King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Hexagram 22 賁 changing to hexagram 54 歸妹

bì
→
guī mèi

Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 3, 4, 6.

What to read

Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)

Hexagram 54 歸妹, line 1

歸妹以娣,跛能履,征吉。

The first line, undivided, shows the younger sister married off in a position ancillary to the real wife. (It suggests the idea of) a person lame on one leg who yet manages to tramp along. Going forward will be fortunate.

Hexagram 54 歸妹, line 5

帝乙歸妹,其君之袂,不如其娣之袂良,月幾望,吉。

The fifth line, divided, reminds us of the marrying of the younger sister of (king) Ti-yi, when the sleeves of her the princess were not equal to those of the (still) younger sister who accompanied her in an inferior capacity. (The case suggests the thought of) the moon almost full. There will be good fortune.

The two hexagrams

Hexagram 22 賁 — judgment

亨。小利有攸往。

Pî indicates that there should be free course (in what it denotes). There will be little advantage (however) if it be allowed to advance (and take the lead).

Hexagram 54 歸妹 — judgment

征凶,无攸利。

Kwei Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.

The changing lines of hexagram 22

LineChineseLegge
2賁其須。The second line, divided, shows one adorning his beard.
3賁如濡如,永貞吉。The third line, undivided, shows its subject with the appearance of being adorned and bedewed (with rich favours). But let him ever maintain his firm correctness, and there will be good fortune.
4賁如皤如,白馬翰如,匪寇婚媾。The fourth line, divided, shows one looking as if adorned, but only in white. As if (mounted on) a white horse, and furnished with wings, (he seeks union with the subject of the first line), while (the intervening third pursues), not as a robber, but intent on a matrimonial alliance.
6白賁,无咎。The sixth line, undivided, shows one with white as his (only) ornament. There will be no error.

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.