Hexagram 21, line 3
六三Line 3 of Biting Together
Six in the third place · 噬嗑 shì kè
爻辭 The line text
噬臘肉，遇毒；小吝，无咎。The third line, divided, shows one gnawing dried flesh, and meeting with what is disagreeable. There will be occasion for some small regret, but no (great) error.
遇毒，位不當也。'He meets with what is disagreeable and hurtful:'—his position is not the proper one for him.
In plain words
Line three 'bites dried meat and meets something poisonous': an old matter, long left to harden, which fights back when it is finally dealt with. The text allows 'small regret' and 'no blame'. The small Image puts the trouble down to position (位不當也) — a yin line in a yang place, at the top of Zhen, with no proper correspondent above: the one who takes on this case lacks the standing to make it clean. 朱熹 reads the poison as the resentment that an old grievance stirs up; the line is right to act, but should not expect it to go smoothly.
If this line is changing
You are dealing with something that has been left too long, and it will bite back; expect bad feeling, keep going, and do not take the resistance as proof that you were wrong.
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 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It corresponds (應) with line 6: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
噬嗑 Biting Together becomes ䷝ 30 離 Brightness (Fire)
Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
What it becomes30 · 離 Brightness (Fire)líThe six lines of 噬嗑 Biting Together
- 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
Read 噬嗑 Biting Together for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the third place of hexagram 21, Biting Together, mean?
- Line three 'bites dried meat and meets something poisonous': an old matter, long left to harden, which fights back when it is finally dealt with. The text allows 'small regret' and 'no blame'. The small Image puts the trouble down to position (位不當也) — a yin line in a yang place, at the top of Zhen, with no proper correspondent above: the one who takes on this case lacks the standing to make it clean. 朱熹 reads the poison as the resentment that an old grievance stirs up; the line is right to act, but should not expect it to go smoothly.
- What does hexagram 21 become when line 3 changes?
- Biting Together becomes hexagram 30, 離 Brightness (Fire): Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
- Is line 3 of Biting Together 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).