Structure of The Sequence
The 64 hexagrams are grouped into 32 pairs. For 28 of the pairs, the second hexagram is created by turning the first upside down (i.e. 180° rotation). The exception to this rule is for the 8 symmetrical hexagrams that are the same after rotation (1 & 2, 27 & 28, 29 & 30, 61 & 62). Partners for these are given by inverting each line: solid becomes broken and broken becomes solid. These are indicated with icons in the table below.
Given the mathematical constraints of these simple rules, the number of lines that change within pair partners will always be even (either 2, 4, or 6). Whereas the number of lines that change between pairs depends on how the pairs are arranged, and the King Wen Sequence has notable characteristics in this regard. Of the 64 transitions, exactly 48 of them are even changes (32 within-pairs plus 16 between-pairs) and 16 are odd changes (all between-pairs). This is a precise 3 to 1 ratio of even to odd transitions. Of the odd transitions, 14 are changes of three lines and 2 are changes of one line. Changes of five are absent.
| 1 ↕ 2 | 3 ~ 4 | 5 ~ 6 | 7 ~ 8 | 9 ~ 10 | 11 ~ 12 | 13 ~ 14 | 15 ~ 16 |
| 17 ~ 18 | 19 ~ 20 | 21 ~ 22 | 23 ~ 24 | 25 ~ 26 | 27 ↕ 28 | 29 ↕ 30 | 31 ~ 32 |
| 33 ~ 34 | 35 ~ 36 | 37 ~ 38 | 39 ~ 40 | 41 ~ 42 | 43 ~ 44 | 45 ~ 46 | 47 ~ 48 |
| 49 ~ 50 | 51 ~ 52 | 53 ~ 54 | 55 ~ 56 | 57 ~ 58 | 59 ~ 60 | 61 ↕ 62 | 63 ~ 64 |
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