Hexagram 63 既濟 changing to hexagram 54 歸妹
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 3, 4, 5.
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 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.
Hexagram 54 歸妹, line 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.
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 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 63
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 婦喪其茀，勿逐，七日得。 | The second line, divided, (shows its subject as) a wife who has lost her (carriage-)screen. There is no occasion to go in pursuit of it. In seven days she will find it. |
| 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. |
| 5 | 東鄰殺牛，不如西鄰之禴祭，實受其福。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject (as) the neighbour in the east who slaughters an ox (for his sacrifice); but this is not equal to the (small) spring sacrifice of the neighbour in the west, whose sincerity receives the blessing. |
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.