Hexagram 27, line 6
上九Line 6 of Jaws / Nourishment
Nine at the top · 頤 yí
爻辭 The line text
由頤，厲吉，利涉大川。The sixth line, undivided, shows him from whom comes the nourishing. His position is perilous, but there will be good fortune. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream.
由頤厲吉，大有慶也。'The good fortune, notwithstanding the peril of his position, of him from whom comes the nourishing,' affords great cause for congratulation.
In plain words
'The one through whom nourishment comes: danger, good fortune; favourable to cross the great river.' The top line is the upper jaw, the strong line on which the whole hexagram feeds — the ruler at five leans on it, and all the yin lines are ultimately fed by it. That is why it is perilous: to be the provider for everyone is to carry everyone's weight, and the text says 厲, danger, before it says good fortune. But because the charge is real and the strength is real, this is the one line that may undertake the great crossing. The small Image says there is 'great cause for celebration' (大有慶也): the top of Yi is not excess but fulfilment, the mouth finally fed.
If this line is changing
Others depend on you and the weight is real; accept it fully, be careful because so much rests on you, and then undertake the big thing — this is the line that may.
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 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
- 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
頤 Jaws / Nourishment becomes ䷗ 24 復 Returning
Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
What it becomes24 · 復 ReturningfùThe 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 top of hexagram 27, Jaws / Nourishment, mean?
- 'The one through whom nourishment comes: danger, good fortune; favourable to cross the great river.' The top line is the upper jaw, the strong line on which the whole hexagram feeds — the ruler at five leans on it, and all the yin lines are ultimately fed by it. That is why it is perilous: to be the provider for everyone is to carry everyone's weight, and the text says 厲, danger, before it says good fortune. But because the charge is real and the strength is real, this is the one line that may undertake the great crossing. The small Image says there is 'great cause for celebration' (大有慶也): the top of Yi is not excess but fulfilment, the mouth finally fed.
- What does hexagram 27 become when line 6 changes?
- Jaws / Nourishment becomes hexagram 24, 復 Returning: Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
- Is line 6 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).