The 64 Hexagrams: A Liu Yao Practitioner's Reading Map
All 64 hexagrams of the I Ching in one practitioner's map — what each one points toward in a Liu Yao reading, and where to go deeper.
By Master Shen
Every I Ching casting resolves to one of 64 hexagrams — and if a line is moving, to a second hexagram it is becoming. This page is the map of all 64 as a Liu Yao practitioner reads them: not fixed fortunes, but 64 distinct situations, each with its own logic about what the moment permits.
Use it in either direction. If you have just cast, find your hexagram below and follow the link to its full reading map (articles are being published steadily; unlinked entries are on the way). If you are learning the system, read the map for its structure: the sequence itself — creation, difficulty, learning, waiting, conflict, and onward to the deliberately unfinished ending — is the oldest complete model of how situations evolve.
If you are new to the method itself, start with What is Liu Yao? and Reading the Changing Line, then come back.
How to use this map
- Cast your hexagram — three coins, six throws (why coins).
- Identify the hexagram number from the trigram pair (lower trigram first).
- Note any moving lines. In Liu Yao, the moving line is the center of the reading — the hexagram describes the terrain; the line tells you where you stand on it.
- Read the entry below for orientation, then the full article for the line-by-line map. And ask the question well — the reading is only as sharp as the question.
The Upper Canon: Hexagrams 1–30
The first thirty hexagrams trace the arc from pure creative force through the fundamental situations of the world taking form.
| # | Hexagram | What it points toward in a reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 乾 Qián — The Creative | Pure initiating force; the question is timing, not capacity |
| 2 | 坤 Kūn — The Receptive | Power through receiving and carrying; leading by following the situation's grain |
| 3 | 屯 Zhūn — Difficulty at the Beginning | Real potential pushing through unformed ground; build support before pushing |
| 4 | 蒙 Méng — Youthful Folly | Inexperience meeting a teacher; the terms of learning matter |
| 5 | 需 Xū — Waiting | Strategic patience before genuine strength crosses the water |
| 6 | 訟 Sòng — Conflict | A dispute that rewards settling over winning |
| 7 | 師 Shī — The Army | Disciplined collective effort; leadership under a right cause |
| 8 | 比 Bǐ — Holding Together | Alliance and belonging; commit while joining is still timely |
| 9 | 小畜 Xiǎo Chù — Small Taming | Small restraints on a large force; the dense cloud, not yet rain |
| 10 | 履 Lǚ — Treading | Walking behind the tiger; correct conduct in a delicate position |
| 11 | 泰 Tài — Peace | Heaven and earth in exchange; the open season for undertakings |
| 12 | 否 Pǐ — Standstill | The channels closed; withdraw value from what cannot flow |
| 13 | 同人 Tóng Rén — Fellowship | Common cause in the open; alignment beyond the private circle |
| 14 | 大有 Dà Yǒu — Great Possession | Abundance held at the meridian; generosity as the way to keep it |
| 15 | 謙 Qiān — Modesty | The mountain beneath the earth; the one hexagram favorable at every line |
| 16 | 豫 Yù — Enthusiasm | Energy that moves others; momentum needing a true axis |
| 17 | 隨 Suí — Following | Adapting to what leads; choosing what deserves your following |
| 18 | 蠱 Gǔ — Work on the Decayed | Repairing what neglect has spoiled; inherited disorder made right |
| 19 | 臨 Lín — Approach | A favorable tide arriving; act within its season |
| 20 | 觀 Guān — Contemplation | Standing back to see the whole; being seen while observing |
| 21 | 噬嗑 Shì Hé — Biting Through | An obstacle that must be bitten through, cleanly and lawfully |
| 22 | 賁 Bì — Grace | Form and adornment doing real but limited work; substance beneath polish |
| 23 | 剝 Bō — Splitting Apart | Erosion near its end; do not contend with the collapse |
| 24 | 復 Fù — Return | The turning point; the first returning light after the stripping |
| 25 | 无妄 Wú Wàng — Innocence | Unpremeditated correctness; misfortune only through contrivance |
| 26 | 大畜 Dà Chù — Great Taming | Great force held and cultivated; the charged container |
| 27 | 頤 Yí — Nourishment | What you feed and what feeds you; watch what fills the mouth |
| 28 | 大過 Dà Guò — Great Excess | The beam bending under extraordinary load; exceptional measures |
| 29 | 坎 Kǎn — The Abysmal | Doubled danger; move through like water, without losing yourself |
| 30 | 離 Lí — The Clinging | Brightness that must cling to fuel; clarity's dependence |
The Lower Canon: Hexagrams 31–64
The second canon opens with mutual attraction — the beginning of the human world — and closes, deliberately, with the unfinished.
| # | Hexagram | What it points toward in a reading |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | 咸 Xián — Influence | Genuine mutual response; courtship in the widest sense |
| 32 | 恆 Héng — Duration | What lasts and how; constancy as motion, not standstill |
| 33 | 遯 Dùn — Retreat | Timely withdrawal with dignity; distance as strength |
| 34 | 大壯 Dà Zhuàng — Great Power | Strength at full flood; the test is restraint |
| 35 | 晉 Jìn — Progress | Advance in the open daylight; visibility and reward |
| 36 | 明夷 Míng Yí — Darkening of the Light | Keeping the inner light alive under adverse conditions |
| 37 | 家人 Jiā Rén — The Family | Order in the inner sphere; roles, words, and warmth at home |
| 38 | 睽 Kuí — Opposition | Estrangement and misreading; small unions remain possible |
| 39 | 蹇 Jiǎn — Obstruction | The blocked road; go around, go back, gather allies |
| 40 | 解 Xiè — Deliverance | The knot released; forgive quickly, finish cleanly |
| 41 | 損 Sǔn — Decrease | Giving from below to above; loss that rebalances |
| 42 | 益 Yì — Increase | Gain flowing downward; the season for bold, benefiting action |
| 43 | 夬 Guài — Breakthrough | The last weakness confronted openly; resolution without malice |
| 44 | 姤 Gòu — Coming to Meet | An unexpected arrival, small but potent; meet it with clear terms |
| 45 | 萃 Cuì — Gathering | People and resources converging; order the gathering well |
| 46 | 升 Shēng — Pushing Upward | Step-by-step ascent through effort that accumulates |
| 47 | 困 Kùn — Oppression | Exhaustion and constraint; words fail, conduct speaks |
| 48 | 井 Jǐng — The Well | The unchanging source; maintain the well and the rope |
| 49 | 革 Gé — Revolution | Molting; change that is right only when the day is right |
| 50 | 鼎 Dǐng — The Cauldron | Transformation into culture; the vessel that cooks the new |
| 51 | 震 Zhèn — The Arousing | Shock and its aftermath; composure inside the thunder |
| 52 | 艮 Gèn — Keeping Still | Stopping at the right place; stillness as a completed act |
| 53 | 漸 Jiàn — Development | Gradual, ordered advance; the wild goose's measured stages |
| 54 | 歸妹 Guī Mèi — The Marrying Maiden | Entering on secondary terms; clear eyes about the arrangement |
| 55 | 豐 Fēng — Abundance | Fullness at noon; act inside the peak, expect the turning |
| 56 | 旅 Lǚ — The Wanderer | Passing through as a stranger; travel light, offend no one |
| 57 | 巽 Xùn — The Gentle | Penetrating influence through persistence, not force |
| 58 | 兌 Duì — The Joyous | Exchange that delights; joy needing an honest center |
| 59 | 渙 Huàn — Dispersion | Dissolving what has hardened; scattering that reunites |
| 60 | 節 Jié — Limitation | Measures and limits; the discipline that must not become bitter |
| 61 | 中孚 Zhōng Fú — Inner Truth | Sincerity that penetrates; the hollow center that carries |
| 62 | 小過 Xiǎo Guò — Small Excess | Small crossings only; keep low, keep modest, land soon |
| 63 | 既濟 Jì Jì — After Completion | Everything finally in place — and therefore beginning to shift |
| 64 | 未濟 Wèi Jì — Before Completion | The crossing not yet made; the I Ching's deliberately open ending |
Why the sequence ends unfinished
The King Wen sequence closes not with completion but with 未濟 — Before Completion. Hexagram 63, where every line sits in its structurally correct place, comes second to last; the final word goes to the hexagram where every line sits incorrectly, the fox's tail not yet across the river. The arrangement is the teaching: no situation is final, and every reading describes a moment in motion, not a verdict.
That is also why a Liu Yao reading never stops at the hexagram name. Two people casting the same hexagram with different moving lines are in materially different situations — one may be told to advance, the other to stop. The articles linked above are built around exactly that distinction, line by line.
A note on what a Liu Yao reading is and isn't
A reading offers a structured reflection on the situation you bring to it. It is not a prediction of fixed outcomes, and it is not a substitute for medical, legal, financial, or psychological advice. If you are facing a serious decision in any of these areas, please consult a licensed professional.
Further reading
- What is Liu Yao? The classical Chinese hexagram method — the foundation essay
- From I Ching to Liu Yao: Deepening Your Reading Practice — the bridge from book-reading to practice
- Reading the Changing Line: What Most Translations Miss — the center of the method
- Liu Yao vs Wilhelm I Ching: A Side-by-Side — how the two reading styles differ on the same casting
- How to Ask the I Ching a Useful Question — the half of the reading you control
A reading on your situation
If you have cast a hexagram in response to a real question, a general map can only go so far. The reading that matters takes your specific question, your specific changing line, and the timing of the casting and reads them together.
This is what Master Shen does. Every first-time reader is welcome to a free opening reading — a brief personal note on what the hexagram is pointing to in your situation, with no payment and no obligation.
A reading on your situation
Want a Liu Yao reading on your specific question?
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