学 · learn · 周易
The eight trigrams
八卦 — the eight trigrams — are three lines each: eight possible figures made from yin and yang. They are the alphabet of the whole system.
卦
One line, doubled and tripled
Two lines give four combinations. Three lines give eight: 乾 qian, 兑 dui, 离 li, 震 zhen, 巽 xun, 坎 kan, 艮 gen, 坤 kun.
Each trigram is read as a natural image, and those images are how the tradition talks about situations without naming them.
The eight and what they picture
乾 heaven (all yang), 坤 earth (all yin), 震 thunder, 巽 wind, 坎 water, 离 fire, 艮 mountain, 兑 lake.
So thunder over heaven is a real description of a mood: a shock arriving in a wide open sky. Once you know the images, hexagram names stop being codes.
Why they matter in a reading
Every hexagram is two trigrams stacked — an upper and a lower. That is where names like 雷天大壮 (thunder over heaven) come from, and it is how a reader knows whether the situation is two halves supporting each other or pulling against each other.
It also tells you the elements involved: each trigram carries one of the five movements.
How much do you need to memorize?
For a reading, nothing. You can meet a hexagram as a whole. The trigrams are worth knowing because they make the description concrete — mountain, lake, wind, thunder — instead of abstract.
Try it tonight
Cast one hexagram and read its two trigrams as two images: what is above, and what is below.
Cast a hexagramQuestions people ask
What are the eight trigrams in order?
乾 heaven, 兑 lake, 离 fire, 震 thunder, 巽 wind, 坎 water, 艮 mountain, 坤 earth — the same eight used in the Korean flag and in feng shui compasses.
Do I need to memorize the eight?
No. They are useful, not required. A readable description of the two images is worth more than reciting the list.
Are trigrams used outside the I Ching?
Yes — feng shui, Chinese medicine and the calendar all use them. They are part of the general vocabulary of the tradition.
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Last updated 2 November 2026
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