Hexagram 50, line 6
上九Line 6 of Cauldron
Nine at the top · 鼎 dǐng
爻辭 The line text
鼎玉鉉，大吉，无不利。The sixth line, undivided, shows the caldron with rings of jade. There will be great good fortune, and all action taken will be in every way advantageous.
玉鉉在上，剛柔節也。'The rings of jade' are at the very top:—the strong and the weak meet in their due proportions.
In plain words
'The cauldron has a jade carrying bar; great good fortune, nothing that is not favourable.' Most hexagrams sour at the top; Ding ripens. Line six is yang above the yin ruler, strong and firm like metal but polished and warm like jade: the small Image says 剛柔節, hard and soft are in due measure. Jade does not conduct heat the way metal does, so the bar can be held when the cauldron is hot. The top line is the finished vessel at its most useful, the sage who has become the bar by which the whole order is carried.
If this line is changing
This is strength that has learned gentleness; act with full confidence, and keep the warmth that makes you someone others can hold on to.
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 has no correspondence (無應) with line 3: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
鼎 Cauldron becomes ䷟ 32 恆 Constancy
Thunder and wind moving together without end: the lasting. Success and no blame for persevering in the right way; constancy is not standing still but moving reliably.
What it becomes32 · 恆 ConstancyhéngThe 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 at the top of hexagram 50, Cauldron, mean?
- 'The cauldron has a jade carrying bar; great good fortune, nothing that is not favourable.' Most hexagrams sour at the top; Ding ripens. Line six is yang above the yin ruler, strong and firm like metal but polished and warm like jade: the small Image says 剛柔節, hard and soft are in due measure. Jade does not conduct heat the way metal does, so the bar can be held when the cauldron is hot. The top line is the finished vessel at its most useful, the sage who has become the bar by which the whole order is carried.
- What does hexagram 50 become when line 6 changes?
- Cauldron becomes hexagram 32, 恆 Constancy: Thunder and wind moving together without end: the lasting. Success and no blame for persevering in the right way; constancy is not standing still but moving reliably.
- Is line 6 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).