Trigram ☰

乾 Qián

Heaven · Creative strength

Three unbroken lines: pure yang, the steady drive that keeps heaven turning. The Shuo Gua names it strength (健) and gives it the head and the horse, the parts that lead and carry forward. In practice it asks for effort that does not stop, not effort that strains.

Image
天Heaven
Quality
健Creative strength
Family
Father
Five Phase
金Metal
Body
首the head
Animal
马the horse
Early Heaven
south
Later Heaven
northwest · late autumn into winter

Body, animal and quality: the Shuo Gua (说卦传), the Ten Wings commentary on the trigrams.

Its solar term

In the Later Heaven circle the eight trigrams mark the eight turning points of the year. 乾 ☰ opens Start of Winter.

立冬Lìdōng · Start of Winter

The 15 hexagrams that contain it

乾 above (outer)

乾 below (inner)