Hexagram 8, line 5
九五Line 5 of Alliance
Nine in the fifth place · 比 bǐ
爻辭 The line text
顯比，王用三驅，失前禽。邑人不誡，吉。The fifth line, undivided, affords the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment. (We seem to see in it) the king urging his pursuit of the game (only) in three directions, and allowing the escape of all the animals before him, while the people of his towns do not warn one another (to prevent it). There will be good fortune.
顯比之吉，位正中也。舍逆取順，失前禽也。邑人不誡，上使中也。'The good fortune belonging to the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment' appears in the correct and central position (of the fifth line, undivided). (The king's) neglecting (the animals) confronting him (and then fleeing), and (only) taking those who present themselves as it were obediently, is seen in 'his allowing the escape of those in front of him.' 'That the people of his towns do not warn one another (to prevent such escape),' shows how he, in his high eminence, has made them pursue the due course.
In plain words
'Manifest holding together. The king hunts with beaters on three sides and lets the game in front escape; the people of his town are not warned: good fortune.' Line five is the ruler of Bi — the only yang line, central and correct in Kan, the centre that the other five lines gather around. The royal hunt is the image of how it holds them: the net is closed on three sides and left open on the fourth, so that whatever runs away is let go and whatever comes is taken. The small Image reads this as 'letting the unwilling go and taking the willing' (舍逆取順), and the untroubled townspeople as a sign that the ruler 'employs the centre' (上使中也). Zhu Xi: an alliance that is open about itself and does not compel is the only kind that lasts.
If this line is changing
Be open about what you are gathering people for and leave the way out unblocked; those who come of their own accord are the alliance, and those who leave were never part of it.
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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- It corresponds (應) with line 2: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
比 Alliance becomes ䷁ 2 坤 Earth
Pure yin: the earth that carries everything. Strength through receptiveness, patience and service; success comes from following a good lead rather than forcing the front, like a mare steady on the open plain.
What it becomes2 · 坤 EarthkūnThe six lines of 比 Alliance
- 初六Six at the beginningsincerity · a full jar · unexpected good
- 六二Six in the second placefrom within · steadfast · not losing oneself
- 六三Six in the third placethe wrong people · misplaced loyalty · harm
- 六四Six in the fourth placefrom without · following the worthy · upward
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeopen alliance · three-sided hunt · letting the game go
- 上六Six at the topno head · too late · nowhere to end
Read 比 Alliance for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fifth place of hexagram 8, Alliance, mean?
- 'Manifest holding together. The king hunts with beaters on three sides and lets the game in front escape; the people of his town are not warned: good fortune.' Line five is the ruler of Bi — the only yang line, central and correct in Kan, the centre that the other five lines gather around. The royal hunt is the image of how it holds them: the net is closed on three sides and left open on the fourth, so that whatever runs away is let go and whatever comes is taken. The small Image reads this as 'letting the unwilling go and taking the willing' (舍逆取順), and the untroubled townspeople as a sign that the ruler 'employs the centre' (上使中也). Zhu Xi: an alliance that is open about itself and does not compel is the only kind that lasts.
- What does hexagram 8 become when line 5 changes?
- Alliance becomes hexagram 2, 坤 Earth: Pure yin: the earth that carries everything. Strength through receptiveness, patience and service; success comes from following a good lead rather than forcing the front, like a mare steady on the open plain.
- Is line 5 of Alliance 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).