32. Duration
Judgment
Duration brings success — no fault. Firm correctness is rewarded; advantage lies in having a direction. Endurance through change, not stagnation.
Image
Thunder and wind — the superior person stands firm without changing direction.
Changing Lines
Seeking duration too hastily — misfortune through impatience. Endurance needs steadfastness, not speed.
Regret disappears — finding steady persistence after initial wavering.
Not enduring in virtue — one endures in shame. Inconstancy brings misfortune.
Enduring in the hunt — fields yield no game. Persistence without adaptation.
Duration in virtue — good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man. Different roles demand different constancy.
Restlessness duration — misfortune through constant agitation. No direction endures.
Reading Duration today
When Duration (恆) appears in a modern casting, it's rarely about ancient kings or dragons in any literal sense. The hexagram speaks in metaphor about a shape your situation is taking right now. The lower gentle wind sits beneath the upper arousing thunder, pairing penetrating influence, slow persistence, gradual change with shock, awakening, sudden movement. Read this as the inside meeting the outside: how you carry yourself underneath versus how the situation arrives on top.
The hexagram's recurring themes — duration, perseverance, constancy — usually surface in real life around decisions where the question is less "what should I do" and more "what does this moment actually want from me." Read the Legge judgment above slowly, then sit with the changing lines if any showed up in your cast: the lines are where the hexagram's advice becomes specific to your question, not the situation in general.
Questions Duration answers well
- What does this hexagram say about my current situation?
- Should I act, wait, or step back from this?
- Where is the real change happening underneath the surface?
- Who or what is this hexagram pointing me toward?
Curious how this would read against your own question? Cast Duration as a live reading in Hexora →