Hexagram 61, line 1
初九Line 1 of Inner Sincerity
Nine at the beginning · 中孚 zhōng fú
爻辭 The line text
虞吉，有他不燕。The first line, undivided, shows its subject resting (in himself). There will be good fortune. If he sought to any other, he would not find rest.
初九虞吉，志未變也。'The first line, undivided, shows its subject resting (in himself). There will be good fortune:'—no change has yet come over his purpose.
In plain words
The first line is a strong line in its correct place at the bottom of the lake, and the text says 'measured, good fortune' (虞吉): yu means to weigh something and then rest in it, as Cheng Yi reads it — having judged whom to trust, the line settles. It corresponds to line four above and gives its confidence there; the second clause warns that 'if there is another, no peace' — trust that keeps looking elsewhere never comes to rest. The small Image says the will has not yet changed (志未變). At the beginning of inner truth, sincerity is simply a mind that has chosen once and does not keep reopening the choice.
If this line is changing
Decide carefully whom you trust, then rest in it; the moment you start keeping a second option warm, the peace of the first is gone.
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 belongs to the lower trigram 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
- It corresponds (應) with line 4: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
中孚 Inner Sincerity becomes ䷺ 59 渙 Dispersing
Wind over water: dispersing. Success; the king approaches the temple; favourable to cross the great river — scattering rigidity, selfishness and division so that people regroup around something shared.
What it becomes59 · 渙 DispersinghuànThe six lines of 中孚 Inner Sincerity
- 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
Read 中孚 Inner Sincerity for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 61, Inner Sincerity, mean?
- The first line is a strong line in its correct place at the bottom of the lake, and the text says 'measured, good fortune' (虞吉): yu means to weigh something and then rest in it, as Cheng Yi reads it — having judged whom to trust, the line settles. It corresponds to line four above and gives its confidence there; the second clause warns that 'if there is another, no peace' — trust that keeps looking elsewhere never comes to rest. The small Image says the will has not yet changed (志未變). At the beginning of inner truth, sincerity is simply a mind that has chosen once and does not keep reopening the choice.
- What does hexagram 61 become when line 1 changes?
- Inner Sincerity becomes hexagram 59, 渙 Dispersing: Wind over water: dispersing. Success; the king approaches the temple; favourable to cross the great river — scattering rigidity, selfishness and division so that people regroup around something shared.
- Is line 1 of Inner Sincerity 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).