Hexagram 4 蒙 changing to hexagram 40 解
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 4, 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 4 蒙, line 6
擊蒙，不利為寇，利禦寇。
In the topmost line, undivided, we see one smiting the ignorant (youth). But no advantage will come from doing him an injury. Advantage would come from warding off injury from him.
Hexagram 4 蒙, line 4
困蒙，吝。
The fourth line, divided, (shows its subject as if) bound in chains of ignorance. There will be occasion for regret.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 4 蒙 — judgment
亨。匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我。初筮告，再三瀆，瀆則不告。利貞。
Măng (indicates that in the case which it presupposes) there will be progress and success. I do not (go and) seek the youthful and inexperienced, but he comes and seeks me. When he shows (the sincerity that marks) the first recourse to divination, I instruct him. If he apply a second and third time, that is troublesome; and I do not instruct the troublesome. There will be advantage in being firm and correct.
Hexagram 40 解 — judgment
利西南，无所往，其來復吉。有攸往，夙吉。
In (the state indicated by) Kieh advantage will be found in the south-west. If no (further) operations be called for, there will be good fortune in coming back (to the old conditions). If some operations be called for, there will be good fortune in the early conducting of them.
The changing lines of hexagram 4
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 困蒙，吝。 | The fourth line, divided, (shows its subject as if) bound in chains of ignorance. There will be occasion for regret. |
| 6 | 擊蒙，不利為寇，利禦寇。 | In the topmost line, undivided, we see one smiting the ignorant (youth). But no advantage will come from doing him an injury. Advantage would come from warding off injury from him. |
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.