Hexagram 12 否 changing to hexagram 5 需
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 4, 6.
What to read
Five changing lines: read the one unchanged line of the resulting hexagram. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 5 需, line 5
需于酒食，貞吉。
The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject waiting amidst the appliances of a feast. Through his firmness and correctness there will be good fortune.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 12 否 — judgment
否之匪人，不利君子貞，大往小來。
In Phî there is the want of good understanding between the (different classes of) men, and its indication is unfavourable to the firm and correct course of the superior man. We see in it the great gone and the little come.
Hexagram 5 需 — judgment
有孚，光亨。貞吉，利涉大川。
Hsü intimates that, with the sincerity which is declared in it, there will be brilliant success. With firmness there will be good fortune; and it will be advantageous to cross the great stream.
The changing lines of hexagram 12
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 拔茅茹以其彙，貞吉。亨。 | The first line, divided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. With firm correctness (on the part of its subject), there will be good fortune and progress. |
| 2 | 包承，小人吉，大人否。亨。 | The second line, divided, shows its subject patient and obedient. To the small man (comporting himself so) there will be good fortune. If the great man (comport himself) as the distress and obstruction require, he will have success. |
| 3 | 包羞。 | The third line, divided, shows its subject ashamed of the purpose folded (in his breast). |
| 4 | 有命，无咎，疇離祉。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject acting in accordance with the ordination (of Heaven), and committing no error. His companions will come and share in his happiness. |
| 6 | 傾否，先否後喜。 | The sixth line, undivided, shows the overthrow (and removal of) the condition of distress and obstruction. Before this there was that condition. Hereafter there will be joy. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.