Hexagram 19, line 4
六四Line 4 of Overseeing
Six in the fourth place · 臨 lín
爻辭 The line text
至臨，无咎。The fourth line, divided, shows one advancing in the highest mode. There will be no error.
至臨无咎，位當也。'The freedom from error consequent on the advance in the highest mode' is due to the (various) appropriateness of the position.
In plain words
Line four 'approaches directly' (至臨): at the bottom of Kun, the upper trigram, it is the first of the yielding lines to meet the rising strength, and it does so without pretence, face to face. It is yin in a yin place and corresponds to line one, so it receives the growth from below as its proper partner. The small Image says the absence of blame comes from the position being right (位當也). Where line three charmed from above, this line simply comes down to meet what is coming up — the Great Image's 'embracing and protecting the people without limit' begins here.
If this line is changing
Meet the person or the change that is rising toward you directly, without ceremony or defensiveness; your position is right and plain contact is enough.
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 belongs to the upper trigram 坤 Kun (the Receptive) (earth).
- It corresponds (應) with line 1: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
臨 Overseeing becomes ䷵ 54 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister
Thunder over the lake: the younger sister married as a secondary wife. Undertakings bring misfortune; nothing is favourable — a relationship or position entered on unequal terms must be managed with great care.
What it becomes54 · 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sisterguī mèiThe six lines of 臨 Overseeing
- 初九Nine at the beginningapproach together · steadiness · a right will
- 九二Nine in the second placecentral strength · every advantage · not merely obeying
- 六三Six in the third placesweet approach · no advantage · worry saves it
- 六四Six in the fourth placedirect approach · right place · receiving the strong
- 六五Six in the fifth placewise approach · the great ruler · the middle way
- 上六Six at the topgenerous approach · the top turns inward · good at the end
Read 臨 Overseeing for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the fourth place of hexagram 19, Overseeing, mean?
- Line four 'approaches directly' (至臨): at the bottom of Kun, the upper trigram, it is the first of the yielding lines to meet the rising strength, and it does so without pretence, face to face. It is yin in a yin place and corresponds to line one, so it receives the growth from below as its proper partner. The small Image says the absence of blame comes from the position being right (位當也). Where line three charmed from above, this line simply comes down to meet what is coming up — the Great Image's 'embracing and protecting the people without limit' begins here.
- What does hexagram 19 become when line 4 changes?
- Overseeing becomes hexagram 54, 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister: Thunder over the lake: the younger sister married as a secondary wife. Undertakings bring misfortune; nothing is favourable — a relationship or position entered on unequal terms must be managed with great care.
- Is line 4 of Overseeing 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).