1: Qián

This hexagram consists of six unbroken lines — pure yang, undivided force. It represents the originating power at the heart of all things: the impulse that sets the world in motion before form has yet appeared. To draw this hexagram is to stand at a moment of genuine possibility. The power available is real, but it demands something in return — not cleverness or urgency, but sustained, principled effort. The four qualities traditionally named — sublimity, success, furthering, perseverance — describe a single arc: the movement from latent potential to lasting achievement. Each depends on the last. Without perseverance, success is temporary.