I Ching · King Wen 11
Hexagram 11: Peace
䷊ 泰 Tài · also called Pervading, Harmony, Prospering · The Receptive above The Creative
Heaven and earth in communion: a time of flourishing, when the small departs and the great arrives.
harmonyprosperitycommuniongrowthgenerosity
The meaning of Hexagram 11
Heaven below, earth above: the two principles moving toward each other and meeting. Peace is one of the most favourable hexagrams, describing a season when things that belong together are together, when the strong and the gentle cooperate, and when what is petty is on its way out. The tradition's judgement is that the small departs and the great approaches. The reading asks you to enjoy the harmony and to use it: to make agreements, to build, to share the good conditions widely, and to remember that seasons turn, so that the peace is used rather than merely enjoyed.
The image. Heaven and earth unite; the ruler shapes the course of the seasons and helps the people.
- Advice
- Use the good season: build, agree, share, and prepare within plenty for the turn of the cycle.
- Warning
- Peace neglected turns into standstill; the season is used or it is lost.
over
Structure: ☰ The Creative (Heaven) below, ☷ The Receptive (Earth) above. Nuclear hexagram 54, The Marrying Maiden. Every line reversed: 12, Standstill.
Hexagram 11 for love and relationships
A time of real harmony, when you and the other person move toward each other easily. Enjoy it and build on it. Agreements made now hold. The reading's only caution is not to take the season for granted.
Hexagram 11 for career
Cooperation across levels works, the environment is favourable, and initiatives succeed. Build the structures now that will carry you when conditions are harder. Share the good fortune with the team.
Hexagram 11 for money
Growth and ease. A good time to invest in what lasts, to settle arrangements, and to be generous. Remember that plenty is a season, and set something aside within it.
Hexagram 11 for decisions
Decide in favour of growth, agreement and openness. The conditions support the ambitious option. Make the decision now, while things flow, rather than waiting for the peace to prove itself.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
The wall falls back into the moat. Do not use the army. Announce commands to your own town.
Peace has ended and the defences are down. Fighting it makes it worse. The line counsels drawing in, keeping order among your own, and accepting that the cycle has turned. This is a time to hold what is close, not to reclaim what is gone.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 26, Great Taming. Read line 6 →
The sovereign gives his daughter in marriage. Blessing and great good fortune.
The highest position uniting itself with the lower, freely and with grace. Modesty from strength; the line is one of the most fortunate in the book. Whatever union or agreement is at hand, it is blessed.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 5, Waiting. Read line 5 →
Fluttering down, not boasting of wealth, in company with the neighbour. Sincere and unguarded.
The high meeting the low without pretension. Someone with advantages who approaches others simply and honestly, and is trusted for it. The line describes the openness that keeps peace alive.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 34, Great Power. Read line 4 →
No plain without a slope, no going without a return. Persistence in hardship is without blame.
The reminder in the middle of peace that peace ends. The line is not gloomy; it asks for the steadiness that lets you enjoy the good season without being wrecked when it turns. Keep your character through both.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 19, Approach. Read line 3 →
Bear with the uncultivated, cross the river resolutely, do not neglect the distant, forget your faction. Walk in the middle.
The fourfold rule for governing in a good time: tolerate the rough, act boldly, keep the far-off in mind, and put no clique above the whole. The line describes leadership that keeps peace by fairness.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light. Read line 2 →
Pull up the grass and the roots come with it. Undertakings bring good fortune.
At the start of a good season, action draws others along naturally; like-minded people come with you as roots come up with the grass. The line strongly favours beginning something now.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 11 mean?
- Heaven and earth in communion: a time of flourishing, when the small departs and the great arrives. Heaven below, earth above: the two principles moving toward each other and meeting. Peace is one of the most favourable hexagrams, describing a season when things that belong together are together, when the strong and the gentle cooperate, and when what is petty is on its way out. The tradition's judgement is that the small departs and the great approaches. The reading asks you to enjoy the harmony and to use it: to make agreements, to build, to share the good conditions widely, and to remember that seasons turn, so that the peace is used rather than merely enjoyed.
- What does Hexagram 11 mean for love?
- A time of real harmony, when you and the other person move toward each other easily. Enjoy it and build on it. Agreements made now hold. The reading's only caution is not to take the season for granted.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 11 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward; line 2 gives Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light; line 3 gives Hexagram 19, Approach; line 4 gives Hexagram 34, Great Power; line 5 gives Hexagram 5, Waiting; line 6 gives Hexagram 26, Great Taming. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 12, Standstill.