The three changes of the I Ching are the philosophical prototype of the Law of Value Conservation: Simplicity — the great Way is simple; one formula, Y = E × S × T, sees through rise and fall. Change — the three values shift with the times; one must "advance in step with the hour," and multiplication and division switch as the moment turns. Constancy — beneath all change there is a law that does not change: only when the three values exceed 1 together is growth real.
The remedy lies in a new connotation of money: just as the Luoshu gathers the numbers of all things into its nine-palace grid, let currency carry economic value, social value, and time value at once, fusing the scattered three ledgers into one. When the three values are measured on one unified yardstick, yin and yang are balanced, change advances with the times, and constancy holds amid change — the self-regulating virtuous cycle begins, and nation, enterprise, and individual all win.
One Formula to Understand It
E economic value (yang · creation) · S social value (yin · trust) · T time value (the hour · change)
Constancy: when the three values exceed 1 together, value multiplies; Simplicity: all rise and fall returns to this one formula.
When a system recognizes only E's yang, blind to S's yin and T's hour: the arrogant dragon repents, things at their extreme turn back —
yang at its summit gives birth to yin; the multiplier becomes a divisor, the zenith turns to decline: this is "Change."
What the Three Changes Are
— The Great Treatise of the Zhou Changes
Origin: The Zhou Changes took shape around the Western Zhou, using yin and yang lines to unfold the eight trigrams and sixty-four hexagrams — one of the wellsprings of Eastern thought. The "three changes" — Simplicity, Change, Constancy — are its three levels for summarizing the changes of the cosmos: Simplicity — the complex world reduced to the simplest signs and laws; Change — all things change with the hour and must follow the moment; Constancy — within change there is a law that does not change.
The Hetu, Luoshu and numerology: the Hetu and Luoshu model the world through "images and numbers" — the Luoshu nine-palace grid, "nine at the head, one at the foot, three on the left, seven on the right" — an ancient numerological wisdom that places all things into structure and measurement, working in the same spirit as a modern "unified measurement system."
How Imbalance Forms
The Arrogant Dragon Repents · Yang out of Balance
Source of DivisionFormation: pursuing growth and expansion alone, driving E to its summit — the top line of the Qian hexagram, "the arrogant dragon will have cause to repent": fly too high, and regret follows. Overleveraged enterprises and health-draining individuals are both "yang" that does not know where to stop.
Solitary Yin Does Not Grow · Trust Turns Cold
The Sacrificed TermFormation: speaking only of interest, never of affection; keeping only accounts, never people — the Kun hexagram's "bearing all things by virtue of the earth" is set aside (S harmed); solitary yin does not grow, solitary yang does not live — lose trust and the people's hearts, and no strength of E has anything left to carry.
Walking Against the Hour · Missing the Moment
The Hidden CostFormation: the moment has changed while the old way stays — acting against the tide: the very word "change and unobstructed" is forgotten (T fails); the sun at noon declines, the moon at full wanes, and a system that does not advance with the times will be settled by the times.
Four Levels Applied
Work and Rest Out of Balance: One's Personal "Arrogant Dragon"
Working without rest, advancing without retreating — yang that knows no limit breaks health and mind first.
The six lines of Qian, from "the hidden dragon must not act" to "the arrogant dragon repents," teach that in the course of ascent one must know when to advance and when to hold, and hold one's time and place — chasing only the yang of f(m) while draining the yin of f(h), one falls at the point of "arrogance."
The individual's "three changes": Simplicity — keep to three essentials; Change — adjust the rhythm to the moment; Constancy — hold the ground of health and integrity — yin and yang in mutual support, advance and retreat with measure.
Only Arguments, No Warmth: The Home Loses Its Kun
Contending over right and wrong, weighing gains and losses — forgetting Kun's "bearing all things," and affection has nothing to rest upon.
A family that weighs "feeling" too lightly and "reason" too heavily turns cold; weigh "reason" too lightly and "feeling" too heavily, and it turns chaotic — in a home of unbalanced yin and yang, the more rules, the more distance (S turns cold); keep the family on E's ledger alone, and affection becomes a cost that may be written off.
The way of the home lies in Kun: carry people with tolerance, carry affairs with trust (S's depth of virtue), with a measure of "Change" for elasticity — today's tolerance is the root that lets a family weather tomorrow's storms.
Forgetting Change in Good Times, Forgetting the Way in Bad: Both Trap the Firm
In good times only expansion, no reserve; in bad times only cuts, no innovation — Change and Constancy, both missed.
In rapid expansion a firm forgets "Change" (the environment has shifted, the model has not), and when the wind turns, inventory and leverage press together (E turns against it); in a trough it cuts only budgets (S cools) and leaves culture untouched — treating "Constancy" as a slogan and "Change" as a luxury.
The enterprise's "three changes": Simplicity — organization and process made lean; Change — strategy adjusted to the current; Constancy — values and bottom lines held firm — in good times cultivate the power of "change and unobstructed," in bad times hold the way of "Constancy."
When Institutions "Run Out," They Must Change — or the Way Is Blocked
Dynastic rise and fall turns on a single word: change — unobstructed, it endures; blocked, it perishes.
Successive dynasties fell at their zenith precisely because they kept only the name of "Constancy" (ancestral institutions made sacred) while refusing the substance of "Change" (institutions rigid); E's yang grew dominant while S's yin (the people's hearts) drained away, and when institutions reached the "exhausted" point they still would not change — "unobstructed, it endures" was cast aside, and the cycle of rise and fall took shape.
The art of governance joins "Change" with "Constancy": Change — institutions renewed with the age; Constancy — the enduring purpose of serving the people and fairness — when the course runs out, change; when it changes, it becomes unobstructed; when unobstructed, it endures.
Mirrors in Today's World
Market rises and falls, industry warmth and chill — all are "Change": follow the current and live, fight it and burn.
Not puffed up in success (the arrogant dragon repents), not despairing in setback (the hidden dragon must not act) — the individual's yin-yang balance.
Simplify the complex first (Simplicity), then ask of timing and trend (Change), then hold to principle (Constancy).
The Luoshu nine-palace grid receives all things — the modern "unified ledger," where three values each find their place.
What the Books Confirm
The three changes establish the frame: Simplicity, Change, Constancy; "when the course runs out, change; when it changes, it becomes unobstructed; when unobstructed, it endures" — change contemplating rise and fall, a system of thought in the East's own voice.
Retelling the classic through a modern lens: the Changes are philosophy, not superstition — the reason of change and the measure of being human.
"One yin, one yang — that is the Way" speaks of balance: leave room in all things, what is extreme turns back, take profit and stop in time — the yin-yang wisdom, an ancient mirror for modern decisions.
The Remedy: A New Connotation of Money
— The Law of Value Conservation · The Way Out
Resolving imbalance is not about abolishing change, but about modeling with Simplicity, rebalancing with Change, and holding the Way with Constancy: economic value shifts from "arrogance" to "measure" (multiplication of E); social value shifts from "sacrificed" to "cherished" — trust, human warmth and fairness all enter the ledger (multiplication of S); time value shifts from "over-drawn" to "measured" — following the age and investing in the future (multiplication of T).
The new connotation of money — let currency carry three values at once:
· Economic value E (yang): every yuan corresponds to real goods and services created, ending "printing without producing";
· Social value S (yin): currency circulates on trust — rewarding honest dealing, mutual care, and the warmth of human feeling;
· Time value T (the hour): money is a promise across generations — education, innovation, green growth and continuity are measured, encouraging us to "advance with the times."
When money measures E, S and T at once, as the Luoshu gathers all things into the nine-palace grid — yin and yang in mutual support, advancing with the times, holding constancy amid change: the division formula loses its ground, the multiplication formula begins to self-regulate, and the virtuous cycle is triggered.
The Virtuous Cycle: Three-Way Win
| Player | The Virtuous Cycle under the New Connotation of Money | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Nation | Institutions changed and unobstructed, wealth kept with the people → yin and yang in balance, enduring peace → unobstructed, it endures | T + S |
| Enterprise | Lean management, shifting with the current → deep trust, enduring business → bearing all things by virtue of the earth | E + S + T |
| Individual | Advancing with limits, moving with the hour → yin and yang balanced, life compounding → advancing in step with the times | All three |
Twin-Blossom Insights
Wealth is yang, and yang must know where to stop — growth pushed to its extreme is "the arrogant dragon repents"; leave one measure of room, and that is the way of the "nine-five".
Feeling is yin, and yin must "bear deeply" — Kun's virtue carries all things: able to hold people, able to carry affairs, the home and the organization have their root; where feeling is gone, what shall wealth rest upon?
The individual's f(m)×f(h)×f(t) and the nation's E×S×T are one and the same thing: model with Simplicity, rebalance with Change, hold the Way with Constancy — only when the three values grow together is the growth real.
The Changes have three meanings, and the three return to one: advance with the times, and the three values multiply.
Simplicity makes clear, Change makes unobstructed, Constancy makes enduring — the three held together is the formula of flourishing;
creation, trust, continuity — three values measured together, is the underlying code of the three-way win for nation, enterprise and individual.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What do the "three changes" of the I Ching mean?
A: Simplicity — the complex world reduced to the simplest law; Change — all things shift with the hour and must follow the current; Constancy — within change there is a law that does not change. Together they form an Eastern system of thought about "change and balance."
Q: What do the Hetu and Luoshu have to do with modern life?
A: The Hetu and Luoshu gather the numbers of all things into the nine-palace structure — in essence an ancient wisdom of "structured measurement." The modern version is the unified ledger — bringing economic, social and time value into one system of measure, so that every act of giving finds its place.
Q: What does the "new connotation of money" mean for ordinary people?
A: It lets money measure economic, social and time value at once. At the personal level this is the micro formula — do not let the chase for income drain your health, your relationships, or your long-term accumulation; keep f(h) and f(t), and your life earns compound interest.