Hexagram 27, line 3
六三Line 3 of Jaws / Nourishment
Six in the third place · 頤 yí
爻辭 The line text
拂頤，貞凶，十年勿用，无攸利。The third line, divided, shows one acting contrary to the method of nourishing. However firm he may be, there will be evil. For ten years let him not take any action, (for) it will not be in any way advantageous.
十年勿用，道大悖也。'For ten years let him not take any action:'—his course is greatly opposed (to what is right).
In plain words
'Going against nourishment: steadiness still brings misfortune; for ten years do not act, nothing is favourable.' Line three is yin in a yang place at the top of Zhen, the trigram of movement — restless, incorrect, and eager. It does have a correspondent in the top line, the great provider, but it approaches that source with the wrong appetite, grabbing rather than receiving. The small Image says its 'way is greatly perverted' (道大悖也), and ten years is the Zhou Yi's figure for a full cycle: the verdict is not a delay but a complete disqualification until the pattern of taking is unlearned.
If this line is changing
The way you are going after what feeds you is itself the problem; stop entirely, for a long while, rather than trying harder in the same manner.
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
頤 Jaws / Nourishment becomes ䷕ 22 賁 Adornment
Fire at the foot of the mountain: beauty lighting the forms of things. Success in small matters through grace and style; ornament should serve substance, not replace it.
What it becomes22 · 賁 AdornmentbìThe 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 Six in the third place of hexagram 27, Jaws / Nourishment, mean?
- 'Going against nourishment: steadiness still brings misfortune; for ten years do not act, nothing is favourable.' Line three is yin in a yang place at the top of Zhen, the trigram of movement — restless, incorrect, and eager. It does have a correspondent in the top line, the great provider, but it approaches that source with the wrong appetite, grabbing rather than receiving. The small Image says its 'way is greatly perverted' (道大悖也), and ten years is the Zhou Yi's figure for a full cycle: the verdict is not a delay but a complete disqualification until the pattern of taking is unlearned.
- What does hexagram 27 become when line 3 changes?
- Jaws / Nourishment becomes hexagram 22, 賁 Adornment: Fire at the foot of the mountain: beauty lighting the forms of things. Success in small matters through grace and style; ornament should serve substance, not replace it.
- Is line 3 of Jaws / Nourishment 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).