Hexagram 41 損 changing to hexagram 42 益
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 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 41 損, line 5
或益之，十朋之龜弗克違，元吉。
The fifth line, divided, shows parties adding to (the stores of) its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells, and accepting no refusal. There will be great good fortune.
Hexagram 41 損, line 2
利貞，征凶，弗損益之。
The second line, undivided, shows that it will be advantageous for its subject to maintain a firm correctness, and that action on his part will be evil. He can give increase (to his correlate) without taking from himself.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 41 損 — judgment
有孚，元吉。无咎，可貞，利有攸往。曷之用？二簋可用享。
In (what is denoted by) Sun, if there be sincerity (in him who employs it), there will be great good fortune:—freedom from error; firmness and correctness that can be maintained; and advantage in every movement that shall be made. In what shall this (sincerity in the exercise of Sun) be employed? (Even) in sacrifice two baskets of grain, (though there be nothing else), may be presented.
Hexagram 42 益 — judgment
利有攸往。利涉大川。
Yî indicates that (in the state which it denotes) there will be advantage in every movement which shall be undertaken, that it will be advantageous (even) to cross the great stream.
The changing lines of hexagram 41
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 利貞，征凶，弗損益之。 | The second line, undivided, shows that it will be advantageous for its subject to maintain a firm correctness, and that action on his part will be evil. He can give increase (to his correlate) without taking from himself. |
| 5 | 或益之，十朋之龜弗克違，元吉。 | The fifth line, divided, shows parties adding to (the stores of) its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells, and accepting no refusal. There will be great 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.