Hexagram 63 既濟 changing to hexagram 12 否
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 3, 4, 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 12 否, line 2
包承，小人吉，大人否。亨。
The second line, divided, shows its subject patient and obedient. To the small man (comporting himself so) there will be good fortune. If the great man (comport himself) as the distress and obstruction require, he will have success.
Hexagram 12 否, line 5
休否，大人吉。其亡其亡，繫于包桑。
In the fifth line, undivided, we see him who brings the distress and obstruction to a close,—the great man and fortunate. (But let him say), 'We may perish! We may perish!' (so shall the state of things become firm, as if) bound to a clump of bushy mulberry trees.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 63 既濟 — judgment
亨小。利貞。初吉終亂。
Kî Zî intimates progress and success in small matters. There will be advantage in being firm and correct. There has been good fortune in the beginning; there may be disorder in the end.
Hexagram 12 否 — judgment
否之匪人，不利君子貞，大往小來。
In Phî there is the want of good understanding between the (different classes of) men, and its indication is unfavourable to the firm and correct course of the superior man. We see in it the great gone and the little come.
The changing lines of hexagram 63
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 曳其輪，濡其尾，无咎。 | The first line, undivided, (shows its subject as a driver) who drags back his wheel, (or as a fox) which has wet his tail. There will be no error. |
| 3 | 高宗伐鬼方，三年克之，小人勿用。 | The third line, undivided, (suggests the case of) Kao Sung who attacked the Demon region, but was three years in subduing it. Small men should not be employed (in such enterprises). |
| 4 | 繻有衣袽，終日戒。 | The fourth line, divided, shows its subject with rags provided against any leak (in his boat), and on his guard all day long. |
| 6 | 濡其首，厲。 | The topmost line, divided, shows its subject with (even) his head immersed. The position is perilous. |
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.