Hexagram 52, line 4
六四Line 4 of Stillness (Mountain)
Six in the fourth place · 艮 gèn
爻辭 The line text
艮其身，无咎。The fourth line, divided, shows its subject keeping his trunk at rest. There will be no error.
艮其身，止諸躬也。'He keeps the trunk of his body at rest:'—he keeps himself free (from agitation).
In plain words
'Keeping the body still; no blame.' Line four is yin in its correct place, the first line of the upper mountain, and the stillness here is of the whole trunk — not a toe or a calf but the self. The small Image: 止諸躬也, the stop is applied to one's own person. This is the stillness the judgment's 艮其背 describes, resting the self so that the self is not felt. It is correct and it is modest: the line can quiet itself but cannot yet quiet others, which is why there is no blame rather than fortune. Cheng Yi notes that four, being close to the ruler, might reach further, and does not.
If this line is changing
Bring the stillness to your whole self rather than fighting one impulse at a time; you cannot yet settle the people around you, and it is enough for now that you are settled.
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 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 1: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
艮 Stillness (Mountain) becomes ䷷ 56 旅 Traveling
Fire on the mountain: the wanderer who does not stay long. Small success; perseverance brings good fortune to the traveller — be modest, correct, and careful with your resources and companions.
What it becomes56 · 旅 TravelinglǚThe six lines of 艮 Stillness (Mountain)
- 初六Six at the beginningstill toes · before moving · lasting firmness
- 六二Six in the second placestill calves · cannot rescue · unheard
- 九三Nine in the third placethe loins · rigid stop · scorched heart
- 六四Six in the fourth placethe trunk · self-contained · no blame
- 六五Six in the fifth placethe jaws · ordered speech · regret gone
- 上九Nine at the topgenerous stillness · the summit · a good end
Read 艮 Stillness (Mountain) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the fourth place of hexagram 52, Stillness (Mountain), mean?
- 'Keeping the body still; no blame.' Line four is yin in its correct place, the first line of the upper mountain, and the stillness here is of the whole trunk — not a toe or a calf but the self. The small Image: 止諸躬也, the stop is applied to one's own person. This is the stillness the judgment's 艮其背 describes, resting the self so that the self is not felt. It is correct and it is modest: the line can quiet itself but cannot yet quiet others, which is why there is no blame rather than fortune. Cheng Yi notes that four, being close to the ruler, might reach further, and does not.
- What does hexagram 52 become when line 4 changes?
- Stillness (Mountain) becomes hexagram 56, 旅 Traveling: Fire on the mountain: the wanderer who does not stay long. Small success; perseverance brings good fortune to the traveller — be modest, correct, and careful with your resources and companions.
- Is line 4 of Stillness (Mountain) 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).