King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Hexagram 25 无妄 changing to hexagram 30 離

wú wàng
→
lí

Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 3, 5.

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 25 无妄, line 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).

Hexagram 25 无妄, line 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).

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 30 離 — judgment

利貞。亨。畜牝牛,吉。

Lî indicates that, (in regard to what it denotes), it will be advantageous to be firm and correct, and that thus there will be free course and success. Let (its subject) also nourish (a docility like that of) the cow, and there will be good fortune.

The changing lines of hexagram 25

LineChineseLegge
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).
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.