Hexagram 61, line 3
六三Line 3 of Inner Sincerity
Six in the third place · 中孚 zhōng fú
爻辭 The line text
得敵，或鼓或罷，或泣或歌。The third line, divided, shows its subject having met with his mate. Now he beats his drum, and now he leaves off. Now he weeps, and now he sings.
可鼓或罷，位不當也。'Now he beats his drum, and now he leaves off:'—the position (of the line) is the appropriate one for it.
In plain words
Line three is yin in a yang place at the top of the lake, neither correct nor central, and it has 'found its match' (得敵) — the strong top line it corresponds to, on which it now entirely depends. The result is the most volatile line in the hexagram: 'now it drums, now it stops; now it weeps, now it sings.' Its moods are not its own but reactions to the other, and the text gives no verdict because such a state has no fixed outcome. The small Image blames the position (位不當也): sincerity lodged in a line that has no steadiness of its own turns into emotional dependence.
If this line is changing
If your days rise and fall with someone else's attention, your trust has become dependence; find your own footing before you ask anything more of them.
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 corresponds (應) with line 6: 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 ䷈ 9 小畜 Small Accumulation
Wind over heaven: dense clouds but no rain yet. A small force restrains a great one for now; gather strength quietly, with success in small things.
What it becomes9 · 小畜 Small Accumulationxiǎo chùThe 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 Six in the third place of hexagram 61, Inner Sincerity, mean?
- Line three is yin in a yang place at the top of the lake, neither correct nor central, and it has 'found its match' (得敵) — the strong top line it corresponds to, on which it now entirely depends. The result is the most volatile line in the hexagram: 'now it drums, now it stops; now it weeps, now it sings.' Its moods are not its own but reactions to the other, and the text gives no verdict because such a state has no fixed outcome. The small Image blames the position (位不當也): sincerity lodged in a line that has no steadiness of its own turns into emotional dependence.
- What does hexagram 61 become when line 3 changes?
- Inner Sincerity becomes hexagram 9, 小畜 Small Accumulation: Wind over heaven: dense clouds but no rain yet. A small force restrains a great one for now; gather strength quietly, with success in small things.
- Is line 3 of Inner Sincerity 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).