I Ching - The Book of Changes

The I Ching (Book of Changes) is a 5000 year old Chinese text which addresses the principle of change and gives an all-encompassing description of the world in 64 complex pictures (hexagrams). Each hexagram consists of two trigrams (there is a total of 8 different trigrams with cosmologic attribution). Each trigram consists of 3 lines. Each line can have one of two possible appearances: Yang (uninterrupted line, male, active principle) or Yin (broken line, female, passive principle).

The I Ching can be understood and used as a symbol system to identify order in random events. For many thousand years it has been used as an oracle, to describe a situation and the change resulting from it.

The 64 Hexagrams

1 — Ch'ien, The Creative
2 — K'un, The Receptive
3 — Chun, Difficulty at the Beginning
4 — Mêng, Youthful Folly
5 — Hsu, Waiting (Nourishment)
6 — Sung, Conflict
7 — Shih, The Army
8 — Pi, Holding Together (Union)
9 — Hsiao Ch'u, The Taming Power of the Small
10 — Lu, Treading (Conduct)
11 — T'ai, Peace
12 — P'i, Standstill (Stagnation)
13 — T'ung Jên, Fellowship with Men
14 — Ta Yu, Possession in Great Measure
15 — Ch'ien, Modesty
16 — Yu, Enthusiasm
17 — Sui, Following
18 — Ku, Work on What Has Been Spoiled (Decay)
19 — Lin, Approach
20 — Kuan, Contemplation (View)
21 — Shih Ho, Biting Through
22 — Pi, Grace
23 — Po, Splitting Apart
24 — Fu, Return (The Turning Point)
25 — Wu Wang, Innocence (The Unexpected)
26 — Ta Ch'u, The Taming Power of the Great
27 — I, The Corners of the Mouth (Providing Nourishment)
28 — Ta Kuo, Preponderance of the Great
29 — K'an, The Abysmal (Water)
30 — Li, The Clinging, Fire
31 — Hsien, Influence (Wooing)
32 — Hêng, Duration
33 — Tun, Retreat
34 — Ta Chuang, The Power of the Great
35 — Chin, Progress
36 — Ming I, Darkening of the Light
37 — Chia Jên, The Family (The Clan)
38 — K'uei, Opposition
39 — Chien, Obstruction
40 — Hsieh, Deliverance
41 — Sun, Decrease
42 — I, Increase
43 — Kuai, Break-through (Resoluteness)
44 — Kou, Coming to Meet
45 — Ts'ui, Gathering Together (Massing)
46 — Shêng, Pushing Upward
47 — K'un, Oppression (Exhaustion)
48 — Ching, The Well
49 — Ko, Revolution (Molting)
50 — Ting, The Caldron
51 — Chên, The Arousing (Shock, Thunder)
52 — Kên, Keeping Still, Mountain
53 — Chien, Development (Gradual Progress)
54 — Kuei Mei, The Marrying Maiden
55 — Fêng, Abundance (Fullness)
56 — Lu, The Wanderer
57 — Sun, The Gentle (The Penetrating, Wind)
58 — Tui, The Joyous, Lake
59 — Huan, Dispersion (Dissolution)
60 — Chieh, Limitation
61 — Chung Fu, Inner Truth
62 — Hsiao Kuo, Preponderance of the Small
63 — Chi Chi, After Completion
64 — Wei Chi, Before Completion