Hexagram 50, line 4
九四Line 4 of Cauldron
Nine in the fourth place · 鼎 dǐng
爻辭 The line text
鼎折足，覆公餗，其形渥，凶。The fourth line, undivided, shows the caldron with its feet broken; and its contents, designed for the ruler's use, overturned and spilt. Its Subject will be made to blush for shame. There will be evil.
覆公餗，信如何也。'The contents designed for the ruler's use are overturned and spilt:'—how can (the subject of the line) be trusted?
In plain words
'The cauldron's leg breaks, the duke's stew is overturned, his person is soaked: ominous.' Line four is yang in a yin place in the upper trigram, close to the ruler and carrying a heavy charge, and it corresponds to the weak line one — it leans on a support that cannot bear the weight. The leg gives way and the food meant for the lord's table is spilled. The small Image asks the hardest question in the hexagram: 信如何也, what becomes of trust? The Xici gives this line as the picture of someone whose virtue is thin and position high, whose knowledge is small and plans large.
If this line is changing
Before taking on the next charge, look at what it rests on; a responsibility carried on a weak support fails publicly and costs trust that is hard to recover.
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 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- 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
鼎 Cauldron becomes ䷑ 18 蠱 Corruption
Wind below the mountain: stagnation that has bred corruption, like a bowl of worms. Great success for the one who steps in to repair what earlier generations spoiled.
What it becomes18 · 蠱 CorruptiongǔThe six lines of 鼎 Cauldron
- 初六Six at the beginningoverturned · clearing out · humble beginnings
- 九二Nine in the second placesubstance within · envy at a distance · guard your steps
- 九三Nine in the third placehandles changed · blocked · rain at last
- 九四Nine in the fourth placebroken leg · spilled offering · beyond one's strength
- 六五Six in the fifth placeyellow ears · the centre · firmness
- 上九Nine at the topjade bar · tempered strength · great fortune
Read 鼎 Cauldron for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 50, Cauldron, mean?
- 'The cauldron's leg breaks, the duke's stew is overturned, his person is soaked: ominous.' Line four is yang in a yin place in the upper trigram, close to the ruler and carrying a heavy charge, and it corresponds to the weak line one — it leans on a support that cannot bear the weight. The leg gives way and the food meant for the lord's table is spilled. The small Image asks the hardest question in the hexagram: 信如何也, what becomes of trust? The Xici gives this line as the picture of someone whose virtue is thin and position high, whose knowledge is small and plans large.
- What does hexagram 50 become when line 4 changes?
- Cauldron becomes hexagram 18, 蠱 Corruption: Wind below the mountain: stagnation that has bred corruption, like a bowl of worms. Great success for the one who steps in to repair what earlier generations spoiled.
- Is line 4 of Cauldron 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).