Hexagram 58, line 3
六三Line 3 of Pleasure (Lake)
Six in the third place · 兌 duì
爻辭 The line text
來兌，凶。The third line, divided, shows its subject bringing round himself whatever can give pleasure. There will be evil.
來兌之凶，位不當也。'The evil predicated of one's bringing around himself whatever can give pleasure' is shown by the inappropriateness of the place (of the line).
In plain words
Line three is a yin line in a yang place at the top of the lower lake, neither correct nor central, and it 'comes to seek pleasure' (來兌) — it moves down toward the two strong lines below to get its enjoyment from them. This is the hexagram's picture of flattery and dependence: pleasure procured by attaching oneself to others instead of arising from within, and the verdict is evil. The small Image puts the whole fault in position: the place is not appropriate (位不當也). A soft line sitting where a firm one should be will always go looking for its joy elsewhere.
If this line is changing
If your good mood depends on winning someone's approval, you have put yourself in the wrong place; stop courting and let what pleases you come from your own ground.
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 belongs to the lower trigram 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 6: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
兌 Pleasure (Lake) becomes ䷪ 43 夬 Decisiveness
The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
What it becomes43 · 夬 DecisivenessguàiThe six lines of 兌 Pleasure (Lake)
- 初九Nine at the beginningharmonious joy · nothing to doubt · self-contained
- 九二Nine in the second placesincere joy · trust · regret vanishes
- 六三Six in the third placeseeking pleasure · flattery · wrong place
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeweighing pleasures · unsettled · keeping away from harm
- 九五Nine in the fifth placetrusting the wrong one · danger · correct place
- 上六Six at the topdrawing others in · pleasure as lure · not yet bright
Read 兌 Pleasure (Lake) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the third place of hexagram 58, Pleasure (Lake), mean?
- Line three is a yin line in a yang place at the top of the lower lake, neither correct nor central, and it 'comes to seek pleasure' (來兌) — it moves down toward the two strong lines below to get its enjoyment from them. This is the hexagram's picture of flattery and dependence: pleasure procured by attaching oneself to others instead of arising from within, and the verdict is evil. The small Image puts the whole fault in position: the place is not appropriate (位不當也). A soft line sitting where a firm one should be will always go looking for its joy elsewhere.
- What does hexagram 58 become when line 3 changes?
- Pleasure (Lake) becomes hexagram 43, 夬 Decisiveness: The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
- Is line 3 of Pleasure (Lake) 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).