Hexagram 21 for work
Hexagram 21 Biting Together for work and career
At work Shi He is the obstruction that must be removed before anything else can move: a blocked decision, an unresolved dispute, a person or a practice that keeps the team's jaws from closing. The Tuan praises the hexagram for combining movement below with clarity above, thunder and lightning: act, but with the facts in the open. The judgment's 'favourable to apply constraints' makes this a time for rules, consequences and clear procedure rather than patience or goodwill, and the Great Image adds that the penalties should be made plain beforehand.
The lines locate you. If you are being corrected, take it early (line one) rather than late (line six). If you must bite, expect the easy case to run deep (line two), the old case to sting (line three), the hard case to need straightness and labour (line four), and the big decision to expose you (line five). A changing line in the lower trigram is about starting the correction; in the upper trigram, about carrying it through from a position of authority.
The hexagram in brief
Thunder and lightning: jaws closing on an obstacle. Something is in the way and must be bitten through — favourable for administering justice.
Deal with the obstruction firmly and fairly, with clear penalties and clear rules rather than lingering resentment.
The judgment
噬嗑：亨。利用獄。Shih Ho indicates successful progress (in the condition of things which it supposes). It will be advantageous to use legal constraints.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 噬嗑 Biting Together has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningfeet in the stocks · stopped early · no blame
- 六二Six in the second placebiting soft flesh · easy and deep · riding the strong
- 六三Six in the third placeold dried meat · meeting poison · wrong place
- 九四Nine in the fourth placemeat on the bone · metal arrows · hard but right
- 六五Six in the fifth placedried meat · yellow gold · firm amid danger
- 上九Nine at the topthe cangue · deaf to warning · evil
The same hexagram for
Questions
- What does hexagram 21, Biting Together, mean for a career question?
- At work Shi He is the obstruction that must be removed before anything else can move: a blocked decision, an unresolved dispute, a person or a practice that keeps the team's jaws from closing. The Tuan praises the hexagram for combining movement below with clarity above, thunder and lightning: act, but with the facts in the open. The judgment's 'favourable to apply constraints' makes this a time for rules, consequences and clear procedure rather than patience or goodwill, and the Great Image adds that the penalties should be made plain beforehand.
- What does Hexagram 21, 噬嗑 Biting Together, mean?
- Thunder and lightning: jaws closing on an obstacle. Something is in the way and must be bitten through — favourable for administering justice.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).