Hexagram 27, line 4
六四Line 4 of Jaws / Nourishment
Six in the fourth place · 頤 yí
爻辭 The line text
顛頤，吉，虎視眈眈，其欲逐逐，无咎。The fourth line, divided, shows one looking downwards for (the power to) nourish. There will be good fortune. Looking with a tiger's downward unwavering glare, and with his desire that impels him to spring after spring, he will fall into no error.
顛頤之吉，上施光也。'The good fortune attached to looking downwards for (the power to) nourish,' shows how brilliant will be the diffusion (of that power) from (the subject of the line's) superior position.
In plain words
The same words that condemned line two, 'seeking nourishment downward', here bring good fortune. Line four is yin in a correct place at the start of Gen, in the upper trigram where the lines nourish others rather than themselves, and it looks down to its correspondent, the strong first line, for the substance it will pass on. The image is a tiger watching steadily, 'its desire pursuing and pursuing' — unwavering attention that is not greed because it serves a duty. The small Image explains the difference: the light of giving 'spreads from above' (上施光也). Wanting intensely is no fault when what one wants is the means to provide.
If this line is changing
Pursue what you need with undivided attention, provided you are gathering it in order to give; a steady, open hunger in the service of others carries no blame.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin 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 upper trigram 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
- It corresponds (應) with line 1: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
頤 Jaws / Nourishment becomes ䷔ 21 噬嗑 Biting Together
Thunder and lightning: jaws closing on an obstacle. Something is in the way and must be bitten through — favourable for administering justice.
What it becomes21 · 噬嗑 Biting Togethershì kèThe 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 fourth place of hexagram 27, Jaws / Nourishment, mean?
- The same words that condemned line two, 'seeking nourishment downward', here bring good fortune. Line four is yin in a correct place at the start of Gen, in the upper trigram where the lines nourish others rather than themselves, and it looks down to its correspondent, the strong first line, for the substance it will pass on. The image is a tiger watching steadily, 'its desire pursuing and pursuing' — unwavering attention that is not greed because it serves a duty. The small Image explains the difference: the light of giving 'spreads from above' (上施光也). Wanting intensely is no fault when what one wants is the means to provide.
- What does hexagram 27 become when line 4 changes?
- Jaws / Nourishment becomes hexagram 21, 噬嗑 Biting Together: Thunder and lightning: jaws closing on an obstacle. Something is in the way and must be bitten through — favourable for administering justice.
- Is line 4 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).