Hexagram 43, line 6
上六Line 6 of Decisiveness
Six at the top · 夬 guài
爻辭 The line text
无號，終有凶。The sixth line, divided, shows its subject without any (helpers) on whom to call. His end will be evil.
无號之凶，終不可長也。'There is the misery of having none on whom to call:'—the end will be that he cannot continue any longer.
In plain words
The top line is the thing being removed: a single yin riding on five yang, with 'no one to call to — in the end, misfortune' (無號，終有凶). It is the end of Dui, pleasure at its extreme, and the end of the hexagram; the Tuan describes it as 'the weak mounted on five strong lines' (柔乘五剛). Line three corresponds to it, but that line has already resolved to walk alone. The small Image states the law of the whole hexagram: this cannot continue (終不可長也). For the one who casts it, the question is whether they are the resolute majority or the isolated remainder.
If this line is changing
If what you are holding onto has lost every ally, calling for support now will not be answered; let it go before it is taken, because this position cannot be held.
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 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
- 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
夬 Decisiveness becomes ䷀ 1 乾 Heaven
Pure yang, six unbroken lines: heaven in ceaseless motion. Creative force and leadership, pictured as a dragon rising stage by stage — hidden, in the field, flying, and finally overreaching.
What it becomes1 · 乾 HeavenqiánThe six lines of 夬 Decisiveness
- 初九Nine at the beginningstrength in the toes · advancing too soon · cannot prevail
- 九二Nine in the second placealarm cry · armed at night · no anxiety
- 九三Nine in the third placestrength in the face · walking alone · soaked but blameless
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeno skin on the buttocks · halting · hears but does not believe
- 九五Nine in the fifth placepurslane · resolute at the centre · not yet bright
- 上六Six at the topno one to call · the last yin · cannot last
Read 夬 Decisiveness for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the top of hexagram 43, Decisiveness, mean?
- The top line is the thing being removed: a single yin riding on five yang, with 'no one to call to — in the end, misfortune' (無號，終有凶). It is the end of Dui, pleasure at its extreme, and the end of the hexagram; the Tuan describes it as 'the weak mounted on five strong lines' (柔乘五剛). Line three corresponds to it, but that line has already resolved to walk alone. The small Image states the law of the whole hexagram: this cannot continue (終不可長也). For the one who casts it, the question is whether they are the resolute majority or the isolated remainder.
- What does hexagram 43 become when line 6 changes?
- Decisiveness becomes hexagram 1, 乾 Heaven: Pure yang, six unbroken lines: heaven in ceaseless motion. Creative force and leadership, pictured as a dragon rising stage by stage — hidden, in the field, flying, and finally overreaching.
- Is line 6 of Decisiveness 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).