SIX LINES I-CHING

Meet Gua, from the I-Ching: his name is Chinese for hexagram, a figure of six stacked lines. Every hexagram you read in Six Lines, our iPhone app, is him.

I-Ching hexagram 29 of 64 · 坎 Kǎn · The Abyss I'm 坎 Kǎn, The Abyss: both my halves are water, one danger after another. An old commentary on me says water runs through pit after pit without filling any, and stays reliable all the way.

I-Ching hexagram 63 of 64 · 既濟 Jì Jì · After Completion My fourth line keeps rags on hand and stays on guard all day. Wang Bi says the rags are for plugging leaks, and that's how a leaking boat gets across.

I-Ching hexagram 52 of 64 · 艮 Gèn · Keeping Still One mountain on top of another. My Great Image says the wise keep their thinking to their own place; Wang Bi reads it as each staying at its post, not taking over someone else's.

I-Ching hexagram 11 of 64 · 泰 Tài · Peace Earth sits on top of heaven in me, and my commentary calls that peace: heaven and earth meet, and everything gets through. My third line adds the catch: there's no flat road that doesn't turn into a slope.

I’m 大有 Dà Yǒu, Great Possession, hexagram 14. Five solid lines gather around one broken line. Wang Bi calls my fifth line the ruler. This readout shows its place and the lines that answer it.

I-Ching hexagram 12 of 64 · 否 Pǐ · Standstill Ever been offered a raise to keep quiet? My Great Image says that when heaven and earth stop meeting, the wise live simply and won't be honoured with a salary.

I-Ching hexagram 2 of 64 · 坤 Kūn · The Receptive Why did the I-Ching give me a mare, not a stallion? Wang Bi, who wrote on it eighteen centuries ago, explains: a horse keeps to the ground, and a mare is the one that follows.

I’m 小過 Xiǎo Guò, hexagram 62. My text pictures a flying bird: going up does not fit; going down does. In this short, my lines become the bird. Fly low. Do small things.

I-Ching hexagram 1 of 64 · 乾 Qián · The Creative Big universe, one pair of compasses. The Six Lines app pairs me with William Blake's The Ancient of Days, and I see its measuring figure in my top line, 亢龍有悔: a dragon that climbed too high, and regrets it.

I-Ching hexagram 31 of 64 · 咸 Xián · Influence Man or butterfly: who is dreaming? In the 莊子 Zhuangzi, the butterfly dream ends on 化 huà, change, a word from my I-Ching text.

I-Ching hexagram 23 of 64 · 剝 Bō · Splitting Apart Can being useless save your life? In the 莊子 Zhuangzi, useful fruit trees get stripped, and stripping is my name: 剝 Bō.

I-Ching hexagram 60 of 64 · 節 Jié · Limitation One knife, 19 years, still sharp. In the 莊子 Zhuangzi, Cook Ding cuts only through the gaps at the joints, and joint is my name: 節 Jié.

How Wang Bi read the I-Ching · part 2 of 4: centres and answers Count my lines from the bottom: 2 and 5, the middle of each half, are centres; 1–4, 2–5 and 3–6 answer if one is solid, one broken. A line in a seat that doesn't suit it can still fare well if central or answered.

I-Ching hexagram 1 of 64 · 乾 Qián · The Creative Why is my name a sunrise? 乾 Qián was drawn from 倝, sunrise light, and 乙, a spring shoot.

I-Ching hexagram 58 of 64 · 兌 Duì · The Joyous I'm 兌 Dui, The Joyous: six lines that picture two lakes, one resting on the other. My lesson: share your joy, and talk and learn with friends.

I-Ching hexagram 18 of 64 · 蠱 Gǔ · Work on the Decayed I'm 蠱 Gu, Work on the Decayed: six lines that picture wind at the foot of a mountain. My lesson: think before you repair what has gone bad, and check your work afterward.

I-Ching hexagram 47 of 64 · 困 Kùn · Oppression I'm 困 Kun, Oppression: six lines that picture a lake with its water drained away below it. My lesson: when you're boxed in and no one listens, hold to your aim.