Hexagram 2, line 5
六五Line 5 of Earth
Six in the fifth place · 坤 kūn
爻辭 The line text
黃裳，元吉。The fifth line, divided, (shows) the yellow lower garment. There will be great good fortune.
黃裳元吉，文在中也。'The yellow lower-garment;—there will be great good fortune:'—this follows from that ornamental (colour's) being in the right and central place.
In plain words
'A yellow lower garment: supreme good fortune.' Yellow is the colour of the centre and of the earth; the lower garment is what is worn beneath, not the outer robe. Line five is yin in the ruler's place — a yielding line holding the highest position — and the text gives it the best verdict in the hexagram because it holds that position with the humility of someone dressed in undergarments rather than regalia. The small Image says the ornament is within (文在中也). Wang Bi and later commentators read this as the ideal of the yielding ruler or the great minister: power exercised through modesty, central and unshowy, which is why it is 'supremely' rather than merely fortunate.
If this line is changing
If you hold authority now, wear it lightly and keep your quality on the inside; the less you insist on your position, the more completely it is yours.
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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 坤 Kun (the Receptive) (earth).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 2: 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 ䷇ 8 比 Alliance
Water on the earth, flowing together: alliance and mutual support. Favourable to unite around a worthy centre; latecomers who hesitate lose their chance.
What it becomes8 · 比 AlliancebǐThe 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 in the fifth place of hexagram 2, Earth, mean?
- 'A yellow lower garment: supreme good fortune.' Yellow is the colour of the centre and of the earth; the lower garment is what is worn beneath, not the outer robe. Line five is yin in the ruler's place — a yielding line holding the highest position — and the text gives it the best verdict in the hexagram because it holds that position with the humility of someone dressed in undergarments rather than regalia. The small Image says the ornament is within (文在中也). Wang Bi and later commentators read this as the ideal of the yielding ruler or the great minister: power exercised through modesty, central and unshowy, which is why it is 'supremely' rather than merely fortunate.
- What does hexagram 2 become when line 5 changes?
- Earth becomes hexagram 8, 比 Alliance: Water on the earth, flowing together: alliance and mutual support. Favourable to unite around a worthy centre; latecomers who hesitate lose their chance.
- Is line 5 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. 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).