Hexagram 44: 姤 ()
姤
· Legge: Kâu
Lower trigram ☴ 巽 (Wind), upper trigram ☰ 乾 (Heaven)
Judgment
女壯，勿用取女。
Kâu shows a female who is bold and strong. It will not be good to marry (such) a female.
Commentary on the judgment (彖傳)
姤，遇也，柔遇剛也。勿用取女，不可與長也。天地相遇，品物咸章也。剛遇中正，天下大行也。姤之時義大矣哉！
The image (大象)
天下有風，姤；后以施命誥四方。
The six lines
| Line | Chinese | Legge | Changes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 — | 姤其角，吝，无咎。 | The sixth line, undivided, shows its subject receiving others on his horns. There will be occasion for regret, but there will be no error. | 28 |
| 5 — | 以杞包瓜，含章，有隕自天。 | The fifth line, undivided, (shows its subject as) a medlar tree overspreading the gourd (beneath it). If he keep his brilliant qualities concealed, (a good issue) will descend (as) from Heaven. | 50 |
| 4 — | 包无魚，起凶。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject with his wallet, but no fish in it. This will give rise to evil. | 57 |
| 3 — | 臀无膚，其行次且，厲，无大咎。 | The third line, undivided, shows one from whose buttocks the skin has been stripped so that he walks with difficulty. The position is perilous, but there will be no great error. | 6 |
| 2 — | 包有魚，无咎，不利賓。 | The second line, undivided, shows its subject with a wallet of fish. There will be no error. But it will not be well to let (the subject of the first line) go forward to the guests. | 33 |
| 1 – – | 系于金柅，貞吉，有攸往，見凶，羸豕，孚，蹢躅。 | The first line, divided, shows how its subject should be kept (like a carriage) tied and fastened to a metal drag, in which case with firm correctness there will be good fortune. (But) if he move in any direction, evil will appear. He will be (like) a lean pig, which is sure to keep jumping about. | 1 |
Lines are numbered from the bottom. Each line page shows the line text with its small image commentary; each “changes to” link opens the reading for that changing line.
Related hexagrams
- Inverse (lines in reverse order): hexagram 43
- Opposite (every line changed): hexagram 24 · reading
- Nuclear (lines 2–4 and 3–5): hexagram 1
English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882) — public domain; OCR text of the 1882 printing, checked against the proofread hexagrams. Chinese: Zhou Yi from Chinese Wikisource.
Character glossary
- 女nǚwoman, girl; female
- 壯zhuàngbig, large; robust, strong; the name of
- 勿wùmust not, do not; without, never
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 取qǔto take, to receive, to obtain; to selec
- 系xìsystem; line, link, connection
- 于yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 金jīngold, metal; money
- 柅nǐflourish
- 貞zhēnvirtuous, chaste, pure; loyal
- 吉jílucky, propitious, good
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 攸yōudistant, far; adverbial prefix
- 往wǎngto go, to depart; past, former
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 凶xiōngculprit; murder; bad, sad
- 羸léiexhausted, weak; emaciated, lean
- 豕shǐpig, boar
- 孚fúto brood over eggs; to have confidence
- 蹢dípig's hoof
- 躅zhúto walk carefully; to hesitate, to falte
- 包bāowrap, pack, bundle; package
- 魚yúfish
- 无wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 咎jiùfault, defect; error, mistake
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 賓bīnguest, visitor; surname; submit
- 臀túnbuttocks
- 膚fūskin; shallow, superficial
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 次cìorder, sequence; second, next; one after
- 且qiěmoreover, also (post-subject); about to,
- 厲lìwhetstone; to grind, to sharpen, to whet
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
- 起qǐto begin, to initiate; to rise, to stand
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 杞qǐwillow, medlar tree; a small feudal stat
- 瓜guāmelon, gourd, squash, cucumber
- 含hánto hold in the mouth; to contain; to che
- 章zhāngchapter, section, writing; seal
- 隕yǔnto slip, to fall; to drop; to die
- 自zìself; private, personal; from
- 天tiānsky, heaven; god, celestial
- 姤gòumate; copulate; good; hexagram ䷫
- 角jiǎoangle, corner; horn, horn-shaped
- 吝lìnstingy, miserly; parsimonious
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.