Peace
Earth (坤 Kūn) above, Heaven (乾 Qián) below
Published July 22, 2026 · By Oriens
I Ching Hexagram 11, 泰 (Tài), represents Peace.
SourceZhouyi (周易, The Book of Changes) — hexagram 11 (泰 Tài). Chinese source: Chinese Text Project, based on 《武英殿十三經注疏》本《周易正義》 (ctp:book-of-changes/tai). Judgment: received Zhouyi hexagram statement (卦辭). English: Translation by Oriens Editorial Translation. Image: Xiang / Image commentary layer (象傳), distinct from the Judgment and line texts. Image and line English: named translation by James Legge, The Yî King (1899), public-domain translation; online reproduction. The named translation is used for the Image and line statements only.
1. Judgment (卦辭 Guàcí)
泰:小往大來,吉亨。
Oriens Editorial Translation: What is small goes away and what is great comes in. Good fortune and success.
2. Image (象 Xiàng / Xiang commentary)
天地交泰,后以财成天地之道,辅相天地之宜,以左右民。
James Legge: (The trigrams for) heaven and earth in communication together form Thai. The (sage) sovereign, in harmony with this, fashions and completes (his regulations) after the courses of heaven and earth, and assists the application of the adaptations furnished by them,—in order to benefit the people.
3. Line Statements (爻辭 Yáocí)
Line 1 of 6 (from the bottom):
初九:拔茅茹,以其彙,征吉。
James Legge: The first NINE, undivided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. Advance (on the part of its subject) will be fortunate.
Line 2 of 6 (from the bottom):
九二:包荒,用馮河,不遐遺,朋亡,得尚于中行。
James Legge: The second NINE, undivided, shows one who can bear with the uncultivated, will cross the Ho without a boat, does not forget the distant, and has no (selfish) friendships. Thus does he prove himself acting in accordance with the course of the due Mean.
Line 3 of 6 (from the bottom):
九三:无平不陂,无往不復,艱貞无咎。勿恤其孚,于食有福。
James Legge: The third NINE, undivided, shows that, while there is no state of peace that is not liable to be disturbed, and no departure (of evil men) so that they shall not return, yet when one is firm and correct, as he realises the distresses that may arise, he will commit no error. There is no occasion for sadness at the certainty (of such recurring changes); and in this mood the happiness (of the present) may be (long) enjoyed.
Line 4 of 6 (from the bottom):
六四:翩翩,不富,以其鄰,不戒以孚。
James Legge: The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject fluttering (down);—not relying on his own rich resources, but calling in his neighbours. (They all come) not as having received warning, but in the sincerity (of their hearts).
Line 5 of 6 (from the bottom):
六五:帝乙歸妹,以祉元吉。
James Legge: The fifth SIX, divided, reminds us of (king) Ti-yi's (rule about the) marriage of his younger sister. By such a course there is happiness and there will be great good fortune.
Line 6 of 6 (from the bottom):
上六:城復于隍,勿用師。自邑告命,貞吝。
James Legge: The sixth SIX, divided, shows us the city wall returned into the moat. It is not the time to use the army. (The subject of the line) may, indeed, announce his orders to the people of his own city; but however correct and firm he may be, he will have cause for regret.
For the general method for changing lines and relating hexagrams, see How to Read the I Ching.
4. Modern Interpretation (Oriens commentary)
This is an Oriens interpretation, not part of the Zhouyi text.
Peace can prompt a careful question about circulation: what moves between high and low, big and small here, and does anything flow in both directions? The figure's pairing with its opposite — peace turning, stagnation following — reads here as the text's own observation about conditions changing, not a schedule for anyone's fortune.
The Chinese source and translation provenance are identified above. The Judgment is an Oriens Editorial Translation; the Image and line statements are labeled with James Legge. This keeps the modern reflection separate from both the received text and the named translation.
Nothing on this page promises that good times last or predicts their return. Health, financial, legal, employment, and relationship decisions belong within their appropriate professional and personal contexts.
Continue with the Hexagram 11 card and the I Ching guide; these are reading paths, not additional predictions.