Hexagram 47, line 3
六三Line 3 of Confinement
Six in the third place · 困 kùn
爻辭 The line text
困于石，據于蒺蔾，入于其宮，不見其妻，凶。The third line, divided, shows its subject straitened before a (frowning) rock. He lays hold of thorns. He enters his palace, and does not see his wife. There will be evil.
據于蒺蔾，乘剛也。入于其宮，不見其妻，不祥也。'He lays hold of thorns:'—(this is suggested by the position of the line) above the strong (line). 'He enters his palace, and does not see his wife:'—this is inauspicious.
In plain words
Line three is 'confined by rock, leaning on thorns; enters his house and does not see his wife — misfortune' (困於石，據於蒺藜，入於其宮，不見其妻，凶). Yin in a yang place at the top of Kan, it is wrong in every direction: the rock ahead is the strong fourth line it cannot pass, the thorns beneath are the strong second line it rides (乘剛), and its correlate at the top is yin like itself, so coming home it finds no partner. The small Image calls riding the strong line the thorns, and the empty house inauspicious (不祥也). The Xici singles this line out: to be confined by what should not confine you brings disgrace, to lean on what cannot be leaned on brings danger — and in that state there is no one to come home to.
If this line is changing
You are pushing against something immovable and resting your weight on something that hurts; stop forcing both, because the way you are going leaves you with no one to come home to.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin 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 lower trigram 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 6: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
困 Confinement becomes ䷛ 28 大過 Great Excess
The lake drowning the trees: the ridgepole bends under too much weight. An extraordinary situation, strong in the middle and weak at the ends — something must give way or be done.
What it becomes28 · 大過 Great Excessdà guòThe six lines of 困 Confinement
- 初六Six at the beginningsitting on a stump · the dark valley · three years unseen
- 九二Nine in the second placeconfined in plenty · the red sash arrives · do not set out
- 六三Six in the third placestuck on rock · grasping thorns · wife not seen
- 九四Nine in the fourth placecoming slowly · the bronze carriage · regret with a good end
- 九五Nine in the fifth placenose and feet cut · confined by the crimson sash · slowly released
- 上六Six at the toptangled in creepers · movement brings regret · repent and go
Read 困 Confinement for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the third place of hexagram 47, Confinement, mean?
- Line three is 'confined by rock, leaning on thorns; enters his house and does not see his wife — misfortune' (困於石，據於蒺藜，入於其宮，不見其妻，凶). Yin in a yang place at the top of Kan, it is wrong in every direction: the rock ahead is the strong fourth line it cannot pass, the thorns beneath are the strong second line it rides (乘剛), and its correlate at the top is yin like itself, so coming home it finds no partner. The small Image calls riding the strong line the thorns, and the empty house inauspicious (不祥也). The Xici singles this line out: to be confined by what should not confine you brings disgrace, to lean on what cannot be leaned on brings danger — and in that state there is no one to come home to.
- What does hexagram 47 become when line 3 changes?
- Confinement becomes hexagram 28, 大過 Great Excess: The lake drowning the trees: the ridgepole bends under too much weight. An extraordinary situation, strong in the middle and weak at the ends — something must give way or be done.
- Is line 3 of Confinement 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).