Hexagram 11 of 64
Peace
泰 Tài
Upper trigram: 坤 Kūn, earth
Lower trigram: 乾 Qián, heaven
The judgment
小往大來，吉亨。
The small goes and the great comes. Good fortune. Success.
The Great Image
天地交，泰；后以財成天地之道，輔相天地之宜，以左右民。
Heaven and earth join: Peace. In the same way, the sovereign shapes and completes the way of heaven and earth, assists what suits heaven and earth, and so gives aid to the people.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初九
拔茅茹以其彙，征吉。
Pulling up cogon grass with its tangled roots, each with its kind. Setting out brings good fortune.
Pull one stalk of grass and the matted roots bring others up with it. Consider who would rise with you if you moved now.
Line 2 九二
包荒。用馮河，不遐遺；朋亡。得尚于中行。
Bearing with the wasteland. Crossing the river on foot. Not neglecting the distant. Friends vanish. Honor is gained by walking the middle.
The line asks for several things at once: patience with the rough, boldness at the river, memory of the distant and freedom from cliques. Ask which of these your present situation may need most from you.
Line 3 九三
无平不陂，无往不復，艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚，于食有福。
No flat without a slope. No going without a return. Hardship and holding firm bring no blame. Do not fret about its proving true. In eating there is blessing.
Every flat stretch has its slope, and the line says so plainly in good times. Consider what you could enjoy fully today while staying clear that it may change.
Line 4 六四
翩翩，不富以其鄰；不戒以孚。
Fluttering down. Not rich, along with the neighbors. Unwarned, with trust.
The birds flutter down together without anyone being warned or paid. Ask whether you need wealth or rank to bring people to you, or whether trust could do it.
Line 5 六五
帝乙歸妹，以祉，元吉。
Di Yi gives his younger sister in marriage. With this comes blessing. Supreme good fortune.
Di Yi was a Shang king who, by tradition, married his sister to a lesser house. Consider where you could give up a point of rank for the sake of a lasting alliance.
Line 6 上六
城復于隍，勿用師，自邑告命，貞吝。
The city wall falls back into the moat. Do not use the army. From the town comes word of the command. Holding firm brings shame.
The wall slides back into the ditch it was dug from. If something you built is coming down, ask whether force could help, and consider giving word to those nearest you first.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is heaven below and earth above. Heaven's force moves up and earth's moves down, so the two meet and mix. It is about a time when things flow between high and low.
The judgment says the small goes and the great comes. It describes an exchange in which what is petty leaves and what matters arrives. Ask what good conditions you could use while you have them.
If your question is about a team or a relationship that is going well, tradition reads this as a time to share and to keep connections open. The lines caution that no level ground lasts forever, and the top line shows a wall falling back into its moat.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/泰), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.