Hexagram 61 as yes or no
Hexagram 61 Inner Sincerity as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a yes-or-no question Zhong Fu says yes, if the thing is true — true in the plain sense: what you say matches what you know, and what you intend matches what you will do. The Judgment is favourable on every count, and its only condition is the hexagram's own name, sincerity at the centre. Where the question involves persuading or being believed, sincerity will do it and manoeuvring will not.
The changing lines locate the doubt. In the lower trigram they concern your own trust: line one says decide once and stop looking elsewhere, a yes; line two says your honest word will be answered, a clear yes; line three says you are reacting to someone rather than choosing, so wait. In the upper trigram they concern what the trust must bear: line four says leave an old tie and go up, yes at a cost; line five is the hexagram's firmest yes; the top line says your confidence has outrun its ground: no, until you bring it back down.
The hexagram in brief
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.
Let trust come from genuine inner alignment; it persuades the hardest audience, and it is wrecked by a single false note.
The judgment
中孚：豚魚吉，利涉大川，利貞。Kung Fû (moves even) pigs and fish, and leads to good fortune. There will be advantage in crossing the great stream. There will be advantage in being firm and correct.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 中孚 Inner Sincerity has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningsettled trust · no other · purpose unchanged
- 九二Nine in the second placethe calling crane · answered in kind · shared cup
- 六三Six in the third placedepending on another · drum and stop · weep and sing
- 六四Six in the fourth placemoon nearly full · losing the team-mate · mounting upward
- 九五Nine in the fifth placesincerity that binds · closest union · correct place
- 上九Nine at the topcock crowing at heaven · sound without substance · cannot last
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 61, Inner Sincerity, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a yes-or-no question Zhong Fu says yes, if the thing is true — true in the plain sense: what you say matches what you know, and what you intend matches what you will do. The Judgment is favourable on every count, and its only condition is the hexagram's own name, sincerity at the centre. Where the question involves persuading or being believed, sincerity will do it and manoeuvring will not.
- What does Hexagram 61, 中孚 Inner Sincerity, mean?
- 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).