All six lines changing in the I Ching: how to read it

When all six lines change, the usual rule is to read the Judgment of the changed hexagram, because the situation you asked about has turned over completely into its opposite. The two exceptions are Hexagram 1, Qian and Hexagram 2, Kun, which carry special texts for exactly this case: 用九 (yong jiu, "using the nines") and 用六 (yong liu, "using the sixes"). Such a cast is rare, and it describes a situation in full transition rather than a fixed outcome.

How rare it is

Each line has a one-in-four chance of being old (6 or 9) whether you use three coins or the yarrow stalks. Six old lines in one cast therefore come up with a probability of (1/4)⁶ — one in 4,096. Six old yang lines in Qian, or six old yin lines in Kun, are rarer still. Most people who consult the I Ching for years see this only a handful of times, which is one reason readers give it careful attention.

Every line flips: the changed hexagram is the opposite

When every line changes, every solid line becomes broken and every broken line becomes solid. The changed hexagram is therefore the primary's exact opposite (錯卦, also called 旁通) — the pairing described in nuclear, inverse and opposite hexagrams. Some examples:

• Hexagram 11, Tai (Peace) becomes Hexagram 12, Pi (Standstill), and vice versa.
• Hexagram 29, Kan (the Abysmal, water) becomes Hexagram 30, Li (the Clinging, fire).
• Hexagram 63, Ji Ji (After Completion) becomes Hexagram 64, Wei Ji (Before Completion).

So a six-line cast does not just say "things will change"; it names the precise reversal.

The rule: read the changed hexagram's Judgment

The Zhouyi itself gives no instruction for multiple moving lines. The convention almost everyone follows was set down by Zhu Xi (朱熹) in the Song dynasty and is summarised in changing lines in the I Ching. For six moving lines he directs you to the Judgment of the changed hexagram. The reasoning matches the rest of his scheme: the more lines move, the more the situation is the changed hexagram; when every line moves, nothing of the old configuration remains to be read, so you turn to the new one as a whole.

Not everyone stops there. Many readers also glance at the primary hexagram's Judgment as the starting point — where you are coming from — while giving the changed hexagram the final word. That is a reasonable addition, provided you do not use it to pick whichever text you prefer. As with any rule, the value lies in using it consistently.

The special texts: 用九 and 用六

Qian and Kun are the only hexagrams with a seventh text after the six lines. In the traditional reading, these are precisely the texts for a cast in which all six lines of Qian are nines, or all six lines of Kun are sixes.

• Qian, 用九: 見群龍無首，吉 — "There appears a flight of dragons without heads. Good fortune." (Wilhelm). The Small Image explains: 天德不可為首也, "the virtue of heaven cannot take the lead." Pure strength, fully in motion, is fortunate only when no one dragon insists on being at the front: power without domination, firmness that has learned yielding.
• Kun, 用六: 利永貞 — "Lasting perseverance furthers." The Small Image adds 以大終也, "it ends in greatness." Pure receptivity, fully in motion, becomes enduring firmness: the yielding has learned to stand.

The Zuozhuan (Duke Zhao, year 29) confirms the old link between these texts and a six-line change: it quotes the 用九 sentence as what Qian says when it goes to Kun. In both cases the special text points the same way as the changeover — each extreme taking on something of its opposite — which is why readers use it instead of simply reading the Judgment of Kun or Qian.

What such a cast says about the situation

A cast in which every line moves is the I Ching's picture of a complete turn. The Great Commentary says 易窮則變，變則通，通則久 — "when a change has run its course, it alters; altering, it gets through; getting through, it lasts." Read in that spirit, a six-line cast suggests:

• The current state of affairs is exhausted. Whatever defined the situation has gone as far as it can.
• You are in the transition, not after it. The answer describes a movement under way. Do not read it as a verdict already delivered.
• The new situation has the opposite character of the old. Peace becoming standstill and standstill becoming peace are both possible; the changed hexagram tells you which.
• Conduct still matters. The Judgment of the changed hexagram, and its Great Image, tell you how to meet what is arriving.

None of this calls for alarm. Wholesale change can be a release as much as a loss.

A worked example

You ask about a long project you have just finished: "What should I understand about the next stage of this work?" Every line comes out old: 9, 6, 9, 6, 9, 6 from the bottom. That is Hexagram 63, Ji Ji, After Completion, with all six lines moving into Hexagram 64, Wei Ji, Before Completion.

• Primary, as background: Ji Ji's Judgment warns 初吉終亂 — "at the beginning good fortune, at the end disorder." Completion is a fragile state.
• Changed hexagram, the answer: Wei Ji promises success, but warns of the little fox that, almost across the river, gets its tail wet: nothing that would further. The work is not, in fact, finished; the next phase must be approached with the caution of a crossing still under way.

The reading is coherent and specific: treat the "finished" project as the start of a new crossing, and do not relax at the last stretch.

How to apply this when you cast

• Check the count first. If the caster shows six moving lines, read the changed hexagram's Judgment and Great Image as the answer.
• If the primary is Qian or Kun, read 用九 or 用六 instead — on Qian's page and Kun's page they follow the six lines.
• Glance at the primary's Judgment to see what is ending, but let the changed hexagram speak last; see what the changed hexagram means.
• Summarise as a movement: "from ___ to ___; meet it by ___."
• For the opposite case, a cast where nothing moves, see no changing lines.