Hexagram 32: 恒 (héng)
Judgment
恆：亨，无咎。利貞，利有攸往。
Hăng 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.
Commentary on the judgment (彖傳)
恆，久也。剛上而柔下，雷風相與，巽而動，剛柔皆應，恆。恆亨无咎，利貞；久于其道也，天地之道，恆久而不已也。利有攸往，終則有始也。日月得天，而能久照，四時變化，而能久成，聖人久于其道，而天下化成；觀其所恆，而天地萬物之情可見矣！
The image (大象)
雷風，恆；君子以立不易方。
The six lines
| Line | Chinese | Legge | Changes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 – – | 震恆，凶。 | The topmost line, divided, shows its subject exciting himself to long continuance. There will be evil. | 50 |
| 5 – – | 恆其德，貞，婦人吉，夫子凶。 | The fifth line, divided, shows its subject continuously maintaining the virtue indicated by it. In a wife this will be fortunate; in a husband, evil. | 28 |
| 4 — | 田无禽。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows a field where there is no game. | 46 |
| 3 — | 不恆其德，或承之羞，貞吝。 | The third line, 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. | 40 |
| 2 — | 悔亡。 | The second line, undivided, shows all occasion for repentance disappearing. | 62 |
| 1 – – | 浚恆，貞凶，无攸利。 | The first line, 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. | 34 |
Lines are numbered from the bottom. Each line page shows the line text with its small image commentary; each “changes to” link opens the reading for that changing line.
Related hexagrams
- Inverse (lines in reverse order): hexagram 31
- Opposite (every line changed): hexagram 42 · reading
- Nuclear (lines 2–4 and 3–5): hexagram 43
English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882) — public domain; OCR text of the 1882 printing, checked against the proofread hexagrams. Chinese: Zhou Yi from Chinese Wikisource.
Character glossary
- 恆héngconstant, persistent, regular
- 亨hēngprospering, going smoothly
- 无wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 咎jiùfault, defect; error, mistake
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 貞zhēnvirtuous, chaste, pure; loyal
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 攸yōudistant, far; adverbial prefix
- 往wǎngto go, to depart; past, former
- 浚jùnto dredge
- 凶xiōngculprit; murder; bad, sad
- 悔huǐto regret, to repent, to show remorse
- 亡wángdeath, destruction; to lose; to perish
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 德déethics, morality; compassion, kindness
- 或huòor, either, else; maybe, perhaps, possib
- 承chéngto undertake, to bear, to accept a duty;
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 羞xiūshame, disgrace; shy, ashamed
- 吝lìnstingy, miserly; parsimonious
- 田tiánfield, farm, arable land; cultivated
- 禽qínbirds, fowl; to capture; surname
- 婦fùmarried woman; wife
- 人rénman, person; people
- 吉jílucky, propitious, good
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 震zhènshake, quake, tremor; to excite
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.