Hexagram 32
恆
Héng
Duration
Upper Trigram
震 Zhèn
Thunder — Arousing
Lower Trigram
巽 Xùn
Wind — Gentle
Classical Texts
The Judgment
亨。无咎。利貞。利有攸往。
The Image
雷風,恆。君子以立不易方。
The Lines
Line 1
初六 浚恆貞凶。无攸利。
Line 2
九二 悔亡。
Line 3
九三 不恆其德。或承之羞。貞吝。
Line 4
九四 田无禽。
Line 5
六五 恒其德貞。婦人吉。夫子凶。
Line 6
上六 振恆凶。

Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley
Paul Cezanne, 1882–85
Duration
Mont Sainte-Victoire rises in the distance, its limestone mass painted in blues and grays, while a man-made viaduct spans the Arc River valley in the middle ground. Paul Cézanne painted this mountain repeatedly between 1882 and 1906, returning to the same subject from different angles across decades. The mountain endures, unchanged by seasons or perspectives; the viaduct endures through human engineering, stone arches holding their curve against gravity and time. Cézanne's brushstrokes build the composition through patient accumulation—each stroke distinct, none wasted, the painting accreting like sedimentary rock.
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This is Heng (恆), the Chinese hexagram of Duration. Thunder (Zhen) sits above Wind (Xun): arousing movement above, gentle penetration below, both in constant motion without exhausting themselves. Ancient diviners saw this configuration as the secret of lasting power—not rigid permanence but sustained movement in consistent direction. The character 恆 depicts a heart and the moon, suggesting emotional constancy through phases and cycles. Cézanne's mountain embodies geological duration; his decades-long artistic commitment embodies human duration; the viaduct embodies engineered duration. Each persists through different means toward the same end: presence across time. Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire repeatedly throughout his career, studying the same mountain from different perspectives over decades. The enduring presence of the mountain and the man-made viaduct demonstrate persistence through time—the hexagram's theme of duration achieved through constancy of purpose rather than force. The Judgment text states: "Duration. Success. No blame. Perseverance furthers. It furthers one to have somewhere to go." Duration requires direction—not mere repetition but movement sustained over time toward purpose. Cézanne didn't paint Mont Sainte-Victoire once but returned obsessively, each painting deepening understanding through patient observation. Song Dynasty commentary notes that duration differs from stubbornness; true constancy adapts methods while maintaining aim, like wind and thunder that vary intensity but never cease entirely. The viaduct channels water's flow year after year, its arches standing precisely because they flex slightly under stress rather than resisting rigidly. The Image Text counsels: "Thunder and wind: the image of Duration. The superior person stands firm and does not change his direction." Direction provides the standard—constancy of purpose permits flexibility of approach. Cézanne pioneered new ways of seeing and painting, yet his direction remained fixed: to realize sensation before nature. In the I-Ching's sequence, Duration follows Influence: after mutual attraction creates movement (31), sustained constancy over time (32) becomes possible. The mountain will outlast the viaduct, the viaduct outlasts Cézanne, the paintings outlast their creator—each form of duration teaching that persistence, not permanence, marks what endures.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 32 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

黃帝所生,伏羲之宗,兵刀不至,利以居止。
Where the Yellow Emperor was born, the ancestral lineage of Fu Xi. Swords and blades do not reach here; it is fitting to dwell and remain.
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Thunder above wind doubled upon itself — Duration transformed back into Duration. The Yellow Emperor's birthplace, Fuxi's ancestral lineage: this is the origin point of civilization itself. No weapons or blades reach here; it is favorable to dwell and rest. The verse names the two primordial culture-heroes whose legacies define the Chinese cosmological tradition. The Yellow Emperor brought order through invention and warfare; Fuxi devised the trigrams from observing nature. Together they represent the deepest foundation of enduring civilization. When Duration returns to Duration, the pattern is self-reinforcing: what endures is the very ground of culture. The dwelling place of these origins needs no defense because its constancy is ontological — it is the source from which all other patterns flow.
中文注释
雷風恆,恆之本體。黃帝所生,伏羲之宗——華夏文明之源頭,至聖先祖之根基。兵刀不至——刀兵不能侵犯。利以居止——宜於安居。恆之恆,自身回歸自身,是最根本的持久。黃帝創制度、伏羲畫八卦,二者為文明之始祖。此詩以文明之根源喻恆之至義:真正恆久者非人為之堅持,而是天地之本然。從恆至恆,雷風不易,立不易方。兵刀不至非因防禦堅固,而因此處即萬物之根,根不可拔則枝葉永茂。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Thunder (震)
Same lower trigram: Wind (巽)