Hexagram 32 of 64
Constancy
恒 Héng
Upper trigram: 震 Zhèn, thunder
Lower trigram: 巽 Xùn, wind
The judgment
亨，无咎。利貞，利有攸往。
Success. No blame. It is fitting to hold firm. It is fitting to have somewhere to go.
The Great Image
雷風，恒；君子以立不易方。
Thunder and wind: Constancy. In the same way, the noble person takes a stand and keeps to the same course.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初六
浚恆，貞凶，无攸利。
Digging deep for constancy. Holding firm brings misfortune. Nothing is favorable.
Digging deep for constancy at the very start asks for too much too soon. Consider what level of commitment fits how long you have really been at this.
Line 2 九二
悔亡。
Regret goes.
The line is only two characters: regret goes. Ask what you could let go of now that your effort has evened out.
Line 3 九三
不恆其德，或承之羞，貞吝。
Not constant in character. Someone may bring disgrace upon it. Holding firm brings shame.
A character that keeps changing invites disgrace from somewhere. Ask which of your commitments other people have stopped relying on.
Line 4 九四
田无禽。
In the field there is no game.
The hunter goes to the field and there is no game. You could ask whether you have been working faithfully in a place where what you want is not to be found.
Line 5 六五
恆其德貞，婦人吉，夫子凶。
Making one's character constant and holding firm. For a wife, good fortune. For a husband, misfortune.
The old text says this constancy suits a wife and brings misfortune to a husband, a division we need not keep. You could ask instead where it is right to stay faithful to an arrangement, and where a new decision is yours to make.
Line 6 上六
震恆，凶。
Shaking constancy. Misfortune.
Shaking constancy is the picture, an agitation that lets nothing settle. Consider whether your frequent changes are a way of avoiding the quieter work of staying.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is wind below and thunder above, two forces that move and come back. The image is of things that last through motion. It stands for endurance, the kind that stays itself by continuing to adapt.
The judgment says success and no blame, and that holding firm and having somewhere to go are both fitting. Constancy here is something you carry with you, and the image has the noble person standing without changing direction. Ask what in your life is worth continuing in the same direction even as conditions shift.
If your question is about a long partnership, a long job or a practice kept up for years, tradition reads this as a time for commitment at a sustainable pace. The lines caution against demanding too much at the start and against restless changes at the end.
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/恒), 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.
Where the sources differ
- In the top line, Wikisource (A) reads 震恆 (shaking constancy, with 震 as a thunderous shaking) and Project Gutenberg (B) reads 振恆 (with 振 as a stirring or shaking). Wikisource carries 一作振 as an inline alternative reading while keeping 震 as its base text.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.