Hexagram 55, line 5
六五Line 5 of Plenty
Six in the fifth place · 豐 fēng
爻辭 The line text
來章，有慶譽，吉。The fifth line, divided, shows its subject bringing around him the men of brilliant ability. There will be occasion for congratulation and praise. There will be good fortune.
六五之吉，有慶也。'The good fortune indicated by the fifth line, divided,' is the congratulation (that is sure to arise).
In plain words
'Brilliance comes; there is blessing and praise; auspicious.' Line five is the ruler, yin in the central place of Zhen, and it is the screened ruler that lines two and four could not reach. Here the hexagram turns: 來章, the patterned, the brilliant, comes to it. The yin ruler does not produce light, but being central and open it draws the bright lines of Li toward it — this is Zhu Xi's reading, the ruler who gathers the able to supply what the ruler lacks. The small Image says only 有慶也, there is cause for celebration. The judgment's 'be like the sun at noon' is fulfilled here, by a ruler who shines with borrowed light and is praised for knowing how to receive it.
If this line is changing
Your strength at this point is in receiving: draw in the capable and the clear-sighted, let their brilliance come to you, and the praise will be yours for having made room for it.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin 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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 2: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
豐 Plenty becomes ䷰ 49 革 Reform
Fire in the lake: two that extinguish each other — change is forced. A revolution is believed only after it is done; supreme success when the time is ripe and the cause is right.
What it becomes49 · 革 ReformgéThe six lines of 豐 Plenty
- 初九Nine at the beginningmeeting one's match · equals · ten days
- 六二Six in the second placescreened · stars at noon · sincerity moves
- 九三Nine in the third placebanner-dark · broken arm · not for great things
- 九四Nine in the fourth placescreened again · meeting one's equal · act now
- 六五Six in the fifth placebrilliance comes · blessing and praise · the receptive ruler
- 上六Six at the tophouse too large · no one at the door · three years unseen
Read 豐 Plenty for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the fifth place of hexagram 55, Plenty, mean?
- 'Brilliance comes; there is blessing and praise; auspicious.' Line five is the ruler, yin in the central place of Zhen, and it is the screened ruler that lines two and four could not reach. Here the hexagram turns: 來章, the patterned, the brilliant, comes to it. The yin ruler does not produce light, but being central and open it draws the bright lines of Li toward it — this is Zhu Xi's reading, the ruler who gathers the able to supply what the ruler lacks. The small Image says only 有慶也, there is cause for celebration. The judgment's 'be like the sun at noon' is fulfilled here, by a ruler who shines with borrowed light and is praised for knowing how to receive it.
- What does hexagram 55 become when line 5 changes?
- Plenty becomes hexagram 49, 革 Reform: Fire in the lake: two that extinguish each other — change is forced. A revolution is believed only after it is done; supreme success when the time is ripe and the cause is right.
- Is line 5 of Plenty 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).