# Hexagram 32: Duration

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/32
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Zhen 震](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/zhen), Thunder, the arousing, movement
- **Lower trigram:** [Xun 巽](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/xun), Wind, the gentle, penetrating
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 011100 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Duration. What endures is not what is loudest or strongest at a given moment, but what is most consistently itself. The mountain that gives life to the valley does so because it stays where it is, day after day. Return each day to the same true direction, and the effect accumulates into something unshakable.

## Image

Thunder and wind, moving together without exhausting themselves. The superior person stands firm and does not change direction.

## Counsel

Choose commitments you can actually keep, and then keep them. Do not let novelty distract you from the long work. The gains here are cumulative and usually invisible in the short run. Trust the process, and return tomorrow to what you did today.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> To seek duration too quickly brings misfortune persistently.
> Nothing that would further.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> Remorse vanishes.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> Whoever does not give duration to their character
> will be offered disgrace.
> Persistent humiliation.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> There is no game in the field.

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> Giving duration to one's character through perseverance,
> this is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> Restlessness as a lasting condition brings misfortune.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [43 Breakthrough](https://thefreeiching.com/library/43)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [31 Influence](https://thefreeiching.com/library/31)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [42 Increase](https://thefreeiching.com/library/42)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [34 Great Power](https://thefreeiching.com/library/34) |
| Line 2 | [62 Small Preponderance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/62) |
| Line 3 | [40 Deliverance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/40) |
| Line 4 | [46 Pushing Upward](https://thefreeiching.com/library/46) |
| Line 5 | [28 Great Preponderance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/28) |
| Line 6 | [50 The Cauldron](https://thefreeiching.com/library/50) |

Previous: [31 Influence](https://thefreeiching.com/library/31). Next: [33 Retreat](https://thefreeiching.com/library/33). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 32: Duration." https://thefreeiching.com/library/32 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/32). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.