The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest and most respected texts of China, built around sixty-four hexagrams, each a stack of six broken or solid lines. This tool lets you look up any hexagram by its number and read its name and meaning in the classic King Wen sequence. It opens a door into a work that has guided reflection for thousands of years.
What a Hexagram Is
Each hexagram is made of six lines, every line either solid, standing for the active yang, or broken, standing for the receptive yin. Six lines give sixty-four possible combinations, and each combination has a name, an image, and a body of commentary. The hexagrams are read as portraits of situations and the way they change.
The King Wen Sequence
The sixty-four hexagrams are traditionally arranged in the King Wen order, named for the ancient figure credited with it. The sequence opens with the Creative and the Receptive, the pure yang and pure yin, and moves through the others in a meaningful progression. The lookup uses this classic order, so hexagram numbers match the ones in standard editions of the text.
What the Lookup Returns
Enter a number from one to sixty-four and the tool gives you that hexagram's name and meaning. You might find the Creative, the Well, Peace, or Difficulty at the Beginning, each a compact image of a phase of life. It is a quick reference for study or for following up a reading from elsewhere.
How the I Ching Is Used
Traditionally the I Ching is consulted by casting coins or yarrow stalks to build a hexagram, then reading its wisdom on a question. This tool is a reference rather than a casting oracle, so it is ideal for studying the meaning of a hexagram you already have, or simply for exploring the sixty-four images at your own pace.
How to Use It
Enter a number from one to sixty-four and calculate. The tool returns the hexagram's name and meaning. To find a hexagram from your birth date instead, try the companion Personal Hexagram tool.
Yin, Yang, and Change
The heart of the I Ching is change itself. Its lines are yin and yang, the receptive and the active, and a hexagram is a snapshot of how those forces stand at a moment, always ready to shift into something new. That is why the book is called the Book of Changes, it treats every situation as part of a flow rather than a fixed state. Reading a hexagram is really reading a moment in motion, which is what gives the text its enduring depth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hexagrams are there?
Sixty-four, each a stack of six yin or yang lines. The lookup covers all of them in the King Wen order.
What is the King Wen sequence?
The traditional ordering of the sixty-four hexagrams, beginning with the Creative and the Receptive. It is the order used in standard editions of the I Ching.
Does this cast a reading for me?
No, it is a reference tool. It returns a hexagram's name and meaning by number, ideal for study or for looking up a hexagram you already have.
What do yin and yang lines mean?
A solid line is yang, the active principle, and a broken line is yin, the receptive. Their arrangement in six lines gives each hexagram its character and its sense of how things are changing.
Can I read the hexagrams in order?
Yes, and many students do. Reading through the sixty-four in the King Wen sequence, from the Creative onward, is a classic way to get a feel for how the Book of Changes unfolds.
Explore more
Pair this with a few other world-tradition tools to dig a little deeper: Personal Hexagram Number, Ifa Odu Number, Egyptian Neteru Number and Egyptian Neteru Compatibility. They use different methods to reach the same goal, so a quick comparison is always worthwhile. There is more to discover under world-tradition calculators, or jump straight to all calculators.