EN (English)
䷟
Hexagram 32 of 64
Duration
恆 · Héng
Thunder above and wind below, the eldest son over the eldest daughter: the settled marriage to hexagram 31's courtship. The classic's hexagram of what endures.
endurance
constancy
marriage
staying power
- King Wen number
- 32 of 64
- Above
- ☳ Zhèn · Thunder
- Below
- ☴ Xùn · Wind
- Composition
- Thunder over Wind
- Lines, bottom to top
- Broken · solid · solid · solid · broken · broken
- Chinese
- 恆 · Héng
The Judgment
Success. No blame. It rewards holding to the course. It helps to have somewhere to go.
Duration is not stasis. The last clause insists that a lasting arrangement still needs a direction to move in.
The Image
Thunder and wind: Duration. So the noble person stands firm and does not change direction.
Two of the most changeable things in nature are used as the image of permanence. What lasts is the pattern, not the particular gust.
What it means
Heng follows Influence in the sequence, and the pairing is deliberate: attraction becomes an arrangement, courtship becomes a marriage. Thunder and wind are its images, which is a surprising choice for permanence until you notice the argument. Neither is a fixed object. Both are patterns that recur, and what endures in nature is the pattern rather than any particular instance of it.
That is why the Judgment adds that it helps to have somewhere to go. Duration in this book is not stillness. A lasting thing is one that keeps moving in a consistent direction, and the top line, restlessness that has become permanent, is the failure mode on the other side.
The lines identify the ways constancy goes wrong. Demanding it too early, before anything exists to sustain. Failing to give your own character any, which the Great Treatise cites as the mark of an unreliable person. And persisting where there is nothing to be had: no game in the field, four characters for faithful effort in the wrong place.
The fifth line divides its verdict by gender in a way that belongs to its period. It is preserved here as the text has it, and read as a description of an ancient household rather than as counsel.
In a reading
Duration as an answer concerns whether something will last, and it is broadly favourable to steady continuation.
Its three warnings are practical. Do not demand permanence before it has been earned. Do not be inconstant in your own conduct while expecting constancy around you. And check the fourth line: faithfulness to a field with no game in it is not a virtue, it is a misallocation.
The six lines
Read a line's text only when the cast made it a moving line. They are listed from the top of the figure down, the way the hexagram is drawn.
-
Six at the top
Restlessness as a permanent condition. Misfortune.
Agitation that has itself become the thing that lasts. The hexagram's exact inversion.
-
Six in the fifth place
Giving duration to one's character through steadfastness. For a wife, good fortune; for a husband, misfortune.
The book's ancient division of roles: constancy in following was praised in one and faulted in the other. The line preserves a Bronze Age household, not a rule about people.
-
Nine in the fourth place
No game in the field.
Persisting in the wrong place. Duration applied faithfully to something that was never going to yield anything.
-
Nine in the third place
One who gives no duration to their character meets disgrace. Persistent humiliation.
Inconstancy as a settled habit. The classic quotes this line elsewhere as the model of an unreliable person.
-
Nine in the second place
Regret disappears.
Three characters and no image. Constancy in the central place needs no elaboration.
-
Six at the beginning
Seeking duration too soon. Steadfastness brings misfortune. Nothing furthers.
Demanding permanence at the start, before anything has been established that could last.
Related figures
Latest Posts
Discover the ancient wisdom of tarot cards and unlock the mysteries of your spiritual journey. Our blog is your gateway to understanding the rich symbolism, meanings, and practical applications of tarot reading.
