Hexagram 25, line 6
上九Line 6 of Without Falsehood
Nine at the top · 无妄 wú wàng
爻辭 The line text
无妄，行有眚，无攸利。The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject free from insincerity, yet sure to fall into error, if he take action. (His action) will not be advantageous in any way.
无妄之行，窮之災也。'The action (in this case) of one who is free from insincerity' will occasion the calamity arising from action (when the time for it is) exhausted.
In plain words
At the top the text says: innocent, yet 'to act brings error; nothing is favourable'. Line six is yang at the very end of Qian, where the hexagram's time is spent — the same sincerity that was rewarded at line one is now out of season. The small Image gives the reason in four characters: 窮之災也, the calamity of having reached the end. Wang Bi reads it as innocence that has become stubbornness, pressing forward because one feels blameless rather than because the moment calls for it. The judgment already warned that when the time is not right, 'it is not favourable to have somewhere to go'; this line is where that warning lands.
If this line is changing
Being in the right is not a reason to keep pushing; the moment for this matter has passed, so stop and let it close rather than act on principle into a wall.
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 乾 Qian (the Creative) (heaven).
- It corresponds (應) with line 3: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
无妄 Without Falsehood becomes ䷐ 17 隨 Following Along
Thunder resting in the lake: following the time, taking rest in the evening. Supreme success in following what is right — and in being worth following.
What it becomes17 · 隨 Following AlongsuíThe six lines of 无妄 Without Falsehood
- 初九Nine at the beginningsincere start · go forward · the will fulfilled
- 六二Six in the second placeno harvest in mind · unforced work · ready for anything
- 六三Six in the third placeundeserved loss · the tethered ox · wrong place
- 九四Nine in the fourth placehold firm · no partner · what is yours
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeunprovoked trouble · do not meddle · it passes
- 上九Nine at the toptime exhausted · do not act · innocence overstretched
Read 无妄 Without Falsehood for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the top of hexagram 25, Without Falsehood, mean?
- At the top the text says: innocent, yet 'to act brings error; nothing is favourable'. Line six is yang at the very end of Qian, where the hexagram's time is spent — the same sincerity that was rewarded at line one is now out of season. The small Image gives the reason in four characters: 窮之災也, the calamity of having reached the end. Wang Bi reads it as innocence that has become stubbornness, pressing forward because one feels blameless rather than because the moment calls for it. The judgment already warned that when the time is not right, 'it is not favourable to have somewhere to go'; this line is where that warning lands.
- What does hexagram 25 become when line 6 changes?
- Without Falsehood becomes hexagram 17, 隨 Following Along: Thunder resting in the lake: following the time, taking rest in the evening. Supreme success in following what is right — and in being worth following.
- Is line 6 of Without Falsehood 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).