64 I Ching Hexagrams — Complete Interpretation Guide

A hexagram is a figure of six stacked lines used in the I Ching. Each line is either solid (yang) or broken (yin). The 64 possible combinations describe every situation life can present. Each hexagram has a name, a judgment, an image, and six individual line readings.

Two methods are traditional. The yarrow-stalk method uses 50 stalks and four ritualised divisions per line; it takes about 20 minutes. The three-coin method tosses three coins six times — heads count 3, tails count 2 — totals of 6, 7, 8, or 9 give the line type and whether it is changing. The I Ching app reproduces both digitally.

A changing line is a line that is "in motion" — it is in the process of turning into its opposite (yang → yin, or yin → yang). Changing lines have their own short reading. They also transform the original hexagram into a second hexagram, which describes the next phase of the situation.

All three refer to the same Chinese classic, 易經 (Book of Changes). "I Ching" is the older Wade–Giles romanization, "Yi Jing" is modern Pinyin, and "Yi King" is the traditional French rendering. We use them interchangeably across this site.

Open the page of the hexagram you cast and read the Judgment and image first. Then read each changing line for specific guidance, and map the overall energy onto your question. For a love reading the upper trigram often describes the other person and the lower trigram yourself; for a career reading, upper is the outer situation (company, market) and lower is your inner state.

The I Ching is not a fortune-telling device that "predicts" outcomes. It is a 3,000-year-old system for reflecting on a situation through 64 symbolic patterns. Its accuracy is the accuracy of the reflection it provokes — questions usually answer themselves once the right pattern is named.

Our interpretations draw on the classical Chinese text together with Richard Wilhelm's German translation (rendered into English) and the original Japanese commentary. Each individual hexagram page links to the original line text and the Wilhelm-tradition reading.