Duration (恆) — Hexagram 32

Judgment · 卦辞

Duration. Success. No blame. Perseverance brings reward. It furthers to have somewhere to go.

恆，亨，无咎，利貞，利有攸往。

Commentary on the Judgment · 彖传

Duration means constancy. The firm rises, the yielding descends.

恆，久也。剛上而柔下。

Image · 象传

Thunder and wind: constancy. The wise person stands firm without changing direction.

雷風，恆。君子以立不易方。

Six Lines · 六爻

Line 1 ⚋

Digging too deep for constancy — perseverance brings misfortune. Nothing furthering.

浚恆，貞凶，无攸利。

The misfortune of dredging for constancy: seeking too deeply at the start.

浚恆之凶，始求深也。

Line 2 ⚊

Remorse fades.

悔亡。

Regret vanishes: able to remain centered for long.

九二悔亡，能久中也。

Line 3 ⚊

Not constant in virtue — bearing disgrace. Perseverance brings humiliation.

不恆其德，或承之羞，貞吝。

Lacking constancy in virtue: there is no place that accepts you.

不恆其德，无所容也。

Line 4 ⚊

No game in the field.

田无禽。

Long in the wrong place: how could you catch anything?

久非其位，安得禽也。

Line 5 ⚋

Constant in virtue and perseverance — for the woman, good fortune; for the man, misfortune.

恆其德貞，婦人吉，夫子凶。

A woman's perseverance is auspicious: she follows one to the end. A husband, guided by duty, following a woman is inauspicious.

婦人貞吉，從一而終也。夫子制義，從婦凶也。

Line 6 ⚋

Restlessness in constancy. Misfortune.

振恆，凶。

Shaking constancy while at the top: completely without merit.

振恆在上，大无功也。

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