Hexagram 60, line 5
九五Line 5 of Measure
Nine in the fifth place · 節 jié
爻辭 The line text
甘節，吉；往有尚。The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject sweetly and acceptably enacting his regulations. There will be good fortune. The onward progress with them will afford ground for admiration.
甘節之吉，居位中也。'The good fortune arising from the regulations enacted sweetly and acceptably' is due to (the line) occupying the place (of authority) and being in the centre.
In plain words
Line five is the ruler of Jie, yang in the central and correct place of the water — the Tuan's 'firm line that gets the centre' and 'correct place from which to regulate'. Its measure is 'sweet' (甘節): the limits it sets are ones people are glad to keep, because the one who sets them keeps them first, and the text says good fortune and that 'going forward is honoured'. The contrast is with the bitter measure of the top line, limits that punish. The small Image attributes the sweetness to 'dwelling in the central place' (居位中): measure that comes from the centre feels like proportion, not restriction.
If this line is changing
Set limits that you are seen to keep yourself and that leave room to live; measure that people can taste as fair is the kind they will follow you in.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang 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 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 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 2: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
節 Measure becomes ䷒ 19 臨 Overseeing
Earth over the lake: looking down from the shore. Yang grows and influence approaches — supreme success now, with a warning that the eighth month brings a turn.
What it becomes19 · 臨 OverseeinglínThe six lines of 節 Measure
- 初九Nine at the beginningstaying in · knowing when blocked · no blame
- 九二Nine in the second placemissing the moment · staying in too long · evil
- 六三Six in the third placeno measure · lament · no one else to blame
- 六四Six in the fourth placemeasure at ease · accepting the way above · success
- 九五Nine in the fifth placesweet measure · the centre · going on is honoured
- 上六Six at the topbitter measure · the way exhausted · regret passes
Read 節 Measure for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fifth place of hexagram 60, Measure, mean?
- Line five is the ruler of Jie, yang in the central and correct place of the water — the Tuan's 'firm line that gets the centre' and 'correct place from which to regulate'. Its measure is 'sweet' (甘節): the limits it sets are ones people are glad to keep, because the one who sets them keeps them first, and the text says good fortune and that 'going forward is honoured'. The contrast is with the bitter measure of the top line, limits that punish. The small Image attributes the sweetness to 'dwelling in the central place' (居位中): measure that comes from the centre feels like proportion, not restriction.
- What does hexagram 60 become when line 5 changes?
- Measure becomes hexagram 19, 臨 Overseeing: Earth over the lake: looking down from the shore. Yang grows and influence approaches — supreme success now, with a warning that the eighth month brings a turn.
- Is line 5 of Measure 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. 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).