Hexagram 29 坎 changing to hexagram 27 頤
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 5, 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 27 頤, line 3
拂頤,貞凶,十年勿用,无攸利。
The third line, divided, shows one acting contrary to the method of nourishing. However firm he may be, there will be evil. For ten years let him not take any action, (for) it will not be in any way advantageous.
Hexagram 27 頤, line 4
顛頤吉,虎視眈眈,其欲逐逐,无咎。
The fourth line, divided, shows one looking downwards for (the power to) nourish. There will be good fortune. Looking with a tiger's downward unwavering glare, and with his desire that impels him to spring after spring, he will fall into no error.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 29 坎 — judgment
習坎:有孚,維心亨。行有尚。
Khan, here repeated, shows the possession of sincerity, through which the mind is. penetrating. Action (in accordance with this) will be of high value.
Hexagram 27 頤 — judgment
貞吉。觀頤,自求口實。
Î indicates that with firm correctness there will be good fortune (in what is denoted by it). We must look at what we are seeking to nourish, and by the exercise of our thoughts seek for the proper aliment.
The changing lines of hexagram 29
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 習坎,入于坎窞,凶。 | The first line, divided, shows its subject in the double defile, and (yet) entering a cavern within it. There will be evil. |
| 2 | 坎有險,求小得。 | The second line, undivided, shows its subject in all the peril of the defile. He will, however, get a little (of the deliverance) that he seeks. |
| 5 | 坎不盈,禔既平,无咎。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows the water of the defile not yet full, (so that it might flow away); but order will (soon) be brought about. There will be no error. |
| 6 | 係用徽纆,寘于叢棘,三歲不得,凶。 | The topmost line, divided, shows its subject bound with cords of three strands or two strands, and placed in the thicket of thorns. But in three years he does not learn the course for him to pursue. There will be evil. |
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.