I Ching Oracle Lookup - Hexagram 40: Release

Yin-Yang symbol

Welcome to Hexagram 40, Release. The table below maps every combination of changing lines to its resulting hexagram — 63 transformations plus the unchanging reading. The notation reads from the bottom line upward: 40.1.5 means Hexagram 40 with lines 1 and 5 changing.

䷧
40
 		 ䷧
40.1
54		 ䷧
40.2
16		 ䷧
40.3
32		 ䷧
40.4
7		 ䷧
40.5
47		 ䷧
40.6
64		 ䷧
40.1.2
51
䷧
40.1.3
34		 ䷧
40.1.4
19		 ䷧
40.1.5
58		 ䷧
40.1.6
38		 ䷧
40.2.3
62		 ䷧
40.2.4
2		 ䷧
40.2.5
45		 ䷧
40.2.6
35
䷧
40.3.4
46		 ䷧
40.3.5
28		 ䷧
40.3.6
50		 ䷧
40.4.5
29		 ䷧
40.4.6
4		 ䷧
40.5.6
6		 ䷧
40.1.2.3
55		 ䷧
40.1.2.4
24
䷧
40.1.2.5
17		 ䷧
40.1.2.6
21		 ䷧
40.1.3.4
11		 ䷧
40.1.3.5
43		 ䷧
40.1.3.6
14		 ䷧
40.1.4.5
60		 ䷧
40.1.4.6
41		 ䷧
40.1.5.6
10
䷧
40.2.3.4
15		 ䷧
40.2.3.5
31		 ䷧
40.2.3.6
56		 ䷧
40.2.4.5
8		 ䷧
40.2.4.6
23		 ䷧
40.2.5.6
12		 ䷧
40.3.4.5
48		 ䷧
40.3.4.6
18
䷧
40.3.5.6
44		 ䷧
40.4.5.6
59		 ䷧
40.1.2.3.4
36		 ䷧
40.1.2.3.5
49		 ䷧
40.1.2.3.6
30		 ䷧
40.1.2.4.5
3		 ䷧
40.1.2.4.6
27		 ䷧
40.1.2.5.6
25
䷧
40.1.3.4.5
5		 ䷧
40.1.3.4.6
26		 ䷧
40.1.3.5.6
1		 ䷧
40.1.4.5.6
61		 ䷧
40.2.3.4.5
39		 ䷧
40.2.3.4.6
52		 ䷧
40.2.3.5.6
33		 ䷧
40.2.4.5.6
20
䷧
40.3.4.5.6
57		 ䷧
40.1.2.3.4.5
63		 ䷧
40.1.2.3.4.6
22		 ䷧
40.1.2.3.5.6
13		 ䷧
40.1.2.4.5.6
42		 ䷧
40.1.3.4.5.6
9		 ䷧
40.2.3.4.5.6
53		 ䷧
40.1.2.3.4.5.6
37

About the Transformations of Hexagram 40

Hexagram 40, Release (解 Xiè), combines Water below with Thunder above. Depth occupies the lower trigram, and activation structures the upper three positions. Movement at lines 1–3 changes Water and the figure's underlying condition; movement at lines 4–6 changes Thunder. Multi-line transformations crossing the midpoint reconstruct both components and the relation between depth below and outward activation above.

Each entry in the table applies the same operation: every changing line inverts, and the resulting six-line figure resolves into another hexagram. Six cases contain one moving line, while fifty-seven contain multiple moving positions. The additional unchanging reading retains the original configuration without inversion, so the Judgment of Hexagram 40 alone governs and no second figure appears.

If all six lines reverse, Release resolves into Hexagram 37, Household Order, its full complement. Its received King Wen partner is Hexagram 39, Impediment, connected by inversion. Turning Release upside down yields Impediment's line pattern and creates the sequence pair. Total polarity change therefore returns to Household Order, whereas vertical rotation connects Release with the neighboring configuration that precedes it.

For the full Judgment, Image, and line texts, see Hexagram 40: Release →