The 64 hexagrams

The I Ching's 64 hexagrams are not a random list — they are a grid. Each hexagram is built from two stacked trigrams, and there are eight trigrams in total, each associated with one of the natural elements: Heaven (☰), Earth (☷), Water (☵), Fire (☲), Mountain (☶), Lake (☱), Thunder (☳), and Wind (☴). Stack any one of those eight as an upper trigram on top of any one as a lower trigram, and you get 8 × 8 = 64 hexagrams.

That structure tells you something about how a hexagram is read. The lower trigram describes the inner aspect of the situation — what is going on underneath, often what you bring to it. The upper trigram describes the outer aspect — what is going on around it, often what the world is pressing in. The hexagram as a whole is the interplay of the two.

Browse below by number, search by name (English or pinyin) or theme, or filter by the upper or lower element. Each hexagram links to a detail page with the classical Legge translation of its judgment and image, a plain-English overview, line-by-line commentary, and the related hexagrams it transforms into. If you are new to the I Ching, our casting guide walks through how a hexagram comes up in the first place, and our how-to-use guide shows what to do with it.