Hexagram 8 比 changing to hexagram 10 履
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 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 10 履, line 3
眇能視,跛能履,履虎尾,咥人,凶。武人為于大君。
The third line, divided, shows a one-eyed man (who thinks he) can see; a lame man (who thinks he) can walk well; one who treads on the tail of a tiger and is bitten. (All this indicates) ill fortune. We have a (mere) bravo acting the part of a great ruler.
Hexagram 10 履, line 5
夬履,貞厲。
The fifth line, undivided, shows the resolute tread of its subject. Though he be firm and correct, there will be peril.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 8 比 — judgment
吉。原筮元永貞,无咎。不寧方來,後夫凶。
Pî indicates that (under the conditions which it supposes) there is good fortune. But let (the principal party intended in it) re-examine himself, (as if) by divination, whether his virtue be great, unintermitting, and firm. If it be so, there will be no error. Those who have not rest will then come to him; and with those who are (too) late in coming it will be ill.
Hexagram 10 履 — judgment
履虎尾,不咥人,亨。
(Lî suggests the idea of) one treading on the tail of a tiger, which does not bite him. There will be progress and success.
The changing lines of hexagram 8
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 有孚,比之,无咎。有孚盈缶,終來有它,吉。 | The first line, divided, shows its subject seeking by his sincerity to win the attachment of his object. There will be no error. Let (the breast) be full of sincerity as an earthenware vessel is of its contents, and it will in the end bring other advantages. |
| 2 | 比之自內,貞吉。 | In the second line, divided, we see the movement towards union and attachment proceeding from the inward (mind). With firm correctness there will be good fortune. |
| 4 | 外比之,貞吉。 | In the fourth line, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with the one beyond himself. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. |
| 6 | 比之无首,凶。 | In the topmost line, divided, we see one seeking union and attachment without having taken the first step (to such an end). 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.