Hexagram 5 需 changing to hexagram 27 頤
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 3, 5, 6.
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 27 頤, line 1
舍爾靈龜，觀我朵頤，凶。
The first line, undivided, (seems to be thus addressed), 'You leave your efficacious tortoise, and look at me till your lower jaw hangs down.' There will be evil.
Hexagram 27 頤, line 4
顛頤吉，虎視眈眈，其欲逐逐，无咎。
The fourth line, divided, shows one looking downwards for (the power to) nourish. There will be good fortune. Looking with a tiger's downward unwavering glare, and with his desire that impels him to spring after spring, he will fall into no error.
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 27 頤 — judgment
貞吉。觀頤，自求口實。
Î indicates that with firm correctness there will be good fortune (in what is denoted by it). We must look at what we are seeking to nourish, and by the exercise of our thoughts seek for the proper aliment.
The changing lines of hexagram 5
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| 6 | 入于穴，有不速之客三人來，敬之終吉。 | The topmost line, divided, shows its subject entered into the cavern. (But) there are three guests coming, without being urged, (to his help). If he receive them respectfully, there will be good fortune in the end. |
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.