Hexagram 54: 歸妹 (guī mèi)
歸妹
guī mèi · Legge: Kwei Mei
Lower trigram ☱ 兌 (Lake), upper trigram ☳ 震 (Thunder)
Judgment
征凶，无攸利。
Kwei Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.
Commentary on the judgment (彖傳)
歸妹，天地之大義也。天地不交，而萬物不興，歸妹人之終始也。說以動，所歸妹也。征凶，位不當也。无攸利，柔乘剛也。
The image (大象)
澤上有雷，歸妹；君子以永終知敝。
The six lines
| Line | Chinese | Legge | Changes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 – – | 女承筐无實，士刲羊无血，无攸利。 | The sixth line, divided, shows the young lady bearing the basket, but without anything in it, and the gentleman slaughtering the sheep, but without blood flowing from it. There will be no advantage in any way. | 38 |
| 5 – – | 帝乙歸妹，其君之袂，不如其娣之袂良，月幾望，吉。 | The fifth line, divided, reminds us of the marrying of the younger sister of (king) Ti-yi, when the sleeves of her the princess were not equal to those of the (still) younger sister who accompanied her in an inferior capacity. (The case suggests the thought of) the moon almost full. There will be good fortune. | 58 |
| 4 — | 歸妹愆期，遲歸有時。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows the younger sister who is to be married off protracting the time. She may be late in being married, but the time will come. | 19 |
| 3 – – | 歸妹以須，反歸以娣。 | The third line, divided, shows the younger sister who was to be married off in a mean position. She returns and accepts an ancillary position. | 34 |
| 2 — | 眇能視，利幽人之貞。 | The second line, undivided, shows her blind of one eye, and yet able to see. There will be advantage in her maintaining the firm correctness of a solitary widow. | 51 |
| 1 — | 歸妹以娣，跛能履，征吉。 | The first line, undivided, shows the younger sister married off in a position ancillary to the real wife. (It suggests the idea of) a person lame on one leg who yet manages to tramp along. Going forward will be fortunate. | 40 |
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 53
- Opposite (every line changed): hexagram 53 · reading
- Nuclear (lines 2–4 and 3–5): hexagram 63
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
- 征zhēngto summon, to recruit; levy, tax; journe
- 凶xiōngculprit; murder; bad, sad
- 无wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 攸yōudistant, far; adverbial prefix
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 歸guīto return, to go back; to return to, to
- 妹mèiyounger sister
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 娣dìyounger sister; younger brother's wife
- 跛bǒlame
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 履lǚshoes; to walk, to tread
- 吉jílucky, propitious, good
- 眇miǎoblind in one eye; subtle, minute, minusc
- 視shìto look at, to inspect, to observe, to r
- 幽yōuquiet, secluded, tranquil; dark
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 貞zhēnvirtuous, chaste, pure; loyal
- 須xūbeard; must; necessary
- 反fǎnreverse, opposite; contrary, anti-
- 愆qiānerror, fault, mistake, transgression
- 期qīa period of time; date, time; phase
- 遲chítardy, slow, late; to delay
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 時shítime, season; period, era, age
- 帝dìsupreme ruler, emperor; god
- 乙yǐsecond; 2nd heavenly stem
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 袂mèisleeves
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 良liánggood, virtuous, respectable
- 月yuèmoon; month
- 幾jǐsmall table; how many; a few, some
- 望wàngto expect, to hope, to look forward to
- 女nǚwoman, girl; female
- 承chéngto undertake, to bear, to accept a duty;
- 筐kuāngbamboo basket or chest
- 實shíreal, true; honest, sincere
- 士shìscholar, gentleman; soldier
- 刲kuīcut, slice off
- 羊yángsheep, goat
- 血xuèblood
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.