Building blocks of the hexagrams
The Eight Trigrams
Every hexagram is built from two of eight trigrams. Lines are listed from the bottom up, 1 for a solid (yang) line and 0 for a broken (yin) line.
| Trigram | Image | Quality | Family role | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kun 坤 ☷ | Earth | the receptive, yielding | Mother | 000 |
| Zhen 震 ☳ | Thunder | the arousing, movement | Eldest son | 100 |
| Kan 坎 ☵ | Water | the abysmal, danger | Middle son | 010 |
| Dui 兌 ☱ | Lake | the joyous, open | Youngest daughter | 110 |
| Gen 艮 ☶ | Mountain | keeping still | Youngest son | 001 |
| Li 離 ☲ | Fire | the clinging, clarity | Middle daughter | 101 |
| Xun 巽 ☴ | Wind | the gentle, penetrating | Eldest daughter | 011 |
| Qian 乾 ☰ | Heaven | the creative, strong | Father | 111 |
Sixty-four hexagrams come from eight lower trigrams times eight upper trigrams. Browse them in the library.
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The Free I Ching. "The Eight Trigrams." https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams (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 are licensed CC BY 4.0.
Updated October 7, 2026. Markdown version