Hexagram 45, line 6
上六Line 6 of Assembly
Six at the top · 萃 cuì
爻辭 The line text
齎咨涕洟，无咎。The topmost line, divided, shows its subject sighing and weeping; but there will be no error.
齎咨涕洟，未安上也。'He sighs and weeps:'—he does not yet rest in his topmost position.
In plain words
At the top: 'sighing, weeping, tears — no blame' (齎諮涕洟，無咎). Yin at the extreme of Dui, the trigram of the mouth and of feeling, this line is above the gathering, not in it: it has no correlate (line three is yin) and nothing beneath it answers. The small Image says simply that it is not at rest in the top place (未安上也). The received reading is sympathetic: these are the tears of someone who sees the assembly from outside and grieves at being left out — and precisely because the grief is sincere and not resentful, there is no blame. Line three, the other outsider, is the one who will come to it.
If this line is changing
If you are on the outside of a gathering that matters to you, let the sorrow be honest rather than bitter; there is no fault in grieving, and the one who is also left out will find their way to you.
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 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
萃 Assembly becomes ䷋ 12 否 Blockage
Heaven and earth pulling apart: nothing communicates. The great departs, the small arrives; the unworthy prosper while the worthy keep still.
What it becomes12 · 否 BlockagepǐThe six lines of 萃 Assembly
- 初六Six at the beginningsincerity that falters · confusion in the crowd · cry and it turns to laughter
- 六二Six in the second placedrawn forward · unchanged centre · small offering accepted
- 六三Six in the third placesighing to gather · nowhere to belong · small regret
- 九四Nine in the fourth placegreat fortune required · wrong place · gathering below the ruler
- 九五Nine in the fifth placegathering in office · not yet trusted · lasting steadiness
- 上六Six at the topsighs and tears · no rest at the top · left out of the gathering
Read 萃 Assembly for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the top of hexagram 45, Assembly, mean?
- At the top: 'sighing, weeping, tears — no blame' (齎諮涕洟，無咎). Yin at the extreme of Dui, the trigram of the mouth and of feeling, this line is above the gathering, not in it: it has no correlate (line three is yin) and nothing beneath it answers. The small Image says simply that it is not at rest in the top place (未安上也). The received reading is sympathetic: these are the tears of someone who sees the assembly from outside and grieves at being left out — and precisely because the grief is sincere and not resentful, there is no blame. Line three, the other outsider, is the one who will come to it.
- What does hexagram 45 become when line 6 changes?
- Assembly becomes hexagram 12, 否 Blockage: Heaven and earth pulling apart: nothing communicates. The great departs, the small arrives; the unworthy prosper while the worthy keep still.
- Is line 6 of Assembly 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).