A hexagram has six places, counted from the bottom up. The same yin or yang line says different things depending on where it falls.
The six places
- Beginning: what's just starting, still hidden.
- Lower center: the official, the one acting on the ground. Very favorable.
- Top of the lower half: transition, strain, the risk of overreaching.
- Bottom of the upper half: close to power, the adviser. Calls for care.
- Upper center: the ruler, the peak of influence.
- Top: the end, what has gone past its peak or stands off to the side.
The classical names combine place and line type: 初九 is a yang line at the beginning and 上六 a yin line at the top. In between you'll see, for instance, 六二 (yin in the second place) or 九五 (yang in the fifth).
Three key ideas
- Correct (正): odd places (1, 3, 5) are yang places and even places (2, 4, 6) are yin places. A line that matches its place is "correct." In After the End all six are; in Transition, none are.
- Central (中): lines 2 and 5, the middle of each trigram. Being central usually counts for more than being correct.
- Resonance (應): 1 with 4, 2 with 5, 3 with 6. If one is yin and the other yang, they answer each other and give support.
In your reading
When you have a moving line, look at its place: it helps you understand its text. To go further, read about the lower trigram, the upper trigram and the ruling line, or the article How to Read a Hexagram.