Héng · Duration
Upper trigram: ☳ Thunder · lower trigram: ☴ Wind
Constancy within movement; what endures renews itself without ceasing to be itself. Persevere on your way.
The archaic graph shows a boat sailing steadily between the two banks of a river despite the currents, joined to the sign of the moon immutably pursuing its cycle across the sky. It symbolises continuity within the discontinuous, fidelity to one's course, and the capacity to maintain a lasting orientation of life through the fluctuations of time.
The stabilisation of gains and fidelity to the course
This hexagram describes a phase of long-term consolidation. The situation is not one of change or revolution, but of perseverance and respect for commitments made. It is the situation of the settled marriage, of the routine management of an enterprise, or of fidelity to a spiritual line of conduct. The stake is to hold over time without growing weary.
Adapt one's modalities to preserve the essential
Endurance according to the Yi Jing is not obstinate rigidity or stupid stubbornness, but a capacity to renew oneself continually in order to remain faithful to one's aim. The text counsels "not changing one's direction", but adjusting one's actions to the movements of the world, like the compass that stays steady while the ship pitches. It is through this constant adaptability that one protects one's structures from the wear of time.
In its energetic architecture, the trigram of the Wind (Xun, gentle penetration, the eldest daughter) sits below, under the trigram of Thunder (Zhen, violent movement, the eldest son) above. Movement (Thunder) rests on flexibility (Wind), which feeds it from within, creating a dynamic balance capable of lasting. The challenge is to avoid sclerosis by bringing life into regularity.
Each line is read only if it is changing in your cast. A changing line transforms the figure: the link under each text shows which hexagram it leads to.
Three-coin or yarrow-stalk cast, changing lines, outlook figure — computed on your device, no account.