Hexagram 44 姤 changing to hexagram 2 坤
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
What to read
Five changing lines: read the one unchanged line of the resulting hexagram. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 2 坤, line 1
履霜，堅冰至。
In the first line, divided, (we see its subject) treading on hoarfrost. The strong ice will come (by and by).
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 44 姤 — 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.
Hexagram 2 坤 — judgment
元亨。利牝馬之貞。
Khwăn (represents) what is great and originating, penetrating, advantageous, correct and having the firmness of a mare. When the superior man (here intended) has to make any movement, if he take the initiative, he will go astray; if he follow, he will find his (proper) lord. The advantageousness will be seen in his getting friends in the south-west, and losing friends in the north-east. If he rest in correctness and firmness, there will be good fortune.
The changing lines of hexagram 44
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
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.