Hexagram 60, line 6
上六Line 6 of Measure
Six at the top · 節 jié
爻辭 The line text
苦節，貞凶，悔亡。The topmost line, divided, shows its subject enacting regulations severe and difficult. Even with firmness and correctness there will be evil. But though there will be cause for repentance, it will (by and by) disappear.
苦節貞凶，其道窮也。'The regulations are severe and difficult. Even with firm correctness there will be evil:'—the course (indicated by the hexagram) is come to an end.
In plain words
The top line is yin at the extreme of the water and of the hexagram, and its measure is 'bitter' (苦節) — the Judgment's own warning, 'bitter limitation cannot be persevered in', comes to life here. Limits have hardened into severity, and the text says that even steadiness in them brings evil, because a rule that hurts those who keep it has lost its purpose. Yet the line ends with 'regret disappears', which the commentators explain by noting that the severity falls on oneself: austerity that harms no one else is a fault without a victim. The small Image says the way is exhausted (其道窮): measure has reached the point where it must relax or break.
If this line is changing
A discipline that has become a punishment is at its end; loosen it before it breaks you, and let go of the guilt about doing so.
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 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- 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
節 Measure becomes ䷼ 61 中孚 Inner Sincerity
Wind over the lake: inner truth that moves even pigs and fishes. Good fortune, favourable to cross the great river — sincerity at the centre reaches what force cannot.
What it becomes61 · 中孚 Inner Sincerityzhōng fúThe 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 Six at the top of hexagram 60, Measure, mean?
- The top line is yin at the extreme of the water and of the hexagram, and its measure is 'bitter' (苦節) — the Judgment's own warning, 'bitter limitation cannot be persevered in', comes to life here. Limits have hardened into severity, and the text says that even steadiness in them brings evil, because a rule that hurts those who keep it has lost its purpose. Yet the line ends with 'regret disappears', which the commentators explain by noting that the severity falls on oneself: austerity that harms no one else is a fault without a victim. The small Image says the way is exhausted (其道窮): measure has reached the point where it must relax or break.
- What does hexagram 60 become when line 6 changes?
- Measure becomes hexagram 61, 中孚 Inner Sincerity: Wind over the lake: inner truth that moves even pigs and fishes. Good fortune, favourable to cross the great river — sincerity at the centre reaches what force cannot.
- Is line 6 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).