Hexagram 30, line 6
上九Line 6 of Brightness (Fire)
Nine at the top · 離 lí
爻辭 The line text
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。The topmost line, undivided, shows the king employing its subject in his punitive expeditions. Achieving admirable (merit), he breaks (only) the chiefs (of the rebels). Where his prisoners were not their associates, he does not punish. There will be no error.
王用出征，以正邦也。'The king employs him in his punitive expeditions:'—the object is to bring the regions to a correct state.
In plain words
'The king uses him to go forth and punish; he has merit in breaking the heads, and does not seize those who are not their kind: no blame.' At the top of Li brightness has become the power to see clearly enough to judge, and the strong top line is sent by the weak ruler at five to do it. The whole discipline of the line is in its restraint: the leaders of the disorder are struck, the ordinary people who followed them are let go. Fire at its height can either clear or consume; this line clears. The small Image states the purpose: 'to set the regions right' (以正邦也). Zhu Xi reads it as justice that is bright but not cruel, and notes that this is why the top of Li, unlike most sixth lines, is not excess.
If this line is changing
If you must act against something, aim at its source and spare everyone who merely went along; a clean, limited strike sets things right where a wide one only spreads the fire.
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 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 3: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
離 Brightness (Fire) becomes ䷶ 55 豐 Plenty
Thunder and lightning together: abundance. The king reaches it; no sorrow — be like the sun at noon. But the sun at noon begins to set: fullness is a moment, not a possession.
What it becomes55 · 豐 PlentyfēngThe six lines of 離 Brightness (Fire)
- 初九Nine at the beginningconfused steps · reverence · early light
- 六二Six in the second placeyellow light · the mean · great good fortune
- 九三Nine in the third placesetting sun · sing or lament · nothing lasts
- 九四Nine in the fourth placesudden arrival · burning out · no one can bear it
- 六五Six in the fifth placetears in torrents · sorrow · the ruler's place
- 上九Nine at the topthe king's expedition · strike the leaders · spare the followers
Read 離 Brightness (Fire) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the top of hexagram 30, Brightness (Fire), mean?
- 'The king uses him to go forth and punish; he has merit in breaking the heads, and does not seize those who are not their kind: no blame.' At the top of Li brightness has become the power to see clearly enough to judge, and the strong top line is sent by the weak ruler at five to do it. The whole discipline of the line is in its restraint: the leaders of the disorder are struck, the ordinary people who followed them are let go. Fire at its height can either clear or consume; this line clears. The small Image states the purpose: 'to set the regions right' (以正邦也). Zhu Xi reads it as justice that is bright but not cruel, and notes that this is why the top of Li, unlike most sixth lines, is not excess.
- What does hexagram 30 become when line 6 changes?
- Brightness (Fire) becomes hexagram 55, 豐 Plenty: Thunder and lightning together: abundance. The king reaches it; no sorrow — be like the sun at noon. But the sun at noon begins to set: fullness is a moment, not a possession.
- Is line 6 of Brightness (Fire) 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).