Introduction to the Yijing
Zhouyi · Ten Wings · 64 Hexagrams · 384 Lines and Modern Functions
Key points: The Yijing in its broad sense consists of the Zhouyi core text and the Ten Wings (Yizhuan). It uses yin lines, yang lines, trigrams, 64 hexagrams, and 384 fixed line positions to describe situations and changes. It originally served divination purposes, and later developed philosophical, ethical, self-cultivation, decision-making, and cultural-educational functions. It is a classic formed over multiple periods and layers; it should not be simplified as the work of a single author in a single era.
1. What Is the Yijing
The Yijing (Book of Changes), also called the Zhouyi or simply Yi, is one of the Chinese classical classics. It uses yin lines and yang lines to form trigrams and hexagrams, and combined with hexagram statements, line statements, and commentaries through the ages, it discusses how to recognize situations, choose actions, and bear consequences in a changing world.
The word "Yi" (變) is commonly understood in three senses: change (變易) — all things are constantly changing; constancy (不易) — within change there remain identifiable relationships and order; and simplicity (簡易) — complex phenomena can be organized through simple symbols. These three interpretations are later generalizations about the Yi; they are helpful for beginners but cannot replace reading hexagram by hexagram.
2. Content and Formation of the Zhouyi
The core text of the Zhouyi is structured around 64 hexagrams. Each hexagram has a hexagram figure, a hexagram name, and a hexagram statement (卦辭); each of the six lines has its own line statement (爻辭). The Qian hexagram additionally has "Use of Nine" (用九), and the Kun hexagram has "Use of Six" (用六). According to this site's data segmentation method, a total of 450 fixed content units are established.
| Content | Count | Site Data Unit | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hexagrams | 64 | H01 to H64 | Represents a complete situation or theme |
| Hexagram statements | 64 | Hxx-JUDGMENT | Explains the main judgment of the whole hexagram |
| Line statements | 384 | Hxx-L1 to Hxx-L6 | Explains specific positions and stages |
| Use statements | 2 | H01-USE, H02-USE | Qian's Use of Nine and Kun's Use of Six |
| Total | 450 | Fixed unit_id | Supports multilingual translation, search, and version management |
3. Authors of the Zhouyi
The traditional account commonly uses the phrase "three sages across three ages" (人更三聖，世歷三古) to summarize the formation of the Yi, connecting Fuxi, King Wen of Zhou, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius into a single lineage of transmission. This is an important cultural narrative in the history of Chinese classical studies.
A more cautious statement for this site is: the Zhouyi was not written by one author at one time, but formed through long-term accumulation, compilation, and interpretation. Traditional authorship attributions should be preserved as historical data on classical studies, while modern academic assessments should be noted separately.
| Figure | Traditional Attribution | Modern Academic Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Fuxi (伏羲) | Drew the trigrams or created the hexagram figures | A legendary cultural ancestor; cannot be treated as a directly verifiable historical author |
| King Wen of Zhou (周文王) | Derived the 64 hexagrams and wrote the hexagram statements | May reflect early Western Zhou materials and Zhou historical memory, but difficult to prove as completed by one person |
| Duke of Zhou (周公) | Wrote the 384 line statements | Line statements show multiple sources and editorial traces; a single-author theory lacks direct evidence |
| Confucius (孔子) | Authored the Ten Wings | Confucius has deep ties to the Yijing tradition, but modern research mostly holds that the Ten Wings were formed gradually by different scholars from the Warring States to early Han period |
4. Content of the Ten Wings (Yizhuan)
The Yizhuan develops the hexagram and line symbols and judgments of the Zhouyi into discourse on cosmic change, human action, moral cultivation, political order, and symbolic cognition. The "Ten Wings" are ten chapter units; they do not necessarily correspond to ten independently composed, simultaneously completed works.
This project segments the Ten Wings into 750 fixed content units. The fixed codes and unit_id, once published, are not rewritten due to translation revisions, ensuring that site links, app bookmarks, and offline data continue to point to the same passage.
| Wing | Site Code | Main Function |
|---|---|---|
| Tuan zhuan (Upper & Lower) | TUAN-U · TUAN-L | Explains hexagram names, hexagram statements, and overall meaning |
| Xiang zhuan (Upper & Lower) | XIANG-U · XIANG-L | Uses the Great Image to explain the whole hexagram; uses the Small Image to explain each line |
| Xici zhuan (Upper & Lower) | XICI-U · XICI-L | Discusses yin-yang, change, image-numbers, divination, and the Way of the sage |
| Wenyan zhuan | WENYAN | Concentrated commentary on the virtues and practice of the Qian and Kun hexagrams |
| Shuogua zhuan | SHUOGUA | Explains the symbolism, directions, natural associations, and human affairs of the trigrams |
| Xugua zhuan | XUGUA | Explains the sequence and order of the 64 hexagrams |
| Zagua zhuan | ZAGUA | Compares hexagram meanings through paired contrasts and concise statements |
5. Yin-Yang, Trigrams, and Hexagrams
The symbols of the Yijing begin with two types of lines. The yang line is a continuous line; the yin line is a broken line. Three lines stacked vertically produce eight possible combinations, yielding the eight trigrams (經卦); two trigrams stacked produce a six-line hexagram.
Computation: 2³ = 8, 8 × 8 = 64, 64 × 6 = 384.
| Trigram | Figure | Common Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Qian (乾) | ☰ | Heaven |
| Dui (兌) | ☱ | Lake/Marsh |
| Li (離) | ☲ | Fire |
| Zhen (震) | ☳ | Thunder |
| Xun (巽) | ☴ | Wind |
| Kan (坎) | ☵ | Water |
| Gen (艮) | ☶ | Mountain |
| Kun (坤) | ☷ | Earth |
6. The Relationship Between 64 Hexagrams and 384 Lines
A hexagram represents a complete situation; a line represents a position, stage, and possible change within that situation. Each hexagram has six fixed line positions, read from bottom to top: Initial (初), Second (二), Third (三), Fourth (四), Fifth (五), and Top (上).
The hexagram statement answers how the overall situation is; the line statement answers what to note at a specific position. Whenever any line changes from yin to yang or yang to yin, the original hexagram transforms into another; interpretation can be divided into three layers: the original hexagram, the moving line, and the changed hexagram.
7. Common Structural Concepts in Reading Hexagrams
| Concept | Brief Explanation | Reading Note |
|---|---|---|
| Inner and Outer Trigrams | Lower three lines form the inner trigram; upper three lines form the outer trigram | Can be used to observe inner/outer, prior/later, or upper/lower dynamics |
| Center (中) | The second and fifth lines occupy the center of the lower and upper trigrams | Being central does not always mean auspicious; must be read with the whole hexagram |
| Correctness (正) | A yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even position is called "correctly positioned" | Correct positioning is a structural condition, not the sole criterion |
| Correspondence (應) | Initial and Fourth, Second and Fifth, Third and Top correspond to each other | Used to observe resonance between distant positions |
| Adjacency (比), Support (承), Riding (乘) | Describes the relationship between neighboring lines | Must be combined with yin-yang, position, and text to judge |
| Line change (爻變) | A line's yin-yang nature changes | Original hexagram = starting point; moving line = change indicator; changed hexagram = new structure |
8. Main Functions of the Yijing in Its Broad Sense
| No. | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Divination and inquiry | Using hexagram figures, hexagram statements, and line statements to respond to specific questions; the early core use of the Zhouyi |
| 2 | Situation recognition | Placing a problem within an overall structure to identify the current stage, role, constraints, and relationships |
| 3 | Decision support | Comparing feasible options and their conditions; prompting review of the past, examination of the present, and planning of the next step |
| 4 | Timing judgment | Focusing on when to advance, retreat, wait, cooperate, or change |
| 5 | Risk awareness | Using judgment terms such as auspicious (吉), ominous (凶), regret (悔), remorse (吝), danger (厲), and blameless (無咎) to indicate possible gains/losses and room for correction |
| 6 | Change deduction | Using yin-yang, line positions, hexagram transformation, and hexagram sequence to understand how states transition |
| 7 | Self-reflection | Through questioning and interpretation, pausing instinctive reactions to examine motives and biases |
| 8 | Moral cultivation | Discussing self-strengthening, generosity, humility, integrity, moderation, and responsibility |
| 9 | Interpersonal and organizational governance | Using upper/lower, inner/outer, correspondence, and positional relationships to think about leadership, cooperation, and accountability |
| 10 | Cosmic and natural worldview | Understanding the continuously generative world through yin-yang interaction, firm-yielding alternation, and the relationship of heaven, earth, and humanity |
| 11 | Symbolic and analogical thinking | Using finite symbols to organize complex phenomena, providing a framework for comparison and re-description of problems |
| 12 | Knowledge classification and education | Organizing nature, human affairs, ethics, politics, and life experience into a learnable conceptual system |
| 13 | Cultural transmission and research | Serving as an important text for philosophy, classical studies, intellectual history, literature, and East Asian cultural studies |
9. Modern Usage and Boundaries
Usage boundary: Modern websites and apps can position the Yijing as a tool for classical culture, philosophy of change, and structured reflection. Divination is one of its historical and cultural functions, but obtained hexagrams should not be claimed to have scientifically verified predictive accuracy.
| Suitable Uses | Should Not Replace or Claim |
|---|---|
| Reading classical texts and multilingual learning | Cannot pass off modern rewrites as the original text |
| Self-reflection and value clarification | Cannot guarantee foreknowledge of the future |
| Situation reconstruction and option review | Cannot replace fact-checking and professional analysis |
| Leadership, interpersonal, and organizational case discussion | Cannot use a single hexagram to make irreversible decisions on behalf of others |
| Philosophical, historical, and cultural education | Cannot claim that hexagram figures equate to modern physics, statistics, or causal laws |
| Creative association and change management | Cannot replace medical, legal, financial, or investment professional advice |
10. Reading Method for General Users
- First read the hexagram name and figure to understand the overall situation it addresses.
- Then read the hexagram statement to grasp the basic judgment and conditions of the whole hexagram.
- Read the six lines from bottom to top, observing how the situation develops step by step.
- Compare with the Tuan zhuan and Xiang zhuan to understand how later tradition interpreted the hexagram meaning and principles of action.
- When encountering terms like yin-yang, position, center, correctness, and correspondence, open the glossary; do not mechanically apply any single rule.
- Read the original text, translation, and modern commentary separately, preserving the boundary between text and interpretation.
16. Reference Sources
| ID | Source | URL |
|---|---|---|
| SRC-001 | Chinese Text Project — Zhouyi | ctext.org/book-of-changes/yi-jing/zh |
| SRC-002 | Wikisource — Yizhuan | zh.wikisource.org/wiki/易傳 |
| SRC-003 | Project Gutenberg SBE Vol.16 | gutenberg.org/ebooks/25501 |
| SRC-004 | Hanji Electronic Texts Database (Academia Sinica) | hanji.sinica.edu.tw |
| SRC-005 | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-change |
| SRC-006 | Taipei Confucius Temple Confucian Culture Network | tctcc.taipei |
| SRC-007 | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy | iep.utm.edu/yijing |
| SRC-008 | Ministry of Education Revised Chinese Dictionary | dict.revised.moe.edu.tw |
| SRC-009 | Ministry of Education Variant Character Dictionary | dict.variants.moe.edu.tw |
| SRC-010 | Xiaoxue Textual Studies Database | xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw |
| SRC-011 | National Central Library (Taiwan) | ncl.edu.tw |
| SRC-012 | Internet Archive SBC Vol.16 | archive.org/details/sacredbooksofchi16conf |
| SRC-013 | Unicode Yijing Hexagram Symbols Chart | unicode.org/charts/PDF/U4DC0.pdf |
Source verification date: September 13, 2026. URLs, versions, license terms, and citation scope should be reconfirmed before formal publication.