The I Ching: an overview

The three meanings of 'yi'

A Han-dynasty commentary, the Qianzaodu, says that the word yi 'holds three meanings': ease, change and constancy. Later tradition summarised them as simplicity, change and the unchanging: the underlying order of things is simple; everything is in constant change; and change itself follows patterns that can be grasped. For a decision-maker they map onto three questions: what is essential, what is moving, and what does not move?

Jing originally meant the warp thread of a fabric, and came to mean a canonical text. The Zhou in Zhouyi may refer to the Zhou dynasty or to 'all-encompassing'.

Origins: tradition and scholarship

The traditional account, recorded in the Han History, is that 'three sages across three ages' made the book: Fu Xi drew the trigrams, King Wen doubled them into sixty-four hexagrams and wrote the judgments, the Duke of Zhou wrote the line statements, and Confucius wrote the Ten Wings. This narrative shaped two thousand years of reading—but modern scholarship offers a more cautious picture.

Most scholars today regard the core text (judgments and line statements) as a Western Zhou divination text compiled around the ninth century BCE; Edward Shaughnessy, comparing its language with bronze inscriptions, dates its compilation to the late Western Zhou. The Ten Wings come from several authors between the Warring States period and the early Han. Confucius' authorship of the Wings has been questioned since Ouyang Xiu in the eleventh century.

Excavated manuscripts have made the book three-dimensional: the Chu bamboo Zhouyi in the Shanghai Museum (c. 300 BCE), the Mawangdui silk manuscripts with previously unknown commentaries such as the Yao (tomb sealed 168 BCE), the Fuyang Han slips, the Wangjiatai Guicang, and the Tsinghua manuscripts Shifa and Biegua published in 2013. They show different orderings, characters and readings of the same classic over time.

In five minutes

1. Two kinds of line. Yang is a solid line (⚊), yin a broken one (⚋).
2. Eight trigrams. Three lines stacked give eight figures: Heaven, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth.
3. Sixty-four hexagrams. Two trigrams stacked: 8 × 8 = 64. The bottom one is the lower (inner) trigram, the top one the upper (outer) trigram. Lines are counted from the bottom: 1 to 6.
4. A layered text. Each hexagram has a name, a judgment on the whole and six line statements on the six positions; hexagrams 1 and 2 have an extra statement for all lines changing. Then come the Ten Wings: the Tuan commentary, the Image commentary (Great and Small Images), the Great Commentary (Xici), the Wenyan, and the discussions of the trigrams and of the sequence.
5. Read, don't predict. A hexagram describes the structure of a situation: where you stand, with whom you resonate, how close danger is, whether the time has come. It helps you see your situation; it does not decide for you.

An example: hexagram 64, Before Completion: fire above water, the two not meeting. The judgment speaks of a little fox that has nearly crossed the river and wets its tail. The Book of Changes ends 'not yet complete': every completion is a new beginning.

Reflect, don't predict

善为易者不占。

'Those who are good at the Changes do not divine.' Xunzi treated the book as knowledge of situations and character.

“不恒其德，或承之羞。”子曰：“不占而已矣。”

Confucius quotes line 3 of hexagram 32, 'Duration', then adds: there is no need to divine—the meaning is already clear.

易，我后其祝卜矣，我观其德义耳也。

In this excavated text Confucius says he puts divination last and looks for the virtue and meaning in the Changes.

君子居则观其象而玩其辞，动则观其变而玩其占。

At rest, the noble person studies the images and words; in action, the changes. Reading is the norm; consulting is the exceptional moment.

得意而忘象，得象而忘言。

Once the meaning is grasped, the image can be forgotten; once the image is grasped, the words. Wang Bi founded the reading of the Changes for meaning.

易，变易也，随时变易以从道也。

The Changes are about change: changing with the times in order to follow the Way—the very idea of the timely mean.

What the book is not

• It is not a prediction: the same hexagram means different things for different people in different situations.
• It is not a substitute for medical, psychological, legal or financial advice.
• Beware the Barnum effect: vague, general descriptions easily feel personal.
• Beware confirmation bias: remembering hits and forgetting misses, or re-casting until you get the answer you want (hexagram 4: 'asked twice or thrice, it is importunity').

The Mirror: six positions for a real situation

This tool casts nothing. It borrows the logic of the six line positions to ask six questions. Your answers stay on your device; if you are signed in, you can save them to your space.

Five lenses

Twenty-five maxims from the Great Image commentary, grouped by five areas of life. Each links to its hexagram.

Study

• 4. 蒙 Youthful Folly
  山下出泉，蒙；君子以果行育德。
  A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain: the image of youth. The noble person fosters character through decisive action.
• 26. 大畜 The Taming Power of the Great
  天在山中，大畜；君子以多识前言往行，以畜其德。
  Heaven within the mountain: the image of great accumulation. The noble person acquaints themself with many sayings of antiquity and deeds of the past, to strengthen their character.
• 58. 兑 The Joyous
  丽泽，兑；君子以朋友讲习。
  Lakes resting one on the other: the image of the joyous. The noble person joins with friends for discussion and practice.
• 42. 益 Increase
  风雷，益；君子以见善则迁，有过则改。
  Wind and thunder: the image of increase. When the noble person sees good, they imitate it; when they have faults, they rid themselves of them.
• 53. 渐 Development
  山上有木，渐；君子以居贤德善俗。
  On the mountain, a tree: the image of development. The noble person abides in dignity and virtue, in order to improve the mores.

Work

• 1. 乾 The Creative · Heaven
  天行健，君子以自强不息。
  Heaven moves with ceaseless vigour; the noble person strengthens themself without pause.
• 48. 井 The Well
  木上有水，井；君子以劳民劝相。
  Water over wood: the image of the well. The noble person encourages the people at their work, and exhorts them to help one another.
• 7. 师 The Army
  地中有水，师；君子以容民畜众。
  In the middle of the earth is water: the image of the army. The noble person increases the masses by generosity toward the people.
• 18. 蛊 Work on What Has Been Spoiled
  山下有风，蛊；君子以振民育德。
  The wind blows low on the mountain: the image of decay. The noble person stirs up the people and strengthens their spirit.
• 50. 鼎 The Cauldron
  木上有火，鼎；君子以正位凝命。
  Fire over wood: the image of the cauldron. The noble person consolidates their fate by making their position correct.

Relationships

• 31. 咸 Influence
  山上有泽，咸；君子以虚受人。
  A lake on the mountain: the image of influence. The noble person encourages people to approach by readiness to receive them.
• 37. 家人 The Family
  风自火出，家人；君子以言有物而行有恒。
  Wind comes forth from fire: the image of the family. The noble person has substance in their words and duration in their way of life.
• 13. 同人 Fellowship with Others
  天与火，同人；君子以类族辨物。
  Heaven together with fire: the image of fellowship. The noble person organises the clans and makes distinctions between things.
• 38. 睽 Opposition
  上火下泽，睽；君子以同而异。
  Above, fire; below, the lake: the image of opposition. Amid all fellowship the noble person retains their individuality.
• 61. 中孚 Inner Truth
  泽上有风，中孚；君子以议狱缓死。
  Wind over the lake: the image of inner truth. The noble person discusses criminal cases in order to delay executions—treating people with sincerity and humaneness.

Decisions

• 6. 讼 Conflict
  天与水违行，讼；君子以作事谋始。
  Heaven and water go their opposite ways: the image of conflict. The noble person, in all transactions, carefully plans the beginning.
• 52. 艮 Keeping Still
  兼山，艮；君子以思不出其位。
  Mountains standing close together: the image of keeping still. The noble person does not permit their thoughts to go beyond their situation.
• 54. 归妹 The Marrying Maiden
  泽上有雷，归妹；君子以永终知敝。
  Thunder over the lake: the image of the marrying maiden. The noble person understands the transitory in the light of the eternity of the end—foreseeing the flaws at the start.
• 64. 未济 Before Completion
  火在水上，未济；君子以慎辨物居方。
  Fire over water: the image of the condition before transition. The noble person is careful in differentiating things, so that each finds its place. In transition, clarify the position of every element.
• 43. 夬 Breakthrough
  泽上于天，夬；君子以施禄及下，居德则忌。
  The lake has risen up to heaven: the image of breakthrough. The noble person dispenses riches downward and refrains from resting on their virtue.

Difficult times

• 29. 坎 The Abysmal
  水洊至，习坎；君子以常德行，习教事。
  Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal: the image of the abysmal repeated. The noble person walks in lasting virtue and carries on the business of teaching.
• 47. 困 Oppression
  泽无水，困；君子以致命遂志。
  There is no water in the lake: the image of exhaustion. The noble person stakes their life on following their will. Hardship tests real conviction.
• 39. 蹇 Obstruction
  山上有水，蹇；君子以反身修德。
  Water on the mountain: the image of obstruction. The noble person turns their attention to themself and moulds their character.
• 36. 明夷 Darkening of the Light
  明入地中，明夷；君子以莅众，用晦而明。
  The light has sunk into the earth: the image of darkening of the light. The noble person lives with the great mass: veiling their light, yet still shining.
• 12. 否 Standstill
  天地不交，否；君子以俭德辟难，不可荣以禄。
  Heaven and earth do not unite: the image of standstill. The noble person falls back on inner worth to escape difficulties, and does not allow themself to be honoured with revenue.