Hexagram 9 小畜 changing to hexagram 54 歸妹
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 3, 4, 5, 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 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 2
眇能視，利幽人之貞。
The second line, undivided, shows her blind of one eye, and yet able to see. There will be advantage in her maintaining the firm correctness of a solitary widow.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 9 小畜 — judgment
亨。密雲不雨，自我西郊。
Hsiâo Khû indicates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and success. (We see) dense clouds, but no rain coming from our borders in the west.
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 9
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 車說輹，夫妻反目。 | The third line, undivided, suggests the idea of a carriage, the strap beneath which has been removed, or of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes. |
| 4 | 有孚，血去惕出，无咎。 | The fourth line, divided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity. The danger of bloodshed is thereby averted, and his (ground for) apprehension dismissed. There will be no mistake. |
| 5 | 有孚攣如，富以其鄰。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity, and drawing others to unite with him. Rich in resources, he employs his neighbours (in the same cause with himself). |
| 6 | 既雨既處，尚得載，婦貞厲，月幾望，君子征凶。 | The topmost line, undivided, shows how the rain has fallen, and the (onward progress) is stayed;—(so) must we value the full accumulation of the virtue (represented by the upper trigram). But a wife (exercising restraint), however firm and correct she may be, is in a position of peril, (and like) the moon approaching to the full. If the superior man prosecute his measures (in such circumstances), 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.