卦辭對整個卦（六條線為一組）的總體判斷。The judgment on the hexagram as a whole.
Judgment
乾：元、亨、利、貞。
乾，是最根本的開創力——它啟動（元）、通達（亨）、有利於行事（利）、且能守得住本分（貞）。
Khien (represents) what is great and originating, penetrating, advantageous, correct and firm.
第 1 卦 · Hexagram 1
乾
Qian · Heaven over Heaven
純陽至剛，萬物之所以動
上上卦upper trigram☰乾 · 天 / Heaven下下卦lower trigram☰乾 · 天 / Heaven
錯卦把每一爻都翻轉（陽↔陰）後得到的另一卦。Every line flipped, yang ↔ yin.Opposite2 · 坤
綜卦把整個卦上下顛倒後得到的另一卦。The whole figure turned upside-down.Inverse本卦self
互卦由二、三、四爻與三、四、五爻組成的中間卦。Built from lines 2-3-4 and 3-4-5.Nuclear本卦self
象Image
先看圖像，再讀文字。Read the image before the words.
大象傳《大象傳》從上下卦的自然圖像推演全卦之象，再提出人事取法。The Great Image derives conduct from the two trigrams' natural images.Great Image
- 全卦成象Whole image
天行健
Heaven, in its motion, (gives the idea of) strength.
- 人事取法Conduct
君子以自強不息。
The superior man, in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity.
天的運行是剛健不停的——君子仿效這個樣子，自我更新、不鬆懈。
Heaven, in its motion, (gives the idea of) strength. The superior man, in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity.
辭Words
先讀經文，再讀《彖傳》如何解釋卦辭。The received text, then the Tuan commentary on it.
彖傳十翼之一，直接解釋卦名、卦辭及其剛柔結構。Tuan Zhuan — explains the name, the Judgment and the line structure.
Commentary on the Judgment
大哉乾元，萬物資始，乃統天。雲行雨施，品物流形。大明終始，六位時成，時乘六龍以御天。乾道變化，各正性命，保合太和，乃利貞。首出庶物，萬國咸寧。
乾的開創力有多大——萬物靠它起始，它統攝整個天的運行。雲在流動、雨在降下，各種形體因而分化成形。太陽、月亮的光明是終、是始；六個位次按時完成，依時節駕六條龍行於天上。乾道在變化之中，讓每個物各自定住它的性與命，保守住太和之氣，這就是「利貞」。它率先走出一切物類之上，讓萬國都得到安寧。
Vast is the 'great and originating (power)' indicated by Khien! All things owe to it their beginning:—it contains all the meaning belonging to (the name) heaven. The clouds move and the rain is distributed; the various things appear in their developed forms. (The sages) grandly understand (the connexion between) the end and the beginning, and how (the indications of) the six lines in the hexagram are accomplished, (each) in its season. (Accordingly) they mount (the carriage) drawn by those six dragons at the proper times, and drive through the sky. The method of Khien is to change and transform, so that everything obtains its correct nature as appointed (by the mind of Heaven); and (thereafter the conditions of) great harmony are preserved in union. The result is 'what is advantageous, and correct and firm.' (The sage) appears aloft, high above all things, and the myriad states all enjoy repose.
爻Lines
六條線各有一句判斷。閱讀次序初→上；卦象由下而上，看左側的卦。One statement per line, read from the first line to the top. The figure is drawn bottom-up — watch the rail.
初九
潛
不出場submerged
潛龍，勿用。
龍潛伏在深水裡——現在不是出手的時候。有能力而時機未到，要積蓄，不要表演。
In the first (or lowest) NINE, undivided, (we see its subject as) the dragon lying hid (in the deep). It is not the time for active doing.
小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.
潛龍勿用，陽在下也。
潛龍勿用——因為陽爻還在最下面的位置。
'The dragon lies hid; it is not the time for active doing:'—the strong and undivided (line) is in the lowest place.
九二
見
被看見appearing
見龍在田，利見大人。
龍出現在地面上，讓人看得見了——這時見對的人、出現在對的場合，會有收穫。
In the second NINE, undivided, (we see its subject as) the dragon appearing in the field. It will be advantageous to meet with the great man.
小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.
見龍在田，德施普也。
見龍在田——此時德已能廣施於眾。
'The dragon appears in the field:'—the diffusion of virtuous influence has been wide.
九三
惕
戒慎vigilant
君子終日乾乾，夕惕若，厲，无咎。
君子整天都在做功課、到晚上還戒慎警惕。處境是危險的，但因為你這樣做，就不會有錯。
In the third NINE, undivided, (we see its subject as) the superior man active and vigilant all the day, and in the evening still careful and apprehensive. (The position is) dangerous, but there will be no mistake.
小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.
終日乾乾，反復道也。
終日乾乾——是因為要反覆檢視、踏實於道。
'Active and vigilant all the day:'—(this refers to) the treading of the (proper) path over and over again.
九四
躍
試探probing
或躍在淵，无咎。
該跳起來了嗎？還是繼續留在深水裡？試探性地一躍，觀察情勢——這樣做沒有錯。
In the fourth NINE, undivided, (we see its subject as) the dragon looking as if he were leaping up, (but still) in the deep. There will be no mistake.
小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.
或躍在淵，進无咎也。
或躍在淵——試探著前進，是不會有錯的。
'He seems to be leaping up, but is still in the deep:'—if he advance, there will be no mistake.
九五
飛
巔峰soaring
飛龍在天，利見大人。
龍飛到天上了——位置、影響、時機都齊備。這時候見對的人、與對的人合作，力量最大。
In the fifth NINE, undivided, (we see its subject as) the dragon on the wing in the sky. It will be advantageous to meet with the great man.
小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.
飛龍在天，大人造也。
飛龍在天——大人的事業正在這裡完成。
'The dragon is on the wing in the sky:'—the great man rouses himself to his work.
上九
亢
過頭overshot
亢龍，有悔。
飛得過頭了，過了頭。高峰之後再往上走一步，就會有悔。這是過剛的位置。
In the sixth (or topmost) NINE, undivided, (we see its subject as) the dragon exceeding the proper limits. There will be occasion for repentance.
小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.
亢龍有悔，盈不可久也。
亢龍有悔——圓滿到極處是無法持久的。
'The dragon exceeds the proper limits;—there will be occasion for repentance:'—a state of fulness, that is, should not be indulged in long.
用九乾、坤二卦獨有的補充條目。Supplementary — only 乾 and 坤 have this.
見羣龍无首，吉。
看到一群龍同時出現，沒有誰爭著當頭——吉。六條都陽的時候，有能力而不爭頭，就是該有的智慧。
(The lines of this hexagram are all strong and undivided, as appears from) the use of the number NINE. If the host of dragons (thus) appearing were to divest themselves of their heads, there would be good fortune.
小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.
用九，天德不可為首也。
用九——天的德行本來就不以「當頭」為價值。
'(The symbol of) heaven uses the representation of nine':—the (attribute expressed by the) undivided line should not (always) be in the foremost place.
用Use
把象套到你的情境，取一個可行的下一步。Apply the image to your situation; take one practical step.
一條龍一生中的六個位置——從潛伏於淵，到躍上天空，到最後過了頭。
Six moments in a single dragon's life — from submerged in the deep, to airborne, to having overshot.
把象套到你的情境 · Apply the image to your situation
- 初九潛剛入行entering the field
- 九二見被看見first visibility
- 九三乾乾負重攀升load-bearing ascent
- 九四或躍準備跳槽或轉型considering a leap
- 九五飛事業巔峰peak influence
- 上九亢過度擴張over-reach
用九：當你意識到團隊或整個系統都已到位時，不爭頭、不搶第一，把自己退到讓別人也能飛的位置——這才是乾卦的成熟用法。Yong Jiu — when every actor around you is capable, step back from contending for 'first.' This is the mature mode of Qian.
可行的一步 · Practical move
定位你目前在哪一爻，然後做那一爻對應的動作——不做那一爻不對應的動作。初九位置不要硬出場；上九位置不要再推一次；九五位置全力合作；九三位置守住功課即可。搞錯位置做錯動作，是最常見的失敗——有能力但在不對的時候出場，或者已經到頂還要再往上一步。乾卦不是吉凶，是時機。
Locate which line you're on, then take the action that line calls for — and don't take the action another line calls for. Line 1 is not the time to push out. Line 6 is not the time to make another move upward. Line 5 is the time to collaborate fully. Line 3 is the time to hold the discipline. The most common failure is misreading position — being capable but surfacing too early, or already at the peak and still pushing one more step. Qian is not about 'auspicious / ominous' — it is about timing.
失手之處 · Failure mode
把乾卦讀成「純陽、全吉、拼命衝」——這是錯的。六爻裡有三爻明確帶警告（九三厲、上九有悔、九四或），甚至用九的教誨是「不要爭頭」。乾不是「衝就對」，是「認清時機 + 剛健不息」——兩者都要。
Reading Qian as 'pure yang, all-auspicious, just charge forward' is wrong. Three of the six lines carry explicit caution (line 3 dangerous, line 4 probing, line 6 regret), and Yong Jiu's teaching is 'don't contend for first.' Qian is not 'push and win' — it is 'read the timing AND remain ceaselessly vigorous.' Both, not either.
義理Commentary4
天也者，形之名也。健也者，用形者也。夫形也者，物之累也，有天之形而能永保無虧者唯健也。故乾以健為用。君子法天，以自強而不息也。
'Heaven' is the name of a form; 'vigorous' (jian) is what uses that form. Form is what all things are burdened by — only the vigorous can hold the form of heaven without depletion. Therefore Qian operates by vigor. The superior man models himself on heaven: he strengthens himself, without ceasing.
上古聖人始畫八卦，三才之道備矣。因而重之，以盡天下之變，故六畫而成卦。六十四卦、三百八十四爻，皆所以順性命之理，盡變化之道也。乾，天也。天者，天之形體；乾者，天之性情。乾，健也，健而無息之謂乾。
The ancient sages first drew the eight trigrams, and the way of the Three Powers (heaven, earth, man) was complete. They then doubled them to exhaust the changes of the world — so six lines make a hexagram. The 64 hexagrams and 384 lines all follow the pattern of inner nature (xing-ming) and exhaust the method of change. Qian is heaven. "Heaven" (tian) is the bodily form of heaven; Qian is its nature and character. Qian means vigorous — vigorous and unceasing.
六陽皆純，故名乾。其占當得大通，而必利在正固，然後可以保其終也。「元亨利貞」，文王以為乾之德有此四者，四德之名，著於夫子之《文言》。
The six lines are all pure yang, therefore the name Qian. The divinatory sign calls for great success, but advantage lies only in correctness and firmness — only then can the outcome be preserved to the end. 'Yuan heng li zhen' — King Wen took these four as the virtues of Qian; the names of these four virtues are explicated in Confucius's Wen Yan.
乾把純陽的力量放進一條龍的一生裡。先別急著問吉凶，把象看完：潛龍在水底，能量有了，還沒人看得見；見龍到了田上，第一次被看見；九三最難，坡爬到一半，責任重了，白天做事，夜裡還得警醒；九四是臨界，跳一下試試水，退路留著；九五飛在天上，位置、時辰都對；到了上九就是亢，飛過了頭，什麼東西到頂都開始鬆。六爻全變另有一句「羣龍无首」——眾強並立的時候，不爭那個「首」，反而吉。 這六個象是時位，拿來定位用。人生哪一段、公司哪一期、一件事推進到哪一步，都對得上其中一個。位置認出來了，動作就跟著來：潛的時候別出場，見的時候就別躲；九三守住功課即可，九四跳之前把退路想好；到了九五放手去做，找人同行；上九，收手。乾卦裡的凶只有一種——有能力，出場的時辰不對。
Qian sets the whole of pure yang inside one dragon's life. Before asking about fortune, watch the images: submerged, the power is real but invisible; appearing in the field, seen for the first time; the third line is the hard middle of the climb, working all day and staying watchful at night; the fourth is a trial leap with a way back; the fifth is full flight, right position and right hour; the top line has flown past the peak, and everything loosens at its highest point. When all six lines change there is one more image — a skyful of dragons with no head. Among many strong ones, not contending for first is what maturity looks like. These are positions in time, not verdicts. Any stretch of a life, a company, or a project can be located on this ladder, and each position carries its own move: stay off stage while submerged, accept being seen when appearing, hold the discipline at three, probe with a way back at four, commit fully and find company at five, stop pushing at the top. The one real danger in Qian is mismatch — ability arriving at the wrong hour.
注解Annotation11
乾qián
Named after the upper-and-lower trigrams, both 乾. Image: Heaven. Quality: pure yang, ceaseless strength.
龍lóng
Dragon — the signature image-vehicle of 乾. Six positions of a single dragon's life arc, from submerged to aloft to overshot.
元亨利貞yuán hēng lì zhēn
The four attributes of 乾. Read as phases (start / flow / benefit / hold) or as standalone virtues (originating / penetrating / advantageous / correct).
潛qián
Submerged, hidden in deep water. Not 'powerless' — 'not yet surfaced.'
田tián
Field, ground. Where the dragon becomes visible. The 'field' is social presence, not literal farmland.
乾乾qián qián
Doubled form of 乾— continuous, unflagging effort. Not frantic, not showy.
惕tì
Vigilant, alert, self-examining. Not fearful — watchful.
或huò
'Perhaps,' 'maybe.' Marks the probing, tentative quality of line 4.
躍yuè
Leap, jump up. Used here with 或— a trial leap, not a committed flight.
亢kàng
Excessive, overextended. The line-6 vice: going past the peak.
羣龍无首qún lóng wú shǒu
Many dragons, none in front. Strength distributed, no one contending to lead. The 用九 reading: when everyone is capable, the mature stance is not to fight for first.
歷史Context4
卦序地位
Position in the sequence
《周易》以乾、坤為首，象徵天地開闢——純陽純陰相對，是六十四卦的父母卦。《序卦傳》曰：「有天地，然後萬物生焉。盈天地之間者唯萬物。」
The Zhou Yi opens with Qian and Kun — heaven and earth, pure yang and pure yin — the 'parent hexagrams' from which the other 62 derive. The Xu Gua (Sequence of the Hexagrams): 'After there is heaven and earth, the ten thousand things are born. What fills the space between heaven and earth is only the ten thousand things.'
文本層次
Textual layers
本卦的文本分為三層時代：（1）卦爻辭，西周早期，最古層。（2）彖傳、象傳，戰國後期至漢初，即「十翼」之部分。（3）文言傳，亦屬「十翼」，對乾、坤二卦特別詳述。此處本頁所呈為通行王弼本文本。
The text has three chronological layers: (1) the Judgment and Line statements (gua-yao ci), earliest stratum, Western Zhou. (2) the Tuan Zhuan and Xiang Zhuan commentaries, late Warring States to early Han, part of the Ten Wings (Shi Yi). (3) the Wen Yan Zhuan, also part of the Ten Wings, with special elaboration for Qian and Kun. The page uses the received Wang Bi recension.
流傳版本
Major transmitted editions
通行本（王弼/韓康伯注所據）、馬王堆帛書（西漢初，部分卦序與通行本不同）、上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書《周易》（目前最早實物文本）、阜陽漢簡《周易》殘片。本 app 採用通行本為底，差異處將於字級注解處說明。
The received standard (via Wang Bi / Han Kangbo), the Mawangdui silk manuscript (early Han, with partial hexagram-order variance), the Shanghai Museum Warring States bamboo-slip Zhou Yi (currently the earliest extant physical text), and the Fuyang Han-slip Zhou Yi fragments. The app uses the received standard as base; variants are noted in the character-level annotations.
義理派與象數派
Yili vs. Xiangshu readings
義理派（王弼為代表）強調卦爻所蘊含的思想與德性之理；象數派（漢象數學，清儒虞翻、焦循為代表）強調卦爻與時位、五行、陰陽變化的數學關係。本 app 雙線並陳——王弼/程頤/朱熹的義理註解為主，並引入象-first 讀法以補象數派的空缺。
The Yili (meaning-pattern) school, best represented by Wang Bi, emphasizes the thought and ethical patterns carried by the hexagrams. The Xiangshu (image-numerology) school, represented in Han learning and later by Qing scholars (Yu Fan, Jiao Xun), emphasizes the mathematical relationships among lines, positions, five phases, and yin-yang change. The app presents both lines — Wang Bi / Cheng Yi / Zhu Xi Yili commentary as the primary scholarly voice, with image-first reading brought in to recover what a pure Yili reading can under-emphasize.
練習Practice4
- line-read
你目前的事業/專案/關係，屬於乾卦六爻中的哪一爻？寫一句話說明你的判斷。
Which of the six lines of Qian best describes your current project / career / relationship? Write one sentence explaining your read.
- char-recall
辨認下列字的意思：潛、見、惕、或、躍、亢。
Identify the meaning of each character: 潛 (qián), 見 (xiàn), 惕 (tì), 或 (huò), 躍 (yuè), 亢 (kàng).
- parse
「君子終日乾乾，夕惕若，厲，无咎」這句如何斷句？為什麼厲後要无咎？
How do you parse the line statement 君子終日乾乾，夕惕若，厲，无咎 (junzi zhongri qianqian, xi ti ruo, li, wu jiu)? And why does 无咎 (wu jiu, "no blame") come after 厲 (li, "danger")?
- fill-blank
填空：初九潛龍___；九二見龍在___；九五 ___龍在天；上九 ___龍有悔。
Fill in the missing character: 初九潛龍___ (line 1); 九二見龍在___ (line 2); 九五 ___龍在天 (line 5); 上九 ___龍有悔 (line 6).