Hexagram 35, line 6
上九Line 6 of Advancing
Nine at the top · 晉 jìn
爻辭 The line text
晉其角，維用伐邑，厲吉无咎，貞吝。The topmost line, undivided, shows one advancing his horns. But he only uses them to punish the (rebellious people of his own) city. The position is perilous, but there will be good fortune. (Yet) however firm and correct he may be, there will be occasion for regret.
維用伐邑，道未光也。'He uses his horns only to punish (the rebellious people of) his city:'—his course of procedure is not yet brilliant.
In plain words
Advancing with the horns: the top line of Jin, yang at the end of Li, is progress that has reached the point where it can only butt. The text restricts it — the horns may be used only 'to punish one's own city', that is, to set one's own domain in order rather than to push outward. Within that limit there is danger but also good fortune and no fault; beyond it, 'steadiness brings regret', because persistence in advancing from the top has nowhere to go. The small Image sums up why this is second-best: 'the way is not yet brilliant' (道未光). Correction turned inward is the last good use of a light that has climbed as high as it can.
If this line is changing
Turn whatever drive you have left on your own affairs, your own house or team, rather than on new conquests; from here, outward ambition only brings regret.
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 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
晉 Advancing becomes ䷏ 16 豫 Delight
Thunder bursting out of the earth: music, enthusiasm, movement in harmony with the time. Favourable to appoint helpers and set things in motion.
What it becomes16 · 豫 DelightyùThe six lines of 晉 Advancing
- 初六Six at the beginningpressed back · not yet trusted · generosity
- 六二Six in the second placeadvancing in sorrow · the grandmother's blessing · central and correct
- 六三Six in the third placetrusted by all · moving upward together · regret vanishes
- 九四Nine in the fourth placethe marmot · greedy advance · out of place
- 六五Six in the fifth placegain and loss aside · the bright ruler · going forward
- 上九Nine at the topadvancing with horns · one's own city · not yet glorious
Read 晉 Advancing for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the top of hexagram 35, Advancing, mean?
- Advancing with the horns: the top line of Jin, yang at the end of Li, is progress that has reached the point where it can only butt. The text restricts it — the horns may be used only 'to punish one's own city', that is, to set one's own domain in order rather than to push outward. Within that limit there is danger but also good fortune and no fault; beyond it, 'steadiness brings regret', because persistence in advancing from the top has nowhere to go. The small Image sums up why this is second-best: 'the way is not yet brilliant' (道未光). Correction turned inward is the last good use of a light that has climbed as high as it can.
- What does hexagram 35 become when line 6 changes?
- Advancing becomes hexagram 16, 豫 Delight: Thunder bursting out of the earth: music, enthusiasm, movement in harmony with the time. Favourable to appoint helpers and set things in motion.
- Is line 6 of Advancing 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).