I Ching Oracle Lookup - Hexagram 5: Waiting (Nourishment)

Welcome to Hexagram 5, Waiting (Nourishment). 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: 5.1.5 means Hexagram 5 with lines 1 and 5 changing.

䷄ 5	䷄ 5.1 48	䷄ 5.2 63	䷄ 5.3 60	䷄ 5.4 43	䷄ 5.5 11	䷄ 5.6 9	䷄ 5.1.2 39
䷄ 5.1.3 29	䷄ 5.1.4 28	䷄ 5.1.5 46	䷄ 5.1.6 57	䷄ 5.2.3 3	䷄ 5.2.4 49	䷄ 5.2.5 36	䷄ 5.2.6 37
䷄ 5.3.4 58	䷄ 5.3.5 19	䷄ 5.3.6 61	䷄ 5.4.5 34	䷄ 5.4.6 1	䷄ 5.5.6 26	䷄ 5.1.2.3 8	䷄ 5.1.2.4 31
䷄ 5.1.2.5 15	䷄ 5.1.2.6 53	䷄ 5.1.3.4 47	䷄ 5.1.3.5 7	䷄ 5.1.3.6 59	䷄ 5.1.4.5 32	䷄ 5.1.4.6 44	䷄ 5.1.5.6 18
䷄ 5.2.3.4 17	䷄ 5.2.3.5 24	䷄ 5.2.3.6 42	䷄ 5.2.4.5 55	䷄ 5.2.4.6 13	䷄ 5.2.5.6 22	䷄ 5.3.4.5 54	䷄ 5.3.4.6 10
䷄ 5.3.5.6 41	䷄ 5.4.5.6 14	䷄ 5.1.2.3.4 45	䷄ 5.1.2.3.5 2	䷄ 5.1.2.3.6 20	䷄ 5.1.2.4.5 62	䷄ 5.1.2.4.6 33	䷄ 5.1.2.5.6 52
䷄ 5.1.3.4.5 40	䷄ 5.1.3.4.6 6	䷄ 5.1.3.5.6 4	䷄ 5.1.4.5.6 50	䷄ 5.2.3.4.5 51	䷄ 5.2.3.4.6 25	䷄ 5.2.3.5.6 27	䷄ 5.2.4.5.6 30
䷄ 5.3.4.5.6 38	䷄ 5.1.2.3.4.5 16	䷄ 5.1.2.3.4.6 12	䷄ 5.1.2.3.5.6 23	䷄ 5.1.2.4.5.6 56	䷄ 5.1.3.4.5.6 64	䷄ 5.2.3.4.5.6 21	䷄ 5.1.2.3.4.5.6 35

About the Transformations of Hexagram 5

Hexagram 5, Waiting (Nourishment) (需 Xū), sets Heaven below Water. Continuous strength fills the lower trigram, while the upper trigram introduces depth into the figure's outer structure. Changes in positions 1–3 break or preserve the three yang lines of Heaven; changes in positions 4–6 reshape Water. Multi-line movement can therefore alter either component independently or replace the relation between reserved strength below and depth above.

Each line marked as changing in the table is inverted, and the recomposed figure is then identified as another hexagram. The table distinguishes the six transformations arising from one moving line and the fifty-seven formed by multiple moving lines. It also records the unchanging reading as a separate case: because no polarity changes, no second figure appears and the Judgment of Hexagram 5 alone governs.

Changing all six positions carries Waiting (Nourishment) to Hexagram 35, Advancement, its complete line-by-line complement. The received sequence establishes another relation beside that polar opposite: Hexagram 5 is paired with Hexagram 6, Conflict, through inversion. Turning the original figure upside down exchanges the placement of its trigram structures and produces the neighboring partner, whereas complementation leads outside the pair to Hexagram 35.

For the full Judgment, Image, and line texts, see Hexagram 5: Waiting (Nourishment) →