Hexagram 21, line 4
九四Line 4 of Biting Together
Nine in the fourth place · 噬嗑 shì kè
爻辭 The line text
噬乾胏，得金矢，利艱貞，吉。The fourth line, undivided, shows one gnawing the flesh dried on the bone, and getting the pledges of money and arrows. It will be advantageous to him to realise the difficulty of his task and be firm,—in which case there will be good fortune.
利艱貞吉，未光也。'It will be advantageous to him to realise the difficulty of his task and be firm, in which case there will be good fortune:'—his light has not yet been sufficiently displayed.
In plain words
Line four is structurally the thing caught between the jaws — the one strong line among the four middle lines — and as an actor it is the official who bites through the hardest case: 'dried meat on the bone', and wins 'metal arrows', the pledge of straightness and firmness that the ancients deposited before a hearing. It is yang in a yin place, so its strength is tempered, and the text asks it to accept difficulty and stay steady (利艱貞), promising good fortune. The small Image tempers the promise: its light is not yet full (未光也) — the case is won by effort, not by brilliance.
If this line is changing
This is the hard one, and it is yours to do; be straight and firm as an arrow, accept that it will be laborious, and do not expect to look good while doing it.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang 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 upper trigram 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 1: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
噬嗑 Biting Together becomes ䷚ 27 頤 Jaws / Nourishment
Thunder at the foot of the mountain, in the shape of open jaws: nourishment. Correct nourishing brings good fortune — watch what you feed yourself and others, and what comes out of your mouth.
What it becomes27 · 頤 Jaws / NourishmentyíThe 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 Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 21, Biting Together, mean?
- Line four is structurally the thing caught between the jaws — the one strong line among the four middle lines — and as an actor it is the official who bites through the hardest case: 'dried meat on the bone', and wins 'metal arrows', the pledge of straightness and firmness that the ancients deposited before a hearing. It is yang in a yin place, so its strength is tempered, and the text asks it to accept difficulty and stay steady (利艱貞), promising good fortune. The small Image tempers the promise: its light is not yet full (未光也) — the case is won by effort, not by brilliance.
- What does hexagram 21 become when line 4 changes?
- Biting Together becomes hexagram 27, 頤 Jaws / Nourishment: Thunder at the foot of the mountain, in the shape of open jaws: nourishment. Correct nourishing brings good fortune — watch what you feed yourself and others, and what comes out of your mouth.
- Is line 4 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).