Hexagram 54 歸妹, Line 5
歸妹
Hexagram 54 · fifth line, divided (six)
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.
James Legge (1882), public domain.
Small image (小象)
帝乙歸妹，不如其娣之袂良也。其位在中，以貴行也。
If only this line changes, hexagram 54 becomes hexagram 58.
← Hexagram 54 歸妹: judgment and all lines
Character glossary
- 帝dìsupreme ruler, emperor; god
- 乙yǐsecond; 2nd heavenly stem
- 歸guīto return, to go back; to return to, to
- 妹mèiyounger sister
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 袂mèisleeves
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 娣dìyounger sister; younger brother's wife
- 良liánggood, virtuous, respectable
- 月yuèmoon; month
- 幾jǐsmall table; how many; a few, some
- 望wàngto expect, to hope, to look forward to
- 吉jílucky, propitious, good
- 也yěalso, too
- 位wèiseat, throne; rank, status; position, lo
- 在zàiat, in, on; to exist; used to indicate t
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 貴guìexpensive, costly; valuable, precious
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
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.