Hexagram 32 as yes or no
Hexagram 32 Constancy as a yes-or-no answer
Heng answers a yes-or-no question with 'yes to continuing, no to anything that is a change of course for its own sake'. The judgment grants success, no blame and 'favourable to have somewhere to go', but all under the condition of steadiness; the hexagram is about keeping on, and is most favourable when the question is whether to persist with something already begun. If the question is whether to start something new, Heng asks first whether it would disturb what you have already committed to.
The changing line qualifies this. Line one says no to pushing for depth or guarantees now. Line two says yes, keep to the middle and the doubts will clear. Line three says the problem is your own inconsistency, not the choice. Line four is a plain no: the ground is wrong, and persisting there yields nothing. Line five says yes if your role is to support, no if your role is to decide and you are deferring instead. The top line says stop generating action and let things settle before you ask again.
The hexagram in brief
Thunder and wind moving together without end: the lasting. Success and no blame for persevering in the right way; constancy is not standing still but moving reliably.
Keep your direction and your commitments; change your methods, not your principles.
The 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.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 恆 Constancy has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginningdigging too deep · too much too soon · the start
- 九二Nine in the second placeregret vanishes · long in the centre · steady despite the place
- 九三Nine in the third placeinconstant · shame follows · nowhere welcome
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeno game in the field · wrong place · persistence wasted
- 六五Six in the fifth placeconstant in virtue · to follow one · to decide for oneself
- 上六Six at the topagitated constancy · shaking at the top · no achievement
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 32, Constancy, mean yes or no?
- Heng answers a yes-or-no question with 'yes to continuing, no to anything that is a change of course for its own sake'. The judgment grants success, no blame and 'favourable to have somewhere to go', but all under the condition of steadiness; the hexagram is about keeping on, and is most favourable when the question is whether to persist with something already begun. If the question is whether to start something new, Heng asks first whether it would disturb what you have already committed to.
- What does Hexagram 32, 恆 Constancy, mean?
- Thunder and wind moving together without end: the lasting. Success and no blame for persevering in the right way; constancy is not standing still but moving reliably.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).