Hexagram 61, line 4
六四Line 4 of Inner Sincerity
Six in the fourth place · 中孚 zhōng fú
爻辭 The line text
月幾望，馬匹亡，无咎。The fourth line, divided, shows its subject (like) the moon nearly full, and (like) a horse (in a chariot) whose fellow disappears. There will be no error.
馬匹亡，絕類上也。'A horse the fellow of which disappears:'—he breaks from his (former) companions, and mounts upwards.
In plain words
Line four is yin in its correct place at the bottom of the wind, the minister directly beneath the ruler at five, and the text gives it two images. 'The moon is nearly full': the minister stands at the height of influence, and a moon that is nearly full, rather than full, is the right distance to keep from the sun. 'The horse loses its mate': this line gives up its correspondent, line one below, to follow the one above. The text says no blame. The small Image explains the second image as 'breaking from its kind to go up' (絕類上): inner truth at this height means loyalty to the centre over loyalty to one's own circle.
If this line is changing
Keep just short of the fullest point, and be willing to leave an old alliance behind to serve what is above you; the cost is real and the course is without blame.
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 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- It corresponds (應) with line 1: 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 ䷉ 10 履 Stepping
Heaven above the lake: treading on the tiger's tail without being bitten. Correct conduct and courtesy carry one through danger; know your place and walk carefully.
What it becomes10 · 履 SteppinglǚThe 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 fourth place of hexagram 61, Inner Sincerity, mean?
- Line four is yin in its correct place at the bottom of the wind, the minister directly beneath the ruler at five, and the text gives it two images. 'The moon is nearly full': the minister stands at the height of influence, and a moon that is nearly full, rather than full, is the right distance to keep from the sun. 'The horse loses its mate': this line gives up its correspondent, line one below, to follow the one above. The text says no blame. The small Image explains the second image as 'breaking from its kind to go up' (絕類上): inner truth at this height means loyalty to the centre over loyalty to one's own circle.
- What does hexagram 61 become when line 4 changes?
- Inner Sincerity becomes hexagram 10, 履 Stepping: Heaven above the lake: treading on the tiger's tail without being bitten. Correct conduct and courtesy carry one through danger; know your place and walk carefully.
- Is line 4 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).