Hexagrams and palaces
The 64 hexagrams and how they are named
By Vi Nhật Sơn · Updated
64 quẻ và cách gọi tên quẻ
The 64 hexagrams and how they are named — what is it? The 64 hexagrams: a hexagram is two trigrams stacked together, an Upper and a Lower, and the name of the hexagram is formed from the Upper and the Lower.
The 64 hexagrams: a hexagram of the Yi is made of two trigrams stacked on each other, divided into an upper and a lower one, called the Upper and the Lower. The Upper is the trigram above and the Lower is the trigram below, and naming falls into two cases.
Case 1: the Upper and the Lower are the same
When the Upper and the Lower are the same — say Qian above and Qian below — it is called Càn vi Thiên, The Creative (Qian), that is, by the formula:
trigram name – vi – the Chinese meaning of the trigram
Or it is called Bát thuần Càn, the Pure hexagram of Qian, that is, by the formula:
Pure hexagram – trigram name
Case 2: the Upper and the Lower are different
When the Upper and the Lower are different, the naming goes as follows:
Chinese meaning of the Upper trigram – Chinese meaning of the Lower trigram – hexagram name
Example: Qian above and Dui below: Thiên Trạch Lý, Treading (Lü).
Table of the 64 hexagrams
The hexagram name goes its own way for the remaining 56 hexagrams; there is no general rule:
| Upper →Lower ↓ | 1Heaven | 2Lake | 3Fire | 4Thunder | 5Wind | 6Water | 7Mountain | 8Earth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Heaven | The Creative Qian 1.1 | Breakthrough Guai 2.1 | Great Possession Da You 3.1 | Great Power Da Zhuang 4.1 | Small Taming Xiao Chu 5.1 | Waiting Xu 6.1 | Great Taming Da Chu 7.1 | Peace Tai 8.1 |
| 2Lake | Treading Lü 1.2 | The Joyous Dui 2.2 | Opposition Kui 3.2 | The Marrying Maiden Gui Mei 4.2 | Inner Truth Zhong Fu 5.2 | Limitation Jie 6.2 | Decrease Sun 7.2 | Approach Lin 8.2 |
| 3Fire | Fellowship Tong Ren 1.3 | Revolution Ge 2.3 | The Clinging Li 3.3 | Abundance Feng 4.3 | The Family Jia Ren 5.3 | After Completion Ji Ji 6.3 | Grace Bi 7.3 | Darkening of the Light Ming Yi 8.3 |
| 4Thunder | Innocence Wu Wang 1.4 | Following Sui 2.4 | Biting Through Shi He 3.4 | The Arousing Zhen 4.4 | Increase Yi 5.4 | Difficulty at the Beginning Zhun 6.4 | Nourishment Yi 7.4 | Return Fu 8.4 |
| 5Wind | Coming to Meet Gou 1.5 | Great Exceeding Da Guo 2.5 | The Cauldron Ding 3.5 | Duration Heng 4.5 | The Gentle Xun 5.5 | The Well Jing 6.5 | Repairing the Decayed Gu 7.5 | Pushing Upward Sheng 8.5 |
| 6Water | Conflict Song 1.6 | Oppression Kun 2.6 | Before Completion Wei Ji 3.6 | Deliverance Xie 4.6 | Dispersion Huan 5.6 | The Abysmal Kan 6.6 | Youthful Folly Meng 7.6 | The Army Shi 8.6 |
| 7Mountain | Retreat Dun 1.7 | Influence Xian 2.7 | The Wanderer Lü 3.7 | Small Exceeding Xiao Guo 4.7 | Gradual Progress Jian 5.7 | Obstruction Jian 6.7 | Keeping Still Gen 7.7 | Modesty Qian 8.7 |
| 8Earth | Standstill Pi 1.8 | Gathering Together Cui 2.8 | Progress Jin 3.8 | Enthusiasm Yu 4.8 | Contemplation Guan 5.8 | Holding Together Bi 6.8 | Splitting Apart Bo 7.8 | The Receptive Kun 8.8 |
See also
- Eight Trigrams — the eight trigrams and their ordinal numbers
- The eight palaces and the 64 hexagrams — the chart of each hexagram
- Stem-branch assignment — the order of the hexagrams in a palace, Pure, Wandering Soul and Returning Soul hexagrams
- Casting a hexagram, Casting a hexagram from the time