Hexagram 4, line 6
上九Line 6 of Immaturity
Nine at the top · 蒙 méng
爻辭 The line text
擊蒙；不利為寇，利禦寇。In the topmost line, undivided, we see one smiting the ignorant (youth). But no advantage will come from doing him an injury. Advantage would come from warding off injury from him.
利用禦寇，上下順也。'Advantage will come from warding off injury:'—(the subject of this line) above and (the ignorant) below, all do and are done to in accordance with their nature.
In plain words
'Striking at ignorance: it is not favourable to act as a robber, it is favourable to ward off robbers.' Line six is the top of Gen, mountain, the hexagram's other strong line, and the stern teacher where line two was the patient one. At the end of the hexagram ignorance has gone on too long and must be struck — but the blow is to be defensive, keeping harm away from the pupil, not aggressive, breaking the pupil for the teacher's satisfaction. The small Image says that warding off is right because then 'above and below are in accord' (上下順也). Wang Bi reads the line as the limit of correction: excess of force turns the teacher into the thing the pupil needs protecting from.
If this line is changing
Firmness is right now, but aim it at what threatens the person you are correcting, not at the person; a blow that only asserts your authority has become the harm.
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
蒙 Immaturity becomes ䷆ 7 師 Troops
Water held within the earth: an army, a disciplined multitude. Success needs a seasoned, upright leader and strict order; force is justified only for a right cause.
What it becomes7 · 師 TroopsshīThe six lines of 蒙 Immaturity
- 初六Six at the beginningdispelling ignorance · discipline · removing fetters
- 九二Nine in the second placeembracing the ignorant · taking a wife · the son runs the house
- 六三Six in the third placedo not take this woman · losing oneself · no benefit
- 六四Six in the fourth placetrapped in ignorance · isolated · far from substance
- 六五Six in the fifth placechildlike openness · good fortune · docile and humble
- 上九Nine at the topstriking ignorance · not as a robber · warding off robbers
Read 蒙 Immaturity for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the top of hexagram 4, Immaturity, mean?
- 'Striking at ignorance: it is not favourable to act as a robber, it is favourable to ward off robbers.' Line six is the top of Gen, mountain, the hexagram's other strong line, and the stern teacher where line two was the patient one. At the end of the hexagram ignorance has gone on too long and must be struck — but the blow is to be defensive, keeping harm away from the pupil, not aggressive, breaking the pupil for the teacher's satisfaction. The small Image says that warding off is right because then 'above and below are in accord' (上下順也). Wang Bi reads the line as the limit of correction: excess of force turns the teacher into the thing the pupil needs protecting from.
- What does hexagram 4 become when line 6 changes?
- Immaturity becomes hexagram 7, 師 Troops: Water held within the earth: an army, a disciplined multitude. Success needs a seasoned, upright leader and strict order; force is justified only for a right cause.
- Is line 6 of Immaturity 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).