Hexagram 2, line 1
初六Line 1 of Earth
Six at the beginning · 坤 kūn
爻辭 The line text
履霜，堅冰至。In the first line, divided, (we see its subject) treading on hoarfrost. The strong ice will come (by and by).
履霜堅冰，陰始凝也。馴致其道，至堅冰也。'He is treading on hoarfrost;—the strong ice will come (by and by):'—the cold (air) has begun to take form. Allow it to go on quietly according to its nature, and (the hoarfrost) will come to strong ice.
In plain words
One steps on frost and knows that hard ice is coming. This is the first yin line of the pure yin hexagram, and the image is autumn's first cold morning: nothing has frozen yet, but the direction of the season is already set. The small Image says the yin 'has begun to congeal' (陰始凝也) and that if it follows its course it will reach solid ice. The tradition reads it as a warning about trends rather than events — Cheng Yi applies it to the small habits and the small people whose growth should be noticed while it is still frost. Nothing is judged good or bad here; the line only asks one to look at where things are tending.
If this line is changing
Take the first small sign seriously, whether it is a habit, a mood or a pattern in someone else; it is far easier to turn a trend while it is still frost.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin 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 lower trigram 坤 Kun (the Receptive) (earth).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 4: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
坤 Earth becomes ䷗ 24 復 Returning
Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
What it becomes24 · 復 ReturningfùThe six lines of 坤 Earth
- 初六Six at the beginningtreading on frost · hard ice · small beginnings
- 六二Six in the second placestraight, square, great · without practice · the way of earth
- 六三Six in the third placehidden brilliance · serving without credit · a proper end
- 六四Six in the fourth placetied sack · no blame, no praise · caution
- 六五Six in the fifth placeyellow lower garment · great good fortune · culture at the centre
- 上六Six at the topdragons fight · in the open · yin exhausted
Read 坤 Earth for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the beginning of hexagram 2, Earth, mean?
- One steps on frost and knows that hard ice is coming. This is the first yin line of the pure yin hexagram, and the image is autumn's first cold morning: nothing has frozen yet, but the direction of the season is already set. The small Image says the yin 'has begun to congeal' (陰始凝也) and that if it follows its course it will reach solid ice. The tradition reads it as a warning about trends rather than events — Cheng Yi applies it to the small habits and the small people whose growth should be noticed while it is still frost. Nothing is judged good or bad here; the line only asks one to look at where things are tending.
- What does hexagram 2 become when line 1 changes?
- Earth becomes hexagram 24, 復 Returning: Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
- Is line 1 of Earth 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).