Hexagram 1, line 6
上九Line 6 of Heaven
Nine at the top · 乾 qián
爻辭 The line text
亢龍有悔。In the sixth (or topmost) line, undivided, (we see its subject as) the dragon exceeding the proper limits. There will be occasion for repentance.
亢龍有悔，盈不可久也。'The dragon exceeds the proper limits;—there will be occasion for repentance:'—a state of fulness, that is, should not be indulged in long.
In plain words
The dragon has flown too high: 'the overbearing dragon will have cause to repent.' At the top of six yang lines there is nowhere further to rise and the only movement left is down. Line six is yang in a yin place, beyond the centre and outside the ruler's seat, with nothing to correspond to below. The small Image gives the law behind it: what is full cannot last (盈不可久也). The Wenyan describes the person who 'knows how to advance but not how to retreat, how to hold but not how to let go', and says this is why the line ends in regret rather than disaster — regret is the lesson of excess, and it can be learned.
If this line is changing
You have gone as far as this road goes; pull back a step before circumstances pull you, and treat any regret as information rather than as a verdict.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 乾 Qian (the Creative) (heaven).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 3: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
乾 Heaven becomes ䷪ 43 夬 Decisiveness
The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
What it becomes43 · 夬 DecisivenessguàiThe six lines of 乾 Heaven
- 初九Nine at the beginninghidden dragon · do not act · yang below
- 九二Nine in the second placedragon in the field · appearing · the great person
- 九三Nine in the third placevigilant all day · wary at evening · danger without blame
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeleaping or waiting · the abyss · trial
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeflying dragon · in heaven · the great person
- 上九Nine at the toparrogant dragon · regret · fullness cannot last
Read 乾 Heaven for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the top of hexagram 1, Heaven, mean?
- The dragon has flown too high: 'the overbearing dragon will have cause to repent.' At the top of six yang lines there is nowhere further to rise and the only movement left is down. Line six is yang in a yin place, beyond the centre and outside the ruler's seat, with nothing to correspond to below. The small Image gives the law behind it: what is full cannot last (盈不可久也). The Wenyan describes the person who 'knows how to advance but not how to retreat, how to hold but not how to let go', and says this is why the line ends in regret rather than disaster — regret is the lesson of excess, and it can be learned.
- What does hexagram 1 become when line 6 changes?
- Heaven becomes hexagram 43, 夬 Decisiveness: The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
- Is line 6 of Heaven in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).