Hexagram 23 剝 changing to hexagram 8 比
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 5, 6.
What to read
Two changing lines: read both line texts of the original hexagram; the upper one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 23 剝, line 6
碩果不食，君子德車，小人剝廬。
The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject (as) a great fruit which has not been eaten. The superior man finds (the people again) as a chariot carrying him. The small men (by their course) overthrow their own dwellings.
Hexagram 23 剝, line 5
貫魚，以宮人寵，无不利。
The fifth line, divided, shows (its subject leading on the others like) a string of fishes, and (obtaining for them) the favour that lights on the inmates of the palace. There will be advantage in every way.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 23 剝 — judgment
不利。有攸往。
Po indicates that (in the state which it symbolises) it will not be advantageous to make a movement in any direction whatever.
Hexagram 8 比 — judgment
吉。原筮元永貞，无咎。不寧方來，後夫凶。
Pî indicates that (under the conditions which it supposes) there is good fortune. But let (the principal party intended in it) re-examine himself, (as if) by divination, whether his virtue be great, unintermitting, and firm. If it be so, there will be no error. Those who have not rest will then come to him; and with those who are (too) late in coming it will be ill.
The changing lines of hexagram 23
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 貫魚，以宮人寵，无不利。 | The fifth line, divided, shows (its subject leading on the others like) a string of fishes, and (obtaining for them) the favour that lights on the inmates of the palace. There will be advantage in every way. |
| 6 | 碩果不食，君子德車，小人剝廬。 | The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject (as) a great fruit which has not been eaten. The superior man finds (the people again) as a chariot carrying him. The small men (by their course) overthrow their own dwellings. |
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.