Hexagram 27, line 1
初九Line 1 of Jaws / Nourishment
Nine at the beginning · 頤 yí
爻辭 The line text
舍爾靈龜，觀我朵頤，凶。The first line, undivided, (seems to be thus addressed), 'You leave your efficacious tortoise, and look at me till your lower jaw hangs down.' There will be evil.
觀我朵頤，亦不足貴也。'You look at me till your (lower) jaw hangs down:'—(the subject of the line) is thus shown unfit to be thought noble.
In plain words
The hexagram is shaped like an open mouth, a yang line at top and bottom with four yin lines between, and this first line is the lower jaw: strong, able to feed itself. The text is spoken to it by line four, its correspondent: 'you let go of your spirit tortoise and gape at me with your jaw hanging — misfortune.' The tortoise was believed to live on air; it stands for a sufficiency that needs nothing. A yang line in a correct place at the beginning of Zhen, this line has everything it needs, yet it looks up with envy at what line four has. The small Image judges the gaping: 'not worth honouring' (亦不足貴也). Craving at the start of the hexagram is misfortune because it throws away what was already enough.
If this line is changing
You already have what you need; stop measuring yourself against what someone above you seems to enjoy, and go back to drawing on your own resources.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It corresponds (應) with line 4: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
頤 Jaws / Nourishment becomes ䷖ 23 剝 Peeling Away
The mountain worn down by the earth beneath: yin has grown until one yang line remains at the top. Not a time to go anywhere; the structure is peeling away.
What it becomes23 · 剝 Peeling AwaybōThe six lines of 頤 Jaws / Nourishment
- 初九Nine at the beginningthe spirit tortoise · envy · self-sufficiency lost
- 六二Six in the second placeupside-down seeking · no proper partner · losing one's kind
- 六三Six in the third placeagainst nourishment · ten years · the way reversed
- 六四Six in the fourth placetiger's gaze · nourishing others · focused desire
- 六五Six in the fifth placedependent ruler · stay put · do not cross the river
- 上九Nine at the topsource of nourishment · heavy charge · great cause for joy
Read 頤 Jaws / Nourishment for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 27, Jaws / Nourishment, mean?
- The hexagram is shaped like an open mouth, a yang line at top and bottom with four yin lines between, and this first line is the lower jaw: strong, able to feed itself. The text is spoken to it by line four, its correspondent: 'you let go of your spirit tortoise and gape at me with your jaw hanging — misfortune.' The tortoise was believed to live on air; it stands for a sufficiency that needs nothing. A yang line in a correct place at the beginning of Zhen, this line has everything it needs, yet it looks up with envy at what line four has. The small Image judges the gaping: 'not worth honouring' (亦不足貴也). Craving at the start of the hexagram is misfortune because it throws away what was already enough.
- What does hexagram 27 become when line 1 changes?
- Jaws / Nourishment becomes hexagram 23, 剝 Peeling Away: The mountain worn down by the earth beneath: yin has grown until one yang line remains at the top. Not a time to go anywhere; the structure is peeling away.
- Is line 1 of Jaws / Nourishment in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).