Hexagram 12, line 2
六二Line 2 of Blockage
Six in the second place · 否 pǐ
爻辭 The line text
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.
大人否亨，不亂群也。'The great man, comporting himself as the distress and obstruction require, will have success:'—he does not allow himself to be disordered by the herd (of small men).
In plain words
Line two 'bears and complies; for the small man good fortune, for the great man obstruction — and success.' Yin, central and correct, corresponding to the strong ruler at five, it is the one line in the lower trigram able to behave well. The text splits in two: the small person gets on by submitting to the time, while the great person accepts the obstruction, does not try to prosper in it, and precisely so comes through. The small Image names the virtue: 'he is not disordered by the crowd' (不亂群也). Cheng Yi reads 包承 as the small people's flattery and acceptance of the great; the great man declines it.
If this line is changing
Refuse the comfortable success that comes from going along with the crowd; accept that this is a blocked time for you and keep your integrity, and that is how you come through it.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 坤 Kun (the Receptive) (earth).
- It corresponds (應) with line 5: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
否 Blockage becomes ䷅ 6 訟 Dispute
Heaven above and water below, moving apart: contention. Sincerity is obstructed; a dispute may be won partway but ends badly if pushed to the finish.
What it becomes6 · 訟 DisputesòngThe six lines of 否 Blockage
- 初六Six at the beginninggrass with its roots · withdraw together · loyal aim
- 六二Six in the second placebearing and obeying · great man accepts · not joining the herd
- 六三Six in the third placeshame harboured · wrong place · hidden motive
- 九四Nine in the fourth placea mandate · no blame · companions share the blessing
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeending obstruction · it may perish! · bound to the mulberry
- 上九Nine at the topobstruction overturned · first blocked, then joy · cannot last
Read 否 Blockage for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the second place of hexagram 12, Blockage, mean?
- Line two 'bears and complies; for the small man good fortune, for the great man obstruction — and success.' Yin, central and correct, corresponding to the strong ruler at five, it is the one line in the lower trigram able to behave well. The text splits in two: the small person gets on by submitting to the time, while the great person accepts the obstruction, does not try to prosper in it, and precisely so comes through. The small Image names the virtue: 'he is not disordered by the crowd' (不亂群也). Cheng Yi reads 包承 as the small people's flattery and acceptance of the great; the great man declines it.
- What does hexagram 12 become when line 2 changes?
- Blockage becomes hexagram 6, 訟 Dispute: Heaven above and water below, moving apart: contention. Sincerity is obstructed; a dispute may be won partway but ends badly if pushed to the finish.
- Is line 2 of Blockage in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).