Hexagram 41, line 4
六四Line 4 of Diminishing
Six in the fourth place · 損 sǔn
爻辭 The line text
損其疾，使遄有喜，无咎。The fourth line, divided, shows its subject diminishing the ailment under which he labours by making (the subject of the first line) hasten (to his help), and make him glad. There will be no error.
損其疾，亦可喜也。'He diminishes the ailment under which he labours:'—this is matter for joy.
In plain words
Line four 'diminishes its ailment' and by making the other hurry to help, has joy, no blame (損其疾，使遄有喜，無咎). This is the weak line that the first line hurries to assist; yin in a yin place, it is correct but short of strength, and its 'ailment' is that lack. Here decrease is turned to good use: what is lessened is not substance but a defect. The small Image calls it a matter for joy (亦可喜也) — the one in the upper trigram who knows what it lacks and lets a stronger partner below supply it quickly.
If this line is changing
Name the weakness that is holding you back and let someone help with it now; the sooner the fault is cut away, the better the outcome.
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 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
- It corresponds (應) with line 1: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
損 Diminishing becomes ䷥ 38 睽 Divergence
Fire rising and the lake sinking: two moving apart. Opposition — good fortune only in small matters; yet difference has its uses, as heaven and earth differ and still work together.
What it becomes38 · 睽 DivergencekuíThe six lines of 損 Diminishing
- 初九Nine at the beginningdrop your own business · hurry to help · measure the gift
- 九二Nine in the second placehold the centre · do not go · give without loss
- 六三Six in the third placethree become two · one finds a friend · doubt in a crowd
- 六四Six in the fourth placelessen the fault · accept help quickly · joy
- 六五Six in the fifth placegifts that cannot be refused · the oracle agrees · blessed from above
- 上九Nine at the topincrease without taking · beyond decrease · followers without a house
Read 損 Diminishing for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the fourth place of hexagram 41, Diminishing, mean?
- Line four 'diminishes its ailment' and by making the other hurry to help, has joy, no blame (損其疾，使遄有喜，無咎). This is the weak line that the first line hurries to assist; yin in a yin place, it is correct but short of strength, and its 'ailment' is that lack. Here decrease is turned to good use: what is lessened is not substance but a defect. The small Image calls it a matter for joy (亦可喜也) — the one in the upper trigram who knows what it lacks and lets a stronger partner below supply it quickly.
- What does hexagram 41 become when line 4 changes?
- Diminishing becomes hexagram 38, 睽 Divergence: Fire rising and the lake sinking: two moving apart. Opposition — good fortune only in small matters; yet difference has its uses, as heaven and earth differ and still work together.
- Is line 4 of Diminishing 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).