Hexagram 40, line 6
上六Line 6 of Release
Six at the top · 解 xiè
爻辭 The line text
公用射隼于高墉之上，獲之，无不利。In the sixth line, divided, we see a feudal prince (with his bow) shooting at a falcon on the top of a high wall, and hitting it. (The effect of his action) will be in every way advantageous.
公用射隼，以解悖也。'A prince with his bow shoots a falcon:'—thus he removes (the promoters of) rebellion.
In plain words
The prince shoots a hawk on the high wall and takes it: nothing unfavourable. The top line is yin at the end of Zhen, the summit of the hexagram, and the hawk is the last obstruction — the one that sits highest, which Cheng Yi identifies with the stubborn, out-of-place third line. The Xici uses this line to teach preparation: the superior person 'keeps the instrument on his person and waits for the moment', so that when he moves there is nothing to hinder him. The small Image: 'he shoots the hawk to undo the rebellion' (以解悖). Release is complete when the final holdout is removed in one clean act.
If this line is changing
You have waited and prepared; the one remaining obstacle is in plain view, and now is the moment to remove it decisively and be done.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 3: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
解 Release becomes ䷿ 64 未濟 Not Yet Crossed
Fire over water, every line out of place: not yet across. Success is possible — but the little fox, nearly over, wets its tail; nothing is favourable yet. The Book ends with the crossing still ahead.
What it becomes64 · 未濟 Not Yet Crossedwèi jìThe six lines of 解 Release
- 初六Six at the beginningno fault · where hard meets soft · simply rest
- 九二Nine in the second placethree foxes · the yellow arrow · the straight middle way
- 六三Six in the third placea porter in a carriage · inviting robbers · self-inflicted
- 九四Nine in the fourth placerelease your toe · letting go of the unworthy · friends come
- 六五Six in the fifth placethe superior person unties · small people withdraw · trust shown
- 上六Six at the topshooting the hawk · the high wall · removing the last rebel
Read 解 Release for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the top of hexagram 40, Release, mean?
- The prince shoots a hawk on the high wall and takes it: nothing unfavourable. The top line is yin at the end of Zhen, the summit of the hexagram, and the hawk is the last obstruction — the one that sits highest, which Cheng Yi identifies with the stubborn, out-of-place third line. The Xici uses this line to teach preparation: the superior person 'keeps the instrument on his person and waits for the moment', so that when he moves there is nothing to hinder him. The small Image: 'he shoots the hawk to undo the rebellion' (以解悖). Release is complete when the final holdout is removed in one clean act.
- What does hexagram 40 become when line 6 changes?
- Release becomes hexagram 64, 未濟 Not Yet Crossed: Fire over water, every line out of place: not yet across. Success is possible — but the little fox, nearly over, wets its tail; nothing is favourable yet. The Book ends with the crossing still ahead.
- Is line 6 of Release in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).