui 2, Li 3, Zhen 4, Xun 5, Kan 6, Gen 7, Kun 8. One traditional interpretation reads the sequence as a model of yin-yang change: yang grows from Zhen’s one yang line through Li and Dui to Qian’s three yang lines; yin grows from Xun’s one yin through Kan and Gen to Kun’s three yin lines. Meihua Yishu, a later divination method that may take numbers from time, direction, or other inputs, uses the Earlier Heaven number sequence as one convention. This later application does not show that the diagram was originally created for Meihua Yishu.

When drawing the chart, state the convention that south is at the top and north at the bottom, place the trigrams by direction, and check the opposite pairs line by line. Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven are not “real world” versus “fiction”; they are later terms for two arrangements with different functions in Yijing traditions.

Practice#

Draw the Earlier Heaven arrangement from memory.
Recite the numbers forward and backward.
Mark the two routes of yang growth and yin growth.

Check your understanding#

In the Earlier Heaven arrangement, where is Li?
What is Xun’s number?
Which trigrams are meant by “water and fire do not clash,” and how are they placed?

Answers: 1. East. 2. Five. 3. Kan and Li, opposite one another on the west-east axis.

Lesson 43 · The Later Heaven Arrangement and Trigram Qi#

Learning goals#

Draw the Later Heaven arrangement.
Match it with the Luoshu Nine Palaces.
Apply the Five-Phase seasonal strength scheme to the trigrams.

Lesson#

The Later Heaven arrangement places the Eight Trigrams among directions, seasons, and stages of change. One source is the Shuogua passage: “The ruler comes forth in Zhen, is orderly in Xun, is seen in Li, serves in Kun, is pleased in Dui, contends in Qian, labors in Kan, and is completed in Gen.” Later scholars organized these stages into a directional diagram and matched them with the Luoshu numbers. This focus differs from the Earlier Heaven arrangement’s emphasis on opposite pairs.

In this module’s convention, south is at the top and north at the bottom:

Southeast: Xun 4	South: Li 9	Southwest: Kun 2
East: Zhen 3	Center: 5	West: Dui 7
Northeast: Gen 8	North: Kan 1	Northwest: Qian 6

The mapping is Kan 1, Kun 2, Zhen 3, Xun 4, center 5, Qian 6, Dui 7, Gen 8, Li 9. “Trigram qi” pairs trigrams with seasonal time. The Five-Phase terms prosperous, supported, resting, constrained, and weak (introduced in Lesson 10) classify the phases relative to the ruling seasonal phase. In spring, wood is prosperous, fire supported, water resting, metal constrained, earth weak; use the trigram-to-phase table to get the trigram status.

Season	Prosperous	Supported	Resting	Constrained	Weak
Spring	Zhen, Xun	Li	Kan	Qian, Dui	Kun, Gen
Summer	Li	Kun, Gen	Zhen, Xun	Kan	Qian, Dui
Autumn	Qian, Dui	Kan	Kun, Gen	Li	Zhen, Xun
Winter	Kan	Zhen, Xun	Qian, Dui	Kun, Gen	Li
Seasonal earth months	Kun, Gen	Qian, Dui	Li	Zhen, Xun	Kan

For example, in autumn Qian and Dui belong to metal, which is in season, so they are prosperous; Kan belongs to water, generated by metal, so it is supported. This conclusion is derived within the traditional Five-Phase model; it does not measure autumn weather or ecology. Song scholars often described Earlier Heaven as “substance” (ti) and Later Heaven as “function” (yong). Meihua Yishu, feng shui, and Qimen traditions use the arrangements in different ways; their specific rules vary.

Practice#

Draw the Later Heaven arrangement and label the Luoshu numbers.
From the center of your home, identify the eight directions and their trigrams using the stated orientation convention.
Derive the winter trigram strength table without looking.

Check your understanding#

In which direction is Qian in the Later Heaven arrangement?
Which trigram corresponds to Luoshu 8?
Which trigrams are prosperous in autumn?

Answers: 1. Northwest. 2. Gen. 3. Qian and Dui.

Lesson 44 · Trigram Correspondences I: The Shuogua#

Learning goals#

Memorize the classic animal, body, and family correspondences.
Read the Shuogua as a historical system of symbolic classification.

Lesson#

The Shuogua pairs the Eight Trigrams with animals, body parts, and family roles. These are leixiang, correspondences by category: different things are grouped in a symbolic order, not connected by biological causation. The text’s lists belong to their historical context, and later divination traditions added further correspondences. When interpreting a list, distinguish what the classic text states from later extrapolation.

Trigram	Animal	Body	Family role
Qian	Horse	Head	Father
Kun	Ox	Abdomen	Mother
Zhen	Dragon	Foot	Eldest son
Xun	Rooster	Thigh	Eldest daughter
Kan	Pig	Ear	Middle son
Li	Pheasant	Eye	Middle daughter
Gen	Dog	Hand	Youngest son
Dui	Goat	Mouth	Youngest daughter

The family order is explained through the relative position of the one line that differs from the other two. Zhen, Kan, and Gen have one yang among two yin lines, placed at the bottom, middle, or top; they are called eldest, middle, and youngest son. Xun, Li, and Dui have one yin among two yang lines, likewise at bottom, middle, and top; they are called eldest, middle, and youngest daughter. This is an analogy between line structure and family order, not a claim about actual household identity.

The Shuogua also gives extended correspondences. Qian is heaven, roundness, ruler, father, jade, metal, cold, ice, deep red, and a fine horse. Kun is earth, mother, cloth, cauldron, frugality, evenness, great carriage, pattern, and multitude. Kan is water, ditch, hiddenness, bending and straightening, bow and wheel, worry, heart illness, ear pain, and the blood trigram. Li is fire, sun, lightning, middle daughter, armor, and weapons. These phrases group shapes, objects, emotions, and bodily experience; they are not one physical definition. “Blood trigram,” “heart illness,” and “ear pain” are not medical terms.

To read one correspondence, start with Xun as thigh: verify that the Shuogua lists “thigh” for Xun, explain the term, then examine how later writers connect it to the trigram’s structure or family role. If a divination text uses Kan for an object, state whether the association comes from water, sinking, concealment, or another attribute. The reasoning chain should be visible.

Practice#

Memorize the three correspondence groups in the table.
Read the Shuogua passage beginning “Qian is heaven…” and list five correspondences for each trigram.
Choose five people in a public place and assign trigrams as a symbolic exercise; give the reasoning and its limits.

Check your understanding#

Which trigram is associated with the thigh?
Which family role is Dui assigned?
Which trigram is associated with worry and the “blood trigram”?

Answers: 1. Xun. 2. Youngest daughter. 3. Kan.

Lesson 45 · Trigram Correspondences II: Modern Objects#

Learning goals#

Derive a modern correspondence from a trigram quality.
Distinguish an ancient textual list from a modern analogy.

Lesson#

Classical lists cannot name every modern object. Later users extend the correspondence system by comparing new things with the trigram qualities. A modern correspondence is an analogy made by the interpreter, not a historical fact from the Shuogua. First describe the object’s function in the question, then decide whether it resembles strength, speech, illumination, movement, penetration, danger, stopping, or receptivity. Explain the connection.

Trigram	People (traditional analogy)	Objects	Places	Events
Qian	Leader, elder, authority	Metal, round objects, machines, premium goods	Government, tall buildings, temples	Official business, decisions
Dui	Young woman, lawyer, broadcaster	Blades, oral-care items, instruments	Restaurant, lakeside, entertainment venue	Speech, dispute, pleasure
Li	Middle-aged woman, writer, influencer	Screens, documents, credentials, lamps	School, gallery, bright place	Documents, reputation, visibility
Zhen	Eldest son, athlete, entrepreneur	Car, engine, drum	Road, busy district, station	Sudden event, start, alarm
Xun	Eldest daughter, merchant, broker	Wire, rope, network cable, incense	Network, market, forest	Trade, transmission, entry
Kan	Middle son, thief, patient	Liquid, alcohol, encrypted item	Riverbank, bath, underground place	Risk, hidden matter, obstruction
Gen	Youngest son, guard, gatekeeper	Door, stone, cabinet	Mountain, entrance, warehouse	Stop, block, wait
Kun	Mother, public, employee	Cloth, pottery, platform	Field, plain, public square	Support, many people, yielding

A phone may be compared with Li when the question concerns its bright screen; with Xun when it concerns wireless communication and information moving through a network; or with Gen when it concerns a lock or access restriction. The object has no single permanent trigram. The question and the selected function guide the analogy. This is called “one thing, multiple images.”

Likewise, logistics can be compared with Xun when the focus is circulation and transmission, or with Zhen when the focus is rapid movement. These are not competing facts; they select different aspects. A useful interpretation names the object’s actual feature, the trigram quality it resembles, and possible alternatives. The exercise trains symbolic reading and argument, not a label that predicts an outcome.

Practice#

Assign trigrams to a phone, computer, wallet, key, and car, explaining each choice.
Assign trigrams to your workplace, home, and a café you visit often.
Give an example of one object with multiple images and state which one fits two different questions.

Check your understanding#

Which trigram might represent logistics, and why could another also fit?
Which trigram best matches an access-control gate?
Which trigrams might be used for a livestream?

Answers: 1. Xun for circulation or Zhen for motion, depending on focus. 2. Gen, stopping or blocking. 3. Dui for speech or Li for visibility.

Lesson 46 · How Ancient Divination Worked: The Great Expansion Method and a Zuo Tradition Example#

Learning goals#

Understand the steps and theoretical probabilities of the yarrow-stalk method.
Read “the hexagram changes into” language.
Learn Zhu Xi’s method for reading changing lines.

Lesson#

The Great Expansion method (Dayan), described in the Xici, is a procedure using yarrow stalks (shi). It says, “The number of the Great Expansion is fifty; forty-nine are used.” A set-aside stalk is kept from the fifty, and forty-nine are manipulated. Each round is one change; three changes produce one line; six lines require eighteen changes.

The text associates the actions with “dividing into two to represent the Two Forms, suspending one to represent the Three Powers, counting by fours to represent the four seasons, and gathering the remainder to represent the intercalary month.” The stalks are divided into bundles, one is set aside from a bundle, groups of four are counted, and remainders are gathered. Repeated handling yields six, seven, eight, or nine. Six and nine are “old yin” and “old yang,” changing lines; seven and eight are “young yang” and “young yin,” stable lines. “Old” and “young” are technical labels for changing status, not age or strength.

Number	Yarrow result	Three-coin method in this lesson
6, old yin	Yin line, changing	1/8
7, young yang	Yang line, stable	3/8
8, young yin	Yin line, stable	3/8
9, old yang	Yang line, changing	1/8

The yarrow method’s theoretical probabilities are 1/16, 5/16, 7/16, and 3/16 for six, seven, eight, and nine. The overall yin and yang probabilities are equal, though old yang is more likely than old yin. A later three-coin method is simpler; under the convention shown, its four outcomes have the probabilities in the table. Probabilities describe long-run mathematical distributions, not a guarantee for a single cast.

When a changing line changes, it creates a second hexagram, called the “resulting hexagram” or zhi-gua. The Zuo Tradition, Duke Zhuang, year 22, records a Zhou historian’s divination for Chen Wan (later called Jing Zhong) as “Viewing changing into Obstruction.” The historian quotes line six-four of Viewing: “Observing the brilliance of the state; it is beneficial to be a guest of the king.” Counting from the bottom, the fourth line is yin; changing it to yang changes the upper trigram and produces Obstruction. The historical report and later reading rules should be kept distinct; a story containing a prediction is not a modern experimental validation.

Zhu Xi’s Qimeng, “Examining Changes and Divination,” organizes a method according to the number of changing lines:

Changing lines	Main reading in Zhu Xi’s method
0	Hexagram statement of the original hexagram
1	Line statement of the changing line in the original hexagram
2	Both changing line statements; the upper line takes priority
3	Hexagram statements of both original and resulting hexagrams
4	The two unchanged line statements in the resulting hexagram; lower line takes priority
5	The unchanged line statement in the resulting hexagram
6	For Qian and Kun, “Use the Nine” or “Use the Six”; for others, the resulting hexagram statement

This is one later method, not the only historical way to interpret a cast.

Practice#

Cast a question with three coins under one stated convention and read it using Zhu Xi’s method.
In the Zuo Tradition “Viewing changing into Obstruction” story, identify the changing line.
Calculate the probability that all six coin-cast lines are stable under the lesson’s convention.

Check your understanding#

How many yarrow stalks are actually used?
What is the resulting hexagram in “Viewing changing into Obstruction”?
With two changing lines, which line takes priority in Zhu Xi’s method?

Answers: 1. Forty-nine. 2. Obstruction (Pi). 3. The upper changing line.

Lesson 47 · Assessment I: The Eight Trigrams and Divination#

Review#

This assessment moves from identifying trigrams and arrangements to correspondences and divination. Draw lines from the bottom upward; state the orientation of Earlier and Later Heaven diagrams; and separate the casting procedure, changing lines, and reading convention. Showing the intermediate steps helps locate errors in a symbol, calculation, or interpretation.

For example, a “gate-access system” may be assigned Gen because its function is to block or stop. If the question concerns its network connection, Xun may be relevant. Answer the specific dimension in the question; in practice, explain the chosen analogy instead of treating one object as a fixed dictionary entry.

Closed-book assessment#

Suggested time: 40 minutes. Passing score: 80 out of 100.

Name the Ten Wings. (10 points)
Draw the Eight Trigrams and give their names, qualities, and phases. (16 points)
Give the Earlier Heaven directions and numbers. (12 points)
Give the Later Heaven directions and Luoshu numbers. (12 points)
Give the trigram strength table for winter and summer. (10 points)
Give the Shuogua animal, body, and family correspondences. (16 points)
What do six, seven, eight, and nine mean in the yarrow method, and which are changing? (8 points)
Under Zhu Xi’s method, what is read when one, three, or five lines change? (9 points)
Which trigrams might be used for a gate-access system, a livestream, and logistics? (7 points)

Answer key for supplied items: 5. Winter: Kan prosperous; Zhen and Xun supported; Qian and Dui resting; Kun and Gen constrained; Li weak. Summer: Li prosperous; Kun and Gen supported; Zhen and Xun resting; Kan constrained; Qian and Dui weak. 7. Six old yin, seven young yang, eight young yin, nine old yang; six and nine change. 8. One: original changing line statement; three: statements of original and resulting hexagrams; five: unchanged line statement in the resulting hexagram.

Lesson 48 · Doubled Trigrams and the Names of the Sixty-Four Hexagrams#

Learning goals#

Understand how two trigrams combine into a hexagram.
Name a hexagram from its upper and lower trigrams, and reverse the process.
Memorize the received hexagram-order song.

Lesson#

Each trigram has three yin-yang lines and is called a “primary trigram.” Stacking two trigrams makes a six-line “doubled hexagram,” giving 8 × 8 = 64 combinations. The bottom three lines are the lower or inner trigram; the top three are the upper or outer trigram. Read the lines from the bottom upward. When naming a hexagram from its component trigrams, say the upper trigram first, then the lower, followed by the hexagram name. This difference between line-reading direction and naming order is a common source of confusion.

When the upper and lower trigrams are the same, the name is “X as [image]”: Qian as Heaven, Dui as Lake, and so on. For different trigrams, combine the upper and lower images. Upper Dui over lower Xun is Lake over Wind, Great Exceeding (Daguo). Upper Li over lower Kan is Fire over Water, Before Completion (Weiji). Inner and outer trigrams may be used as subject and environment in some divination readings, but that is an interpretive convention, not a fixed meaning in each hexagram name.

Upper ↓ / Lower →	Qian	Dui	Li	Zhen	Xun	Kan	Gen	Kun
Qian	Heaven	Treading	Fellowship	Innocence	Encounter	Conflict	Retreat	Obstruction
Dui	Breakthrough	Lake	Revolution	Following	Great Exceeding	Oppression	Influence	Gathering
Li	Great Possession	Opposition	Fire	Biting Through	The Cauldron	Before Completion	The Wanderer	Progress
Zhen	Great Strength	Marrying Maiden	Abundance	Thunder	Duration	Deliverance	Small Exceeding	Joy
Xun	Small Accumulation	Inner Truth	Family	Increase	Wind	Dispersion	Gradual Progress	Viewing
Kan	Waiting	Limitation	Already Completed	Difficulty at the Beginning	The Well	Water	Obstruction	Fellowship / Union
Gen	Great Accumulation	Decrease	Adornment	Nourishment	Decay	Youthful Folly	Mountain	Stripping Away
Kun	Peace	Approach	Darkening of the Light	Return	Pushing Upward	The Army	Modesty	Earth

English hexagram titles vary across translators; the table gives concise labels to help identify the figures, not a definitive translation of every name.

Zhu Xi’s Original Meaning of the Changes includes a song for memorizing the received order, with thirty hexagrams in the Upper Canon and thirty-four in the Lower Canon. The song is a mnemonic, not a rule that generates the sequence. The paired orderings have been explained in more than one way.

Qian, Kun, Difficulty at the Beginning, Youthful Folly, Waiting, Conflict, the Army;
Small Accumulation, Treading, Peace, Obstruction; Fellowship, Great Possession;
Modesty, Joy, Following, Decay; Approach, Viewing; Biting Through, Adornment;
Stripping Away, Return, Innocence, Great Accumulation, Nourishment; Great Exceeding, Kan, Li.
Influence, Duration, Retreat, Great Strength; Progress, Darkening of the Light; Family, Opposition;
Obstruction, Deliverance, Decrease, Increase; Breakthrough, Encounter, Gathering;
Pushing Upward, Oppression, the Well, Revolution, the Cauldron, Thunder;
Mountain, Gradual Progress, Marrying Maiden, Abundance, the Wanderer, Wind;
Lake, Dispersion, Limitation, Inner Truth, Small Exceeding, Already Completed, Before Completion.

Practice#

Draw two trigrams at random and name the resulting hexagram, twenty times.
Given a hexagram name, identify its upper and lower trigrams, twenty times.
Memorize the first four lines of the sequence song.

Check your understanding#

What hexagram is upper Li over lower Kan?
What are the upper and lower trigrams of Gradual Progress?
How many hexagrams are in the Upper and Lower Canons?

Answers: 1. Fire over Water, Before Completion (Weiji). 2. Upper Xun, lower Gen. 3. Thirty and thirty-four.

Lesson 49 · Line Positions: Proper Position, Centrality, Correspondence, and Riding#

Learning goals#

Read line labels.
Identify proper position, centrality, correspondence, and the relations of bearing and riding.
Recognize that these structural relations do not determine fortune alone.

Lesson#

Read a six-line hexagram from the bottom upward. A yang line is called “nine,” a yin line “six”; the bottom is “Initial” and the top is “Top.” The bottom yang line is Initial Nine; the top yin line is Top Six. These labels identify line type and position; they do not themselves say whether an outcome is good or bad.

“Proper position” (dangwei) asks whether a line’s yin-yang quality fits its position. Positions one, three, and five are yang positions; positions two, four, and six are yin positions. A yang line in a yang place or yin line in a yin place is proper. “Centrality” applies to positions two and five, the middle of the lower and upper trigrams. When a central line is also proper, it is called central and correct.

“Correspondence” compares lines one and four, two and five, and three and six. A pair corresponds when one is yin and the other yang. “Bearing” describes a yin line below an adjacent yang line and is often read as support; “riding” places a yin line above an adjacent yang line, sometimes called riding firmness and treated as less harmonious in older commentaries. These are structural terms, not automatic judgments.

Position	Common structural lens
Initial	Beginning, foundation
Second	Middle position in the lower trigram
Third	Top of the lower trigram, a point of transition
Fourth	Start of the upper trigram, near the fifth position
Fifth	Middle of the upper trigram, often treated as a position of authority
Top	Endpoint or extreme

For Earth over Heaven (Tai), the lines from bottom to top are yang, yang, yang, yin, yin, yin: Initial Nine, Nine Two, Nine Three, Six Four, Six Five, Top Six. Initial Nine, Nine Three, Six Four, and Top Six are proper; Nine Two and Six Five are central but not proper. All three paired positions have yin-yang correspondence. The example shows that centrality, correctness, and correspondence are separate checks.

The Xici says “the second has more praise, the third more danger, the fourth more fear, and the fifth more accomplishment.” This is a general observation about common positions, not a fixed fate ranking. In Established Completion, every line is proper and all pairs correspond; in Before Completion, no line is proper though all pairs correspond. These edge cases help practice the distinctions.

Practice#

Write the six line labels of Kun from bottom to top.
Analyze the positions and correspondences in Earth over Heaven (Tai).
Mark proper, central, central-and-proper, and corresponding lines on a daily hexagram.

Check your understanding#

Is Six Four properly positioned?
Which positions are central?
Which position is often said to have “more danger”?

Answers: 1. Yes, yin in a yin position. 2. Two and five. 3. Three.

Lesson 50 · Complementary, Reversed, and Nuclear Hexagrams; Sequence#

Learning goals#

Calculate a hexagram’s complementary, reversed, and nuclear figures.
Understand the received sequence’s “paired two by two” pattern.

Lesson#

“Complementary” (cuo), “reversed” (zong), and “nuclear” (hu) hexagrams are three operations on the six lines. A complementary hexagram flips every yin line to yang and every yang line to yin. A reversed hexagram turns the whole figure upside down. A nuclear hexagram retains the outer structure but forms two new trigrams from the middle four lines: lines two, three, and four make the lower nuclear trigram; lines three, four, and five make the upper.

For Earth over Heaven (Tai), the lines bottom to top are yang-yang-yang-yin-yin-yin. Flipping all lines gives Heaven over Earth (Pi). Reversing the sequence also happens to give Pi; this is a coincidence for this hexagram, not a shared definition. The lower nuclear trigram from lines two through four is Dui; the upper from lines three through five is Zhen, giving Thunder over Lake (Guimei). If the result differs, check that line one is at the bottom and that the nuclear trigrams use the correct positions.

Operation	Line procedure	Common name or use
Complementary (cuo)	Flip each of the six yin-yang lines	Opposing figure; sometimes called “mutual passage”
Reversed (zong)	Turn the six-line figure upside down	Read from the opposite direction
Nuclear (hu)	Lines 2–4 form lower; 3–5 form upper trigram	Internal figure

Kong Yingda’s Correct Meaning of the Changes describes the received sequence as “paired two by two, either by inversion or by change.” “Inversion” means the next hexagram is the preceding one turned upside down. If inversion leaves the figure unchanged, its complementary figure is used instead. Qian, Kun, Nourishment, Great Exceeding, Kan, Li, Inner Truth, and Small Exceeding are symmetrical when reversed, so their received partners use the complementary figure. This helps explain the paired structure but does not prove that one principle created the entire sequence at one time.

Practice#

Find the complementary, reversed, and nuclear figures of Return (Fu).
Find the nuclear hexagram of Water over Fire, Established Completion.
Choose five neighboring pairs in the received sequence and test “either inverted or changed.”

Check your understanding#

What is Qian’s nuclear hexagram?
What is the reversed hexagram of Difficulty at the Beginning (Zhun)?
Why is Kun paired with Qian?

Answers: 1. Qian. 2. Youthful Folly (Meng). 3. Reversing Qian leaves it unchanged, so the complementary hexagram Kun is used.

Lesson 51 · Close Reading: Qian and Kun#

Learning goals#

Use a five-step close-reading method.
Read Qian and Kun through both line position and text.

Lesson#

To close-read a hexagram, compare its figure, hexagram statement, commentaries, line statements, and positional structure. Read the base text separately from later explanations. The Tuan explains the hexagram statement; the Great Image draws a lesson from the whole figure; the Lesser Images interpret individual lines; the Wenyan develops Qian and Kun specifically.

Use five steps: identify the figure; read the hexagram statement; compare the Tuan and Great Image; read each line statement alongside the Lesser Image and line position; then summarize the movement through the six lines, noting the textual evidence for the summary.

Qian position	Line statement	Structural cue
Initial Nine	Hidden dragon. Do not act.	Lowest position; early stage
Nine Two	Dragon appears in the field; it is beneficial to meet the great person.	Central in the lower trigram
Nine Three	The noble person is active all day and vigilant at night; danger, but no blame.	Top of the lower trigram, at a transition
Nine Four	Hesitating flight over the deep; no blame.	Beginning of the upper trigram, between advance and retreat
Nine Five	Flying dragon in the heavens; it is beneficial to meet the great person.	Central in the upper trigram, often called the ruler position
Top Nine	Arrogant dragon; there will be cause for regret.	At the extreme
Use the Nine	A flight of dragons without a head; good fortune.	Special statement for Qian

Qian’s hexagram statement reads “Originating, prosperous, beneficial, steadfast” (yuan heng li zhen); commentators differ on zhen, which can relate to divination or to steadfast correctness. The Great Image says, “Heaven moves with strength; the noble person cultivates himself without ceasing.” Nine Five’s “flying dragon” and Top Nine’s “arrogant dragon” create a textual contrast between position and excess. This is a reading supported by adjacent line statements, not a forecast that every career follows six fixed stages.

Kun position	Line statement	Common interpretive cue
Initial Six	Treading on frost; solid ice will arrive.	Infer change from a small sign
Six Two	Straight, square, great; without practice, nothing is unfavorable.	Central and proper; later read as upright and generous
Six Three	Holding beauty within may be steadfast; one may serve the king but not claim achievement.	Keep ability contained; serve without claiming credit
Six Four	A tied-up sack; no blame, no praise.	Restrain speech and action
Six Five	Yellow lower garment; great good fortune.	Humility in a high position
Top Six	Dragons fight in the field; their blood is dark and yellow.	Yin and yang contend at an extreme
Use the Six	It is beneficial to be eternally steadfast.	Special statement for Kun

Kun’s statement includes “beneficial for the mare’s steadfastness”; a mare is a female horse. The Great Image says, “The earth’s condition is receptive; the noble person supports all things with deep virtue.” Initial Six’s “treading on frost; solid ice will arrive” later became a saying about preventing small problems from growing. Keep the original line, commentary, and later proverb distinct.

Practice#

Copy the Qian and Kun line statements.
Summarize each hexagram’s movement in one sentence, citing the lines that support your reading.
Read a section of Qian’s Wenyan and note how it expands the classic text.

Check your understanding#

Which Qian line is central and proper?
Which line says “Treading on frost; solid ice will arrive”?
How can the Top Nine’s “arrogant dragon” be read from its position?

Answers: 1. Nine Five. 2. Initial Six of Kun. 3. It is the top position, at the extreme.

Lesson 52 · Image-Number and Meaning-Principle: How to Read a Hexagram#

Learning goals#

Recognize major historical approaches to Yijing reading.
Read one line through both image-number and meaning-principle lenses.

Lesson#

Image-number (xiangshu) and meaning-principle (yili) describe different emphases in Yijing study. Image-number readings use figures, numbers, directions, and transformation rules. Meaning-principle readings ask what ideas, ethics, or ways of acting the text expresses. These are not “superstition versus reason,” and a scholar may draw on both. Ask what evidence a reading uses and what question it is answering before assigning a school label.

Han readers developed several image-number methods. Meng Xi’s “hexagram qi” pairs figures with seasonal time. Jing Fang’s najia inserts stems and branches into lines; the Eight Palaces group the sixty-four hexagrams into eight families, each named after a “palace” hexagram. Yu Fan used hexagram transformation, complementary passage, and nuclear figures. Each term has a particular procedure; do not infer the method from its name alone.

Wang Bi of the Wei-Jin period emphasized moving from images and words toward meaning: “One obtains the meaning and forgets the image; one obtains the image and forgets the words.” Cheng Yi’s Song Yichuan Commentary reads the text through Confucian ethics. Zhu Xi’s Original Meaning of the Changes says, “The Changes is originally a book of divination,” emphasizing its divinatory-text context before later meaning. Shao Yong is known for Earlier Heaven diagrams and numerical interpretation. In modern scholarship, Gao Heng and Li Jingchi read line statements through ancient language and history; Shang Binghe reconstructed image-number interpretations. They ask different questions: how the text formed, how figures operate, or what ideas the words express.

Take Qian, Nine Three: “The noble person is active all day and vigilant at night; danger, but no blame.” An image-number reading may note that Nine Three is at the top of the lower trigram and beneath the upper trigram, and connect the repeated Qian figures with “active all day.” A meaning-principle reading may emphasize diligence and vigilance at a point of transition. Both should return to the words and line position, identify the evidence, and explain the connection.

Not every interpretation is equally supported. Ask whether it respects context, identifies its commentator or edition, shows a reproducible figure procedure, and avoids leaps between the text and conclusion. If a line is turned into a concrete prediction about a modern person, state that the reading has moved from textual study into a personal divination claim.

Practice#

Write an image-number reading and a meaning-principle reading for a daily hexagram.
Explain “obtaining the meaning, forgetting the image” and how it differs from Meihua Yishu’s use of images.
In Zhu Xi’s commentary on one hexagram, mark where it discusses divination and where it discusses principle.

Check your understanding#

Who is associated with “obtaining the meaning, forgetting the image”?
Who emphasized that the Yijing is originally a divination book?
Which approach is Yu Fan associated with?

Answers: 1. Wang Bi. 2. Zhu Xi. 3. Image-number.

Lesson 53 · The Twelve Growth Hexagrams and Hexagram Qi#

Learning goals#

Memorize the Twelve Growth Hexagrams and their month branches.
Understand one historical form of hexagram-qi theory.

Lesson#

“Growth and decline” (xiaoxi) describes yin and yang lines waxing and waning through the year. The Twelve Growth Hexagrams assign one hexagram to each month. Around the winter solstice, one yang line appears at the bottom of Kun, producing Return (Fu). Yang lines then increase from the bottom upward until Qian in the fourth month. After the summer solstice, one yin line appears at the bottom of Encounter (Gou), and yin increases until Kun in the tenth month. The sequence encodes a traditional model of seasonal change; it is not an astronomical instrument for measuring weather or daylight.

Month branch	Lunar month	Hexagram	Line pattern from bottom	Seasonal marker
Zi	11	Return (Fu)	One yang begins	Winter solstice
Chou	12	Approach (Lin)	Two yang	—
Yin	1	Peace (Tai)	Three yang	“Three yangs open peace”
Mao	2	Great Strength (Dazhuang)	Four yang	Spring equinox
Chen	3	Breakthrough (Guai)	Five yang	—
Si	4	Qian	Six yang	—
Wu	5	Encounter (Gou)	One yin begins	Summer solstice
Wei	6	Retreat (Dun)	Two yin	—
Shen	7	Obstruction (Pi)	Three yin	—
You	8	Viewing (Guan)	Four yin	Autumn equinox
Xu	9	Stripping Away (Bo)	Five yin	—
Hai	10	Kun	Six yin	—

Return’s single yang line beneath five yin lines symbolizes the return of yang at the winter solstice; hence “one yang returns.” Peace has three yang lines below three yin lines and is paired with the Yin month. The phrase “three yangs open peace” later became a New Year’s greeting; everyday use need not refer to the hexagram-qi scheme.

Han hexagram-qi theory also used the Four Cardinal Hexagrams—Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui—with twenty-four solar terms, one line per term. Jing Fang’s line assigned the other sixty hexagrams to the days of the year in “six days and seven parts”: an ancient calculation divided a day into eighty parts, and distributed the remaining five and one-quarter days after assigning sixty hexagrams six days each. Different hexagram-qi writers used different details. Textual transmission of Meng Xi’s theory is debated, so treat it as a historical scheme rather than one uncontested system. In the course’s date example, Hai month corresponds with Kun; after the winter solstice on December 22, 2026, Zi month corresponds with Return under the stated calendar convention.

Practice#

Draw the Twelve Growth Hexagrams from Return through Kun.
Explain “three yangs open peace” using the figure of Peace.
Name the growth hexagram for the current month branch.

Check your understanding#

Which hexagram corresponds to Wu month?
Which hexagram and solar term are associated with “one yang returns”?
What are the Four Cardinal Hexagrams?

Answers: 1. Encounter (Gou). 2. Return (Fu) and the winter solstice. 3. Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui.

Lesson 54 · How to Read the Sixty-Four Hexagrams Closely#

Learning goals#

Build a long-term reading plan.
Use a one-line hexagram gloss as a memory aid without treating it as a complete interpretation.

Lesson#

A one-line gloss is a memory anchor, not a substitute for the hexagram and line statements or commentaries. For close reading, first inspect the figure and name, then read the hexagram statement, Tuan, Great Image, each line statement and Lesser Image, and finally write a summary with the passages that support it. Keep your own reading distinct from the commentator’s and identify the edition.

For Gu (“Work on What Has Been Spoiled”), a brief gloss such as “repairing accumulated problems” helps memory but does not explain the whole hexagram. Its statement includes “work on the father’s decay,” involving inheritance and repair of what a predecessor left behind. Read the lines and compare the Tuan, Xiang, and later commentators to see how family order was extended into political ethics. The gloss is only a starting point.

Reading purpose	Suggested text	What to observe
Introductory translation	Huang Shouqi and Zhang Shanwen, Translation and Notes on the Zhouyi	Compare original with a modern rendering
Divinatory context	Zhu Xi, Original Meaning of the Changes	Zhu Xi’s reading of the text and divination
Meaning-principle	Cheng Yi, Yichuan Commentary	Song Confucian ethical interpretation
Ancient history	Gao Heng, Commentary on the Ancient Classic of Changes	Ancient language and historical setting
Image-number	Shang Binghe, Shang’s Learning on the Changes	Later reconstruction of image-number readings
Western-language translation	Richard Wilhelm’s German translation; 1950 English edition with Jung’s foreword	Cross-language translation and interpretation

These texts represent different questions and do not replace one another. Start with one translation, then compare a second commentary on the same hexagram. Mark “base text,” “commentary,” and “my summary” separately. The compact one-line table below is for review, not an exhaustive account of each hexagram:

Hexagram	Memory gloss	Hexagram	Memory gloss	Hexagram	Memory gloss	Hexagram	Memory gloss
Qian	Strength	Kun	Receptivity	Zhun	Difficulty at the beginning	Meng	Learning
Xu	Waiting	Song	Conflict	Shi	The army	Bi	Joining
Xiaochu	Small accumulation	Lu	Treading carefully	Tai	Peace	Pi	Obstruction
Tongren	Fellowship	Dayou	Great possession	Qian	Modesty	Yu	Ease / preparation
Sui	Following	Gu	Repairing decay	Lin	Approaching	Guan	Observing
Shike	Biting through	Bi	Adornment	Bo	Stripping away	Fu	Return
Wuwang	Innocence	Daxu	Great accumulation	Yi	Nourishment	Daguo	Great excess
Kan	Repeated danger	Li	Clinging / light	Xian	Influence	Heng	Duration
Dun	Retreat	Dazhuang	Great strength	Jin	Advance	Mingyi	Light injured
Jiaren	The family	Kui	Opposition	Jian	Difficulty	Xie	Release
Sun	Decrease	Yi	Increase	Guai	Breakthrough	Gou	Encounter
Cui	Gathering	Sheng	Rising	Kun	Oppression	Jing	The well
Ge	Revolution	Ding	The cauldron	Zhen	Thunder	Gen	Stillness
Jian	Gradual progress	Guimei	Marrying maiden	Feng	Abundance	Lü	The traveler
Xun	Penetrating	Dui	Joy	Huan	Dispersion	Jie	Limitation
Zhongfu	Inner truth	Xiaoguo	Small excess	Jiji	Already completed	Weiji	Not yet completed

After a first pass through the hexagrams, reading one hexagram statement and Great Image a day, a second pass can examine all line statements over about sixty-four days. A third pass can compare related themes such as Peace and Obstruction, Decrease and Increase, or Already Completed and Not Yet Completed.

Practice#

Cover the memory glosses and recall twenty hexagram themes from their names.
Compare three pairs such as Peace/Obstruction, Decrease/Increase, and Stripping Away/Return.
Write a schedule for a second close-reading pass.

Check your understanding#

What is the memory gloss for Gu?
What is Zhongfu commonly glossed as?
Which hexagram is associated with “light injured”?

Answers: 1. Repairing accumulated problems. 2. Inner truth. 3. Mingyi.

Lesson 55 · Assessment II: The Sixty-Four Hexagrams#

Review#

This assessment checks whether hexagram identification, line-position analysis, and text reading work together. For Wind over Thunder, Increase (Yifeng), identify upper Xun and lower Zhen, then write the lines from bottom upward. For proper position, centrality, and correspondence, check each position instead of guessing from the name. Complementary, reversed, and nuclear figures require three distinct operations.

For Wind over Thunder, the complementary figure is Thunder over Wind, Duration (Heng); the reversed figure is Mountain over Lake, Decrease (Sun); the nuclear figure is Mountain over Earth, Stripping Away (Bo). Recalculate from the six-line sequence if the result differs. Historical explanation questions should also identify the thinker and reading context: Wang Bi’s “forgetting the image” and Zhu Xi’s emphasis on divination represent distinct approaches, not the only two voices in Yijing studies.

Closed-book assessment#

Suggested time: 45 minutes. Passing score: 80 out of 100.

Identify hexagrams from their upper and lower trigrams: upper Kan/lower Qian; upper Li/lower Kun; upper Gen/lower Dui; upper Xun/lower Zhen; upper Dui/lower Kan. (10 points)
Give upper and lower trigrams from the names Darkening of the Light, Marrying Maiden, Gradual Progress, Work on What Has Been Spoiled, and Conflict. (10 points)
Recite the received hexagram-sequence song. (10 points)
For Wind over Thunder, list all six line labels, proper positions, corresponding pairs, and central-and-correct lines. (12 points)
Find its complementary, reversed, and nuclear hexagrams. (9 points)
Give the line statements for Qian Nine Five, Kun Initial Six, and Kun Six Two. (9 points)
Write the Twelve Growth Hexagrams with their month branches. (12 points)
Who is associated with “obtaining the meaning, forgetting the image,” and who with “the Changes is originally a book of divination”? Which approaches are they associated with? (8 points)
Explain “paired two by two, either inverted or changed,” with an example. (10 points)
Give one-line memory glosses for ten hexagrams of your choice. (10 points)

Answer key for supplied items: 1. Waiting, Progress, Decrease, Increase, Oppression. 2. Upper Kun/lower Li; upper Zhen/lower Dui; upper Xun/lower Gen; upper Gen/lower Xun; upper Qian/lower Kan. 4. From bottom: Initial Nine, Six Two, Six Three, Six Four, Nine Five, Top Nine; proper positions: Initial Nine, Six Two, Six Four, Nine Five; all three pairs correspond; central-and-correct: Six Two and Nine Five. 5. Complementary: Thunder over Wind, Duration; reversed: Mountain over Lake, Decrease; nuclear: Mountain over Earth, Stripping Away. 8. Wang Bi (meaning-principle); Zhu Xi (combining approaches while emphasizing divination’s textual context).

Module outcome#

You are ready to continue when you can name and construct hexagrams, distinguish line operations, compare interpretive methods, and support a close reading with specific text rather than a memory gloss alone.

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