Hexagram 32: Héng (Duration)

The Judgment

Heng indicates successful progress and no error (in what it denotes). But the advantage will come from being firm and correct; and movement in any direction whatever will be advantageous.

恒：亨，无咎，利贞，利有攸往。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

Heng denotes long continuance. The strong (trigram) is above, and the weak one below; (they are the symbols of) thunder and wind, which are in mutual communication; (they have the qualities of) docility and motive force; their strong and weak (lines) all respond, each to the other: - these things are all found in Heng. (When it is said that) 'Heng indicates successful progress and no error (in what it denotes); but the advantage will come from being firm and correct,' this indicates that there must be long continuance in its way of operation. The way of heaven and earth is to be long continued in their operation without stopping. (When it is said that) 'Movement in any direction whatever will be advantageous,' this implies that when (the moving power) is spent, it will begin again. The sun and moon, realising in themselves (the course of Heaven), can perpetuate their shining. The four seasons, by their changing and transforming, can perpetuate their production (of things). The sages persevere long in their course, and all under the sky are transformed and perfect. When we look at what they continue doing long, the natural tendencies of heaven, earth, and all things can be seen.

彖曰：恒，久也。刚上而柔下，雷风相与，巽而动，刚柔皆应，恒。恒亨无咎利贞，久于其道也。天地之道，恒久而不已也。利有攸往，终则有始也。日月得天而能久照，四时变化而能久成，圣人久于其道而天下化成；观其所恒，而天地万物之情可见矣！

The Great Image

(The trigram representing) thunder and that for wind form Heng. The superior man, in accordance with this, stands firm, and does not change his method (of operation).

象曰：雷风，恒；君子以立不易方。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first SIX, divided, shows its subject deeply (desirous) of long continuance. Even with firm correctness there will be evil; there will be no advantage in any way.

   'The evil attached to the deep desire for long continuance (in the subject of the first line)' arises from the deep seeking for it at the commencement (of things).

   In plain words: Seeking depth and permanence from the start; holding on brings misfortune; nothing is gained. The first line is at the beginning of the hexagram of duration, yet rushes for depth instead of proceeding step by step. The Small Image says it seeks depth at the very start.

   初六：浚恒，贞凶，无攸利。 象曰：浚恒之凶，始求深也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows all occasion for repentance disappearing.

   'All occasion for repentance on the part of the subject of the second NINE, (undivided,), disappears:' - he can abide long in the due mean.

   In plain words: Regret vanishes. The second line is yang in a yin place and should have cause for regret, but it is central and can keep to the middle way for a long time. The Small Image says it can keep to the middle for long.

   九二：悔亡。 象曰：九二悔亡，能久中也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third NINE, undivided, shows one who does not continuously maintain his virtue. There are those who will impute this to him as a disgrace. However firm he may be, there will be ground for regret.

   'He does not continuously maintain his virtue:' - nowhere will he be borne with.

   In plain words: Not keeping one's virtue constant, one may meet disgrace; holding on brings regret. The third line is strong but not central, restless and unsettled. Confucius quotes this line in the Analects: of someone without constancy, one knows the outcome without consulting an oracle. The Small Image says there is nowhere to stay.

   九三：不恒其德，或承之羞，贞吝。 象曰：不恒其德，无所容也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth NINE, undivided, shows a field where there is no game.

   (Going) for long to what is not his proper place, how can he get game?

   In plain words: No game in the field. The fourth line is yang in a yin place, long in the wrong position: constant, but without result. The Small Image asks how one could catch anything when one has long been out of place.

   九四：田无禽。 象曰：久非其位，安得禽也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth SIX, divided, shows its subject continuously maintaining the virtue indicated by it. In a wife this will be fortunate; in a husband, evil.

   'Such firm correctness in a wife will be fortunate:' - it is hers to the end of life to follow with an unchanged mind. The husband must decide what is right, and lay down the rule accordingly: - for him to follow (like) a wife is evil.

   In plain words: Keeping one's virtue constant and steadfast: good fortune for a wife, misfortune for a husband. The fifth line is yielding in the place of honour, corresponds to the second and simply goes along. In the old code of conduct, a wife's virtue was compliance while a man was to decide matters by what was right, so simple compliance was wrong for him. The Small Image says a wife is fortunate in following one to the end, while a man must decide by what is right, and following a wife brings misfortune. This is an ancient ethic; read today, its point is that when a judgment is yours to make, simply going along is not enough.

   六五：恒其德，贞，妇人吉，夫子凶。 象曰：妇人贞吉，从一而终也。夫子制义，从妇凶也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject exciting himself to long continuance. There will be evil.

   'The subject of the topmost line is exciting himself to long continuance:' - far will he be from achieving merit.

   In plain words: Restless and never settling: misfortune. The top line is at the end of duration and at the top of the trigram of movement, agitated and unsettled. The Small Image says restlessness at the top achieves nothing at all.

   上六：振恒，凶。 象曰：振恒在上，大无功也。

Line positions

2 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).

The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; being one strong and one weak, they correspond.

Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 3 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.

Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.

These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.

Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces

Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Zhen palace runs: Zhèn (head), Yù (1st change), Xiè (2nd change), Héng (3rd change), Shēng (4th change), Jǐng (5th change), Dà Guò (wandering soul), Suí (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Heng to Sheng: should a long-serving dignitary step down?: A gentleman asked about the fortunes of a certain dignitary, and the cast gave the fourth line of Heng, "no game in the field". Prefacing his answer with "I will speak plainly; please do not take offence", Takashima judged that the man had held high office too long, his luck and powers had waned, and he should retire before people said he was merely occupying the seat.

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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction.

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