From Richard Wilhelm’s and Cary F. Baynes’ 1950 translations of the classic “I Ching: Or, Book of Changes”.
Click on a number 1-64 on the index below to see the explanation of each hexagram.
| ☰ | ☳ | ☵ | ☶ | ☷ | ☴ | ☲ | ☱ | |
| ☰ | 1 | 34 | 5 | 26 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 43 |
| ☳ | 25 | 51 | 3 | 27 | 24 | 42 | 21 | 17 |
| ☵ | 6 | 40 | 29 | 4 | 7 | 59 | 64 | 47 |
| ☶ | 33 | 62 | 39 | 52 | 15 | 53 | 56 | 31 |
| ☷ | 12 | 16 | 8 | 23 | 2 | 20 | 35 | 45 |
| ☴ | 44 | 32 | 48 | 18 | 46 | 57 | 50 | 28 |
| ☲ | 13 | 55 | 63 | 22 | 36 | 37 | 30 | 49 |
| ☱ | 10 | 54 | 60 | 41 | 19 | 61 | 38 | 58 |
I Ching Basics
This is intended only as a 1 page crash course, there is way more information to be found if you want to go more in depth.
The most common method involves flipping 3 coins and adding up their totals. This is repeated 6 times to generate the 6 lines of your hexagram.
- Flip 3 coins Depending on their total you either get a solid line or a broken line. Consult the table below. Heads are worth 3, tails are worth 2.
- Do this 6 times to build your hexagram from the bottom up (first coin toss is the bottom line).
- If you get any of the changing lines (see below) also consult the new hexagram formed by the lines changing. Your reading of the situation would then have 2 parts (x changing into y)
- Look up the meanings of the hexagrams you have generated (above table of trigrams links to all hexagram meanings).
| Coins | Equals | Line | Changes to… |
| HHH | 9(3+3+3) | ___ | _ _ |
| HHT | 8(3+3+2) | _ _ | (no change) |
| HTT | 7(3+2+2) | ___ | (no change) |
| TTT | 6(2+2+2) | _ _ | ___ |