Hexagram 5 需 changing to hexagram 2 坤
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 5.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 2 坤, line 4
括囊，无咎无譽。
The fourth line, divided, (shows the symbol of) a sack tied up. There will be no ground for blame or for praise.
Hexagram 2 坤, line 6
龍戰于野，其血玄黃。
The sixth line, divided, (shows) dragons fighting in the wild. Their blood is purple and yellow.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 5 需 — judgment
有孚，光亨。貞吉，利涉大川。
Hsü intimates that, with the sincerity which is declared in it, there will be brilliant success. With firmness there will be good fortune; and it will be advantageous to cross the great stream.
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 5
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 需于郊，利用恆，无咎。 | The first line, undivided, shows its subject waiting in the distant border. It will be well for him constantly to maintain (the purpose thus shown), in which case there will be no error. |
| 2 | 需于沙，小有言，終吉。 | The second line, undivided, shows its subject waiting on the sand (of the mountain stream). He will (suffer) the small (injury of) being spoken (against), but in the end there will be good fortune. |
| 3 | 需于泥，致寇至。 | The third line, undivided, shows its subject in the mud (close by the stream). He thereby invites the approach of injury. |
| 5 | 需于酒食，貞吉。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject waiting amidst the appliances of a feast. Through his firmness and correctness 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.