Hexagram 25 无妄 changing to hexagram 18 蠱
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
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 18 蠱, line 6
不事王侯,高尚其事。
The sixth line, undivided, shows us one who does not serve either king or feudal lord, but in a lofty spirit prefers (to attend to) his own affairs.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 25 无妄 — judgment
元亨。利貞。其匪正有眚,不利有攸往。
Wû Wang indicates great progress and success, while there will be advantage in being firm and correct. If (its subject and his action) be not correct, he will fall into errors, and it will not be advantageous for him to move in any direction.
Hexagram 18 蠱 — judgment
元亨。利涉大川。先甲三日,後甲三日。
Kû indicates great progress and success (to him who deals properly with the condition represented by it). There will be advantage in (efforts like that of) crossing the great stream. (He should weigh well, however, the events of) three days before the turning point, and those (to be done) three days after it.
The changing lines of hexagram 25
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 无妄,往吉。 | The first line, undivided, shows its subject free from all insincerity. His advance will be accompanied with good fortune. |
| 2 | 不耕穫,不菑畬,則利有攸往。 | The second line, divided, shows one who reaps without having ploughed (that he might reap), and gathers the produce of his third year's fields without having cultivated them the first year for that end. To such a one there will be advantage in whatever direction he may move. |
| 3 | 无妄之災,或繫之牛,行人之得,邑人之災。 | The third line, divided, shows calamity happening to one who is free from insincerity;—as in the case of an ox that has been tied up. A passer by finds it (and carries it off), while the people in the neighbourhood have the calamity (of being accused and apprehended). |
| 4 | 可貞,无咎。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows (a case) in which, if its subject can remain firm and correct, there will be no error. |
| 5 | 无妄之疾,勿藥有喜。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows one who is free from insincerity, and yet has fallen ill. Let him not use medicine, and he will have occasion for joy (in his recovery). |
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.