Hexagram 56 旅 changing to hexagram 54 歸妹
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 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 54 歸妹, line 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.
Hexagram 54 歸妹, line 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.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 56 旅 — judgment
小亨，旅貞吉。
Lii intimates that (in the condition which it denotes) there may be some little attainment and progress. If the stranger or traveller be firm and correct as he ought to be, there will be good fortune.
Hexagram 54 歸妹 — 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.
The changing lines of hexagram 56
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 旅瑣瑣，斯其所取災。 | The first line, divided, shows the stranger mean and meanly occupied. It is thus that he brings on himself (further) calamity. |
| 2 | 旅即次，懷其資，得僮僕貞。 | The second line, divided, shows the stranger, occupying his lodging-house, carrying with him his means of livelihood, and provided with good and trusty servants. |
| 3 | 旅焚其次，喪其僮僕，貞厲。 | The third line, undivided, shows the stranger, burning his lodging-house, and having lost his servants. However firm and correct he (try to) be, he will be in peril. |
| 6 | 鳥焚其巢，旅人先笑後號咷。喪牛于易，凶。 | The sixth line, undivided, suggests the idea of a bird burning its nest. The stranger, (thus represented), first laughs and then cries out. He has lost his ox(-like docility) too readily and easily. There will be evil. |
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.