Hexagram 54 as yes or no
Hexagram 54 Marrying the Younger Sister as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a yes-or-no question Gui Mei says no to pushing forward: the judgment is explicit that advance brings misfortune and nothing is favourable. But the question it hears is usually 'should I enter or press an arrangement whose terms are not mine?', and its real answer is about footing. The Tuan's reason is structural, the places are wrong and the weak rides the strong, so the answer changes if you can change your footing.
The lines do that. In the lower trigram: one is the single yes, go forward in the secondary role you have; two says stay and keep constant, without expecting the mismatch to mend; three says the thing you are holding out for will not come. In the upper trigram: four says wait, the right time is coming; five says yes, if you are the higher party and can go in plainly; six says no, what is left is an empty basket.
The hexagram in brief
Thunder over the lake: the younger sister married as a secondary wife. Undertakings bring misfortune; nothing is favourable — a relationship or position entered on unequal terms must be managed with great care.
Know the limits of a subordinate role; keep your dignity, expect little, and don't force what the situation won't give.
The judgment
歸妹：征凶，无攸利。Kwei Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningsecondary wife · lame but walking · service
- 九二Nine in the second placeone-eyed sight · the recluse · unchanged constancy
- 六三Six in the third placewaiting to be taken · the wrong footing · settling for less
- 九四Nine in the fourth placemissing the date · deliberate delay · the right time
- 六五Six in the fifth placeDi Yi's sister · plainer sleeves · moon nearly full
- 上六Six at the topempty basket · bloodless sheep · form without substance
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 54, Marrying the Younger Sister, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a yes-or-no question Gui Mei says no to pushing forward: the judgment is explicit that advance brings misfortune and nothing is favourable. But the question it hears is usually 'should I enter or press an arrangement whose terms are not mine?', and its real answer is about footing. The Tuan's reason is structural, the places are wrong and the weak rides the strong, so the answer changes if you can change your footing.
- What does Hexagram 54, 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister, mean?
- Thunder over the lake: the younger sister married as a secondary wife. Undertakings bring misfortune; nothing is favourable — a relationship or position entered on unequal terms must be managed with great care.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).