Hexagram 50: 鼎 (dǐng)
鼎
dǐng · Legge: Ting
Lower trigram ☴ 巽 (Wind), upper trigram ☲ 離 (Fire)
Judgment
元吉，亨。
Ting gives the intimation of great progress and success.
Commentary on the judgment (彖傳)
鼎，象也。以木巽火，亨飪也。聖人亨以享上帝，而大亨以養聖賢。巽而耳目聰明，柔進而上行，得中而應乎剛，是以元亨。
The image (大象)
木上有火，鼎；君子以正位凝命。
The six lines
| Line | Chinese | Legge | Changes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 — | 鼎玉鉉，大吉，无不利。 | The sixth line, undivided, shows the caldron with rings of jade. There will be great good fortune, and all action taken will be in every way advantageous. | 32 |
| 5 – – | 鼎黃耳金鉉，利貞。 | The fifth line, divided, shows the caldron with yellow ears and rings of metal in them. There will be advantage through being firm and correct. | 44 |
| 4 — | 鼎折足，覆公餗，其刑渥，凶。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows the caldron with its feet broken; and its contents, designed for the rulers use, overturned and spilt. Its subject will be made to blush for shame. There will be evil. | 18 |
| 3 — | 鼎耳革，其行塞，雉膏不食，方雨虧悔，終吉。 | The third line, undivided, shows the caldron with (the places of) its ears changed. The progress (of its subject) is (thus) stopped. The fat flesh of the pheasant (which is in the caldron) will not be eaten. But the (genial) rain will come, and the grounds for repentance will disappear. There will be good fortune in the end. | 64 |
| 2 — | 鼎有實，我仇有疾，不我能即，吉。 | The second line, undivided, shows the caldron with the things (to be cooked) in it. (If its subject can say), 'My enemy dislikes me, but he cannot approach me' there will be good fortune. | 56 |
| 1 – – | 鼎顛趾，利出否，得妾以其子，无咎。 | The first line, divided, shows the caldron overthrown and its feet turned up. (But) there will be advantage in its getting rid of what was bad in it. (Or it shows us) the concubine (whose position is improved) by means of her son. There will be no error. | 14 |
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 49
- Opposite (every line changed): hexagram 3 · reading
- Nuclear (lines 2–4 and 3–5): hexagram 43
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
- 元yuánfirst; dollar; origin; head
- 吉jílucky, propitious, good
- 亨hēngprospering, going smoothly
- 鼎dǐnglarge, three-legged bronze cauldron
- 顛diānpeak, summit, top; to upset
- 趾zhǐtoe; tracks, footprints
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 否fǒuno, not, un-; final particle
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 妾qièconcubine
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 无wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 咎jiùfault, defect; error, mistake
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 實shíreal, true; honest, sincere
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 仇chóuenemy; hatred, enmity
- 疾jísickness, illness, disease; to envy, to
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 即jípromptly, quickly, immediately
- 耳ěrear; to hear, to hear of; handle
- 革géleather, animal hide; to reform; to remo
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 塞sāito stop up, to seal, to cork, to block;
- 雉zhìpheasant; crenellated wall
- 膏gāogrease, fat; ointment, paste
- 食shífood; to eat
- 方fāngsquare, rectangle; side; region; flag
- 雨yǔrain
- 虧kuīto lose, to fail; loss, damages; deficie
- 悔huǐto regret, to repent, to show remorse
- 終zhōngend; finally, in the end
- 折zhéto break, to snap; to fold, to bend; to
- 足zúfoot; to attain, to satisfy; enough
- 覆fùto cover; to overturn; to repeat; to rep
- 公gōngfair, equitable; public; duke
- 餗sùa pot of cooked rice
- 刑xíngpunishment, penalty; law
- 渥wòto enrich, to dye; to moisten, to soak
- 凶xiōngculprit; murder; bad, sad
- 黃huángyellow; surname
- 金jīngold, metal; money
- 鉉xuàna device for carrying a tripod
- 貞zhēnvirtuous, chaste, pure; loyal
- 玉yùjade, gem, precious stone
- 大dàbig, great, vast, high, deep
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.