King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Hexagram 38 睽 changing to hexagram 39 蹇

kuí
→
jiǎn

Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

What to read

All six lines change: read the judgment of the resulting hexagram. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)

Judgment of hexagram 39 蹇

利西南,不利東北;利見大人,貞吉。

In (the state indicated Kien advantage will be found in the south-west, and the contrary in the north-east. It will be advantageous (also) to meet with the great man. (In these circumstances), with firmness and correctness, there will be good fortune.

The two hexagrams

Hexagram 38 睽 — judgment

小事吉。

Khwei indicates that, (notwithstanding the condition of things which it denotes), in small matters there will (still) be good success.

Hexagram 39 蹇 — judgment

利西南,不利東北;利見大人,貞吉。

In (the state indicated Kien advantage will be found in the south-west, and the contrary in the north-east. It will be advantageous (also) to meet with the great man. (In these circumstances), with firmness and correctness, there will be good fortune.

The changing lines of hexagram 38

LineChineseLegge
1悔亡,喪馬勿逐,自復;見惡人无咎。The first line, undivided, shows that (to its subject) occasion for repentance will disappear. He has lost his horses, but let him not seek for them;—they will return of themselves. Should he meet with bad men, he will not err (in communicating with them).
2遇主于巷,无咎。The second line, undivided, shows its subject happening to meet with his lord in a bye-passage. There will be no error.
3見輿曳,其牛𧤊,其人天且劓,无初有終。In the third line, divided, we see one whose carriage is dragged back, while the oxen in it are pushed back, and he is himself subjected to the shaving of his head and the cutting off of his nose. There is no good beginning, but there will be a good end.
4睽孤,遇元夫,交孚,厲无咎。The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (But) he meets with the good man (represented by the first line), and they blend their sincere desires together. The position is one of peril, but there will be no mistake.
5悔亡,厥宗噬膚,往何咎。The fifth line, divided, shows that (to its subject) occasion for repentance will disappear. With his relative (and minister he unites closely and readily) as if he were biting through a piece of skin. When he goes forward (with this help), what error can there be?
6睽孤, 見豕負涂,載鬼一車, 先張之弧,後說之弧,匪寇婚媾,往遇雨則吉。The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (In the subject of the third line, he seems to) see a pig bearing on its back a load of mud, (or fancies) there is a carriage full of ghosts. He first bends his bow against him, and afterwards unbends it, (for he discovers) that he is not an assailant to injure, but a near relative. Going forward, he shall meet with (genial) rain, and there will be good fortune.

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.