Hexagram 54, line 6
上六Line 6 of Marrying the Younger Sister
Six at the top · 歸妹 guī mèi
爻辭 The line text
女承筐无實，士刲羊无血，无攸利。The sixth line, divided, shows the young lady bearing the basket, but without anything in it, and the gentleman slaughtering the sheep, but without blood flowing from it. There will be no advantage in any way.
上六无實，承虛筐也。'(What is said in) the sixth line, divided, about there being nothing in the basket' shows that the subject of it is carrying an empty basket.
In plain words
'The woman holds a basket with nothing in it; the man stabs a sheep and there is no blood; nothing is favourable.' At the top of the hexagram the marriage rite is performed and empty: the bride's basket of offerings has no fruit, the groom's sacrifice no blood. Line six is yin at the top of Zhen, with no corresponding line (three is also yin) — a union with no one on the other side. The small Image says it in four words: 承虛筐也, she holds an empty basket. This is the end that the Great Image's 永終知敝 warned about: an arrangement entered for appearance, and at its end there is only appearance.
If this line is changing
The forms are being kept and nothing is inside them; do not add another empty gesture, and be honest with yourself about whether there is anything here to fill the basket.
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 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 3: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister becomes ䷥ 38 睽 Divergence
Fire rising and the lake sinking: two moving apart. Opposition — good fortune only in small matters; yet difference has its uses, as heaven and earth differ and still work together.
What it becomes38 · 睽 DivergencekuíThe six lines of 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister
- 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
Read 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the top of hexagram 54, Marrying the Younger Sister, mean?
- 'The woman holds a basket with nothing in it; the man stabs a sheep and there is no blood; nothing is favourable.' At the top of the hexagram the marriage rite is performed and empty: the bride's basket of offerings has no fruit, the groom's sacrifice no blood. Line six is yin at the top of Zhen, with no corresponding line (three is also yin) — a union with no one on the other side. The small Image says it in four words: 承虛筐也, she holds an empty basket. This is the end that the Great Image's 永終知敝 warned about: an arrangement entered for appearance, and at its end there is only appearance.
- What does hexagram 54 become when line 6 changes?
- Marrying the Younger Sister becomes hexagram 38, 睽 Divergence: Fire rising and the lake sinking: two moving apart. Opposition — good fortune only in small matters; yet difference has its uses, as heaven and earth differ and still work together.
- Is line 6 of Marrying the Younger Sister 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).