Hexagram 34, line 5
六五Line 5 of Great Vigor
Six in the fifth place · 大壯 dà zhuàng
爻辭 The line text
喪羊于易，无悔。The fifth line, divided, shows one who loses his ram(-like strength) in the ease of his position. (But) there will be no occasion for repentance.
喪羊于易，位不當也。'He loses his ram and hardly perceives it:'—he is not in his appropriate place.
In plain words
Losing the ram in easy ground — or, in the older reading of 易 as 場, at the boundary field — and no regret. Line five is yin in the ruler's yang place, 'not in its appropriate position' says the small Image, and it sits above four strong lines pressing upward. It cannot hold them by force, and the text says it should not try: the ram, the hexagram's emblem of butting strength, is simply let go. Cheng Yi reads this as the soft ruler who meets rising vigour with gentleness so that the vigour loses its edge of its own accord. No regret, but no great praise either; the line survives by yielding.
If this line is changing
If you hold a position of authority over people stronger or more forceful than you, do not meet their push with push; let the contest go and you lose nothing that mattered.
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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It corresponds (應) with line 2: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
大壯 Great Vigor becomes ䷪ 43 夬 Decisiveness
The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
What it becomes43 · 夬 DecisivenessguàiThe six lines of 大壯 Great Vigor
- 初九Nine at the beginningstrength in the toes · charging ahead · certain exhaustion
- 九二Nine in the second placecentred strength · steadiness · the mean
- 九三Nine in the third placethe ram and the fence · brute force · the net of restraint
- 九四Nine in the fourth placethe fence gives way · axle of the great cart · strength that carries
- 六五Six in the fifth placelosing the ram · letting hardness go · ease
- 上六Six at the topstuck on the fence · neither forward nor back · difficulty brings good
Read 大壯 Great Vigor for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the fifth place of hexagram 34, Great Vigor, mean?
- Losing the ram in easy ground — or, in the older reading of 易 as 場, at the boundary field — and no regret. Line five is yin in the ruler's yang place, 'not in its appropriate position' says the small Image, and it sits above four strong lines pressing upward. It cannot hold them by force, and the text says it should not try: the ram, the hexagram's emblem of butting strength, is simply let go. Cheng Yi reads this as the soft ruler who meets rising vigour with gentleness so that the vigour loses its edge of its own accord. No regret, but no great praise either; the line survives by yielding.
- What does hexagram 34 become when line 5 changes?
- Great Vigor becomes hexagram 43, 夬 Decisiveness: The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
- Is line 5 of Great Vigor 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).