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As you know, each hexagram is made of two trigrams. The lower three lines form the ‘lower’ or ‘inner’ trigram, the top three the ‘upper’ or ‘outer’ trigram. Since the trigrams represent fundamental ways energy moves, their interactions create new layers of meaning in the hexagrams.
An I Ching hexagram is composed of two trigrams. Each of the 64 hexagrams has its own name, meaning, and divinatory text. Here they all are, in the traditional order. Click on the image of an I Ching hexagram to get to its webpage.
- The Yin and Yang Lines
- Examples of Trigram Combinations
- Consider The Trigrams
- 1 — Heaven
- 2 — Lake
- 3 — Fire
- 4 — Thunder
- 5 — Wind
- 6 — Water
- 7 — Mountain
But this binary system of lines is not what gives concrete meaning to the hexagrams. For that, they are just too abstract. Also, they are probably combined into trigrams not as much for their yin-yang values as for the image they form. For example, the Mountain trigram to the right has the very crude form of a mountain, like for example the letter ...
Hexagram 12 consists of the Heaven trigram above and the Earth trigram below. It is quite outstanding, since it represents the polarities of yin and yang in a pure form and proper order: Heaven (yang) above Earth (yin). As it is and should be. The hexagram is called Standstill or Stagnation. Of course it is, since this is the normal order of things...
It may not always be very clear how the trigram combination leads to the meaning of the hexagram, but contemplating the question gives a deeper understanding of the symbolic system of the I Ching. Like all methods of divination, it works better the more familiar you are with it. Knowledge helps you evaluate what the I Ching says and how to interpre...
Trigram 1 is Heaven (qián or ch'ien), consisting of three solid Yang lines. Yang stands for heaven, light, and warmth. The trigram represents creativity, since Heaven is in ancient Chinese thought regarded as the origin of the world and the mightiest force in it. It also denotes the dry warming of the sun, and it suggests the male principle. It con...
Trigram 2 is the Lake (duì or tui), the big body of water. The trigram represents the joyous and open. The combination of lines may seem odd at first glance: Yin (the earthly) resting on two Yang (the heavenly). But the lake is an image of the sea, the primordial sea that most ancient creation myths contain as a primordial element. Since Heaven is ...
Trigram 3 is Fire (lí or li), the consuming energy, which is also one of the five Chinese elements. The trigram represents the clinging and radiance. It also stands for breaking free and departing. The lines show the earthly (Yin) surrounded by the heavenly (Yang). That brings a boost of potency to the earthly, enough to make it burst into flames. ...
Trigram 4 is Thunder (zhèn or chen), the powerful voice of heaven. The trigram represents the arousing and shaking, what disturbs and unsettles, and therefore what triggers change. A force that can be destructive as well as constructive. The trigram consists of two Yin (earthly) lines above a Yang (heavenly) one. So much earth on top of heaven can'...
Trigram 5 is Wind (xùn or sun), the movement of air, which is not one of the five Chinese elements — but wood is, and the trigram contains that meaning, too. The trigram represents the gentle and obedient, but also the ground, which is where the wind is felt and shows its power. The lines it consists of speak about it in their symbolic way. Two Yan...
Trigram 6 is Water (kan or k'an), which is one of the five Chinese elements. The trigram represents the abysmal, the gorge, since that's where the water naturally travels. The nature of water is to flow to the lowest place, as is pointed out in Chinese philosophy — for example the Tao Te Ching. The difference between what this trigram represents an...
Trigram 7 is the Mountain (gèn or ken), rooted in the earth and towering towards heaven. The trigrams represents stillness and they bound, since a mountain remains where it is, seemingly forever. The lines of the trigram form a simple mountainous shape: the full Yang line on top, and the two broken Yin lines below. The lines also suggest the mighty...
Classic and modern I Ching commentaries mention a number of different hexagram types: Eight Trigrams; Original Hexagram; Future Hexagram; Contrasting (Reverse) Hexagram (is found by turning a hexagram upside down) Complementary Hexagram (is found by changing all the lines into their opposite) Hexagram of Sequence
Below you will find links to read a comprehensive interpretation for each of the 64 hexagrams from the I Ching Book of Changes. All of these links include the meaning of each line in the I Ching. Click the links to explore each hexagram in detail. Hexagram 1 Qián The Creative. Hexagram 2 K'un The Receptive.
There are 64 hexagrams in all. They are created from all the possible pair combinations of 8 unique trigrams. Hexagrams are created by combining two trigrams. The relative position and the attributes of the trigrams are what give the hexagrams meaning.
Mar 9, 1999 · There are eight trigrams altogether, each named for a specific attribute, and associated with specific corerspondences. The combination of 8 x 8 trigrams result in the sixty four hexagrams, and insights into the nature of a hexagram can be deduced by studying it's component trigrams.
