The 64 I Ching hexagrams
Look up all 64 I Ching hexagrams on an 8x8 grid, each with its figure, image, meaning and the place of each of its six lines. Choose a hexagram to also see its three related hexagrams: the inverse, the reversed and the nuclear. There is nothing to fill in.
Where this comes from
The sixty-four hexagrams of the Zhouyi. Hexagram numbers follow the King Wen order; the order, names and eight palaces are machine-checked against the verses in Zhu Xi's Zhouyi Benyi. The image line restates the Great Image commentary in plain words; the reading is Nhật Nguyệt's own understanding. Tradition credits the trigrams to Fu Xi, the judgments to King Wen, the line texts to the Duke of Zhou and the Ten Wings to Confucius; modern research does not treat that chain as established.
This tool is part of I Ching. See every tool and article on I Ching.
Classical allusion
“Trông mặt mà bắt hình dong.”
Translation: Read the face and you think you have the man.
Vietnamese proverb · A saying that both uses and warns against face reading
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The I Ching is an ancient text; hexagram figures, order and names can be checked against the original. Using hexagrams to foretell events has not been confirmed by any study, and this page does not use them to foretell.
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How are the 64 hexagrams built, and how do you read one?
The I Ching uses only two kinds of line: a solid line is yang, a broken line is yin. Three lines stacked make a trigram, and there are exactly eight: Càn, Đoài, Ly, Chấn, Tốn, Khảm, Cấn and Khôn (Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen and Kun in Chinese). Two trigrams stacked make a six-line hexagram, so 8 times 8 gives 64.
The six lines are read from the bottom up: the lowest is the first line, the highest the top line. The lower trigram is read as the inner side, what is already there; the upper trigram as the outer side, what is arriving. Hexagrams are numbered 1 to 64 in the order of the Zhou Yi text, which opens with Càn, Khôn, Truân and Mông.
Each hexagram comes with a name, an image line and a short commentary. The image line restates the sense of the Great Image commentary in plain words, as in Càn: "Heaven moves with unceasing strength." The commentary after it is Nhật Nguyệt's own reading, written briefly for readers today.
The six-line section reads each line by its position, in the traditional manner of Yi studies. A yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one is called correctly placed; lines 2 and 5 sit in the middle of a trigram and are called centered. Line 1 corresponds to line 4, 2 to 5 and 3 to 6, and a pair truly connects only when one is yin and the other yang. The Great Treatise sums up the positions: the second line often earns praise, the third often meets misfortune, the fourth is often anxious, the fifth often achieves.
Each hexagram has three related hexagrams, worked out by rearranging lines. The thác (inverse) hexagram flips all six lines, yin to yang and yang to yin, like the full reverse of the situation. The tổng (overturned) hexagram turns the figure upside down, like the same matter seen from the other side. The hỗ (nuclear) hexagram takes lines 2, 3, 4 as the lower trigram and 3, 4, 5 as the upper, read as the hidden core.
Tradition credits the eight trigrams to Fu Xi (Phục Hy), the hexagram statements to King Wen (Văn Vương), the line statements to the Duke of Zhou (Chu Công) and the Ten Wings commentaries to Confucius. Modern scholarship does not treat that chain as proven: the core text is usually dated to the Western Zhou, the commentaries later, roughly from the Warring States to the early Han.
| Trigram | Three lines (bottom up) | Image | Quality, per the Shuo Gua |
|---|---|---|---|
| Càn (Qian) | Solid, solid, solid | Heaven | Strong, unceasing |
| Đoài (Dui) | Solid, solid, broken | Lake | Joyous, open |
| Ly (Li) | Solid, broken, solid | Fire | Bright, clinging |
| Chấn (Zhen) | Solid, broken, broken | Thunder | Arousing, setting in motion |
| Tốn (Xun) | Broken, solid, solid | Wind | Gently penetrating |
| Khảm (Kan) | Broken, solid, broken | Water | Dangerous, sinking in |
| Cấn (Gen) | Broken, broken, solid | Mountain | Keeping still |
| Khôn (Kun) | Broken, broken, broken | Earth | Yielding, holding |
Frequently asked questions
Why are there exactly 64 hexagrams?
There are eight trigrams and each hexagram stacks two of them, so 8 times 8 is 64. Counting lines gives the same: six lines, each solid or broken, is 2 to the power of 6, or 64.
How are names like Thủy Hỏa Ký Tế built?
The first two words are the images of the upper and lower trigram, and the rest is the hexagram's own name. Thủy Hỏa Ký Tế is Water (Khảm) over Fire (Ly), and its name is Ký Tế, After Completion. A hexagram made of the same trigram twice is called Thuần, as in Thuần Càn.
How do the King Wen and Fu Xi orders differ?
The King Wen order is the sequence in the Zhou Yi text, where most hexagrams come in pairs that are each other turned upside down. The Fu Xi order arranges the 64 by yin and yang much like counting in binary, and was handed down by Shao Yong of the Song dynasty. Numbers here follow the King Wen order.
Why do some hexagrams stay the same when turned upside down?
Because the figure is symmetrical top to bottom. Eight hexagrams are like this: Thuần Càn (1), Thuần Khôn (2), Di (27), Đại Quá (28), Thuần Khảm (29), Thuần Ly (30), Trung Phu (61) and Tiểu Quá (62).
How do the Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven arrangements differ?
They are two ways of placing the same eight trigrams around a circle. The Earlier Heaven arrangement, traditionally credited to Fu Xi, sets the trigrams opposite each other by yin and yang, Càn facing Khôn. The Later Heaven arrangement, credited to King Wen, follows the directions, with Ly in the south and Khảm in the north, and is the one used in feng shui and on the compass.
Why aren't the line statements shown?
The 384 line statements are classical text, and the original wording has not been added here. Instead, each line is read by its position: correctly placed or not, centered or not, and whether it has a corresponding line.
Can the I Ching tell what will happen?
The I Ching has long been used for divination and also read as a book of philosophy. There is no scientific evidence that a hexagram can foretell events. Looking a hexagram up here means choosing one to read; nothing is cast at random.
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