I Ching Hexagram Chart: All 64 Names and Trigrams

Find the Name Behind Your Six Lines

You have six lines on the page. Now find the hexagram they form. Split the figure into a lower trigram and an upper trigram, then match them in the chart below. The result is its number in the King Wen sequence, the order used in many I Ching translations.

Quick links: Trigram key · Lookup chart · Names 1–16 · 17–32 · 33–48 · 49–64 · Worked example

This is a reference for identifying a figure you already have. If you still need to cast and record it, follow the three-coin method. For the wider context, visit our I Ching guide.

Read Your Figure From the Bottom Up

Line 1 is at the bottom and line 6 is at the top. Lines 1–3 form the lower trigram; lines 4–6 form the upper trigram. Keep the figure upright when looking it up.

For the patterns on this page, 1 means a solid yang line and 0 means a broken yin line. Read every digit string bottom to top. For example, 100 means solid at the bottom, broken in the middle and broken at the top: Thunder.

If you recorded coin totals, 7 and 9 are solid; 6 and 8 are broken. Identify the primary figure with those shapes first. To identify the relating figure, change each 6 to a solid line and each 9 to a broken line; keep 7 and 8 unchanged, then look up the new pair of trigrams. Save the original totals so you do not lose which lines changed.

The Eight Trigrams

The symbol shows the trigram as you draw it; the digit pattern starts at its bottom line. Wind is also called Wood, and Lake is also called Marsh in some books.

The 64-Hexagram Lookup Chart

Find your lower trigram in the left-hand column and your upper trigram across the top. Their intersection gives the hexagram number. Upper-column labels use the short names from the trigram key: Qian, Zhen, Kan, Gen, Kun, Xun, Li and Dui. The chart is split into four parts, with two upper trigrams in each part. Swipe within a table if needed.

Upper Trigrams: Heaven and Thunder

Upper Trigrams: Water and Mountain

Upper Trigrams: Earth and Wind

Upper Trigrams: Fire and Lake

All 64 Hexagrams in Number Order

Use the number to find the matching entry in your translation. Each six-line drawing is accompanied by a bottom-to-top digit pattern so you can check the figure either way. The trigram pair is written lower / upper.

English titles and romanization vary between translations. These are common reference names, not full judgments or changing-line translations. Pinyin here omits tone marks, so different Chinese names can have the same spelling; use the number and line pattern to distinguish them.

Hexagrams 1 to 16

Hexagrams 17 to 32

Hexagrams 33 to 48

Hexagrams 49 to 64

Worked Example: Water Over Thunder

Suppose your six coin totals, in the order you tossed them, are 7, 8, 8, 8, 7, 8. This is a made-up example for practicing the lookup.

1. Convert the totals to shapes: solid, broken, broken, broken, solid, broken. In bottom-to-top digits, that is 100010.
2. The first three digits, 100, are Thunder, the lower trigram.
3. The last three digits, 010, are Water, the upper trigram.
4. In the Water and Mountain chart, follow the Thunder row to the Kan (Water) column. The result is 3 — Difficulty at the Beginning (Zhun).

All six totals in this example are stable, so the figure does not change. As a second check, Water below Thunder is 40 — Deliverance, not 3. Reversing the two trigrams changes the hexagram.

After identifying your figure, read its numbered passage in your chosen translation. If your cast includes changing lines, our changing-lines guide helps you choose and record the passages you will read. A name alone is a starting point, not the whole reading.

When Your Book Shows a Different Name

Check the hexagram number and six line shapes before comparing English titles. For instance, 52 may be called Keeping Still or Mountain; the same lower and upper Mountain trigrams identify it. A different English title does not necessarily mean you have found a different hexagram.

If the figure still does not match, check three things: the first toss belongs at the bottom, the lower trigram uses lines 1–3, and only your recorded 6s and 9s change in the relating figure. Do not flip the page upside down or discard the original totals to make a title fit.

Continue Your Reading

Keep a short record: your question, six original totals, primary hexagram number, changing line positions, and relating hexagram number if there is one. Then note one practical question the reading raises for your situation.

For a separate on-screen reflection, you can visit the digital I Ching reading. Use the chart above with your hand-cast figures and your chosen book.

For entertainment and personal reflection.

Sources and Naming

• The Divination Foundation's lookup chart provides the lower/upper trigram-to-number reference and explains how the two groups of three lines form a hexagram.
• Russell Cottrell's Virtual Yarrow Stalks provides an independently checked six-line sequence and a numbered name reference. Our digit strings are explicitly written bottom to top.
• The Unicode Yijing Hexagram Symbols chart documents the 64 symbols. Our six-line drawings are original geometric illustrations; no chart image or font has been copied.

The lookup instructions, worked example and recording suggestions are by YesNoOracle Editorial Team. Consult a translation for the full hexagram and line texts.