Hexagram 44, line 4
九四Line 4 of Encounter
Nine in the fourth place · 姤 gòu
爻辭 The line text
包无魚，起凶。The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject with his wallet, but no fish in it. This will give rise to evil.
无魚之凶，遠民也。'The evil' indicated by there being 'no fish in the wallet' is owing to (the subject of the line) keeping himself aloof from the people.
In plain words
Line four has 'a wrapper with no fish — trouble arises' (包無魚，起凶). This is the first line's proper correlate (應初六), the one who by right should have the fish; but line two got there first, and four, yang in a yin place at the bottom of Qian, is too far away and out of place to hold what belongs to it. The small Image names the cause: it kept itself distant from the people (遠民也). In the received reading the fish stands for the common people or the subordinates, and the fourth line is the official who lost them through aloofness — not malice, just absence.
If this line is changing
What should have been yours has gone to someone closer to it, and the reason is distance; the trouble that follows will come from neglect, so close the gap you have let open.
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 乾 Qian (the Creative) (heaven).
- 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
姤 Encounter becomes ䷸ 57 巽 Yielding (Wind)
Wind upon wind: the gentle that penetrates everywhere. Small success; favourable to have somewhere to go and to see the great man — persistent gentle influence rather than force.
What it becomes57 · 巽 Yielding (Wind)xùnThe six lines of 姤 Encounter
- 初六Six at the beginningmetal brake · the first yin · the lean pig
- 九二Nine in the second placefish in the wrapper · containment · not for the guests
- 九三Nine in the third placeno skin on the buttocks · halting · not yet drawn in
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeno fish in the wrapper · lost the people · trouble arises
- 九五Nine in the fifth placewillow sheltering the gourd · hidden brilliance · falls from heaven
- 上九Nine at the topmeeting with the horns · exhausted at the top · regret but no blame
Read 姤 Encounter for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 44, Encounter, mean?
- Line four has 'a wrapper with no fish — trouble arises' (包無魚，起凶). This is the first line's proper correlate (應初六), the one who by right should have the fish; but line two got there first, and four, yang in a yin place at the bottom of Qian, is too far away and out of place to hold what belongs to it. The small Image names the cause: it kept itself distant from the people (遠民也). In the received reading the fish stands for the common people or the subordinates, and the fourth line is the official who lost them through aloofness — not malice, just absence.
- What does hexagram 44 become when line 4 changes?
- Encounter becomes hexagram 57, 巽 Yielding (Wind): Wind upon wind: the gentle that penetrates everywhere. Small success; favourable to have somewhere to go and to see the great man — persistent gentle influence rather than force.
- Is line 4 of Encounter 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).