Hexagram 15
Modesty
Earth over Mountain
The judgment
亨，君子有终A mountain stands below the plain. Height that takes the lower seat keeps its weight, and what it saves buys the finish.
The image
The mountain settles inside the earth and loses none of its height. Ground that takes the lower place carries the load.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.
- 初六Line 1
谦谦君子，用涉大川，吉
Lowering the stance below one's strength at the outset, like an empty boat crossing: rough water finds nothing to strike.
Marked in the textauspicious
- 六二Line 2
鸣谦，贞吉
Reputation arrives before the work does; holding the original measure steadier than raising it one notch on borrowed momentum.
Marked in the textauspicious
- 九三Line 3
劳谦君子，有终吉
At the most exhausted point, credit already showing, caught between handing it over and keeping it; finishing costs more than pushing.
Marked in the textauspicious
- 六四Line 4
无不利，㧑谦
Close enough to the center that every motion is seen; loosening up first requires flattening oneself out.
Marked in the textnothing works against it
- 六五Line 5
不富，以其邻，利用侵伐，无不利
Not well off, leaning on the strength of neighbors. When the time comes to march, lead them out and strike where the blade belongs; that road runs clear.
Marked in the textnothing works against it
- 上六Line 6
鸣谦，利用行师，征邑国
Words spent, the matter at its end; any further voice belongs at one's own gate, not spread outward.
Where each changing line leads
Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.
This page is for reference. To get a hexagram from six throws, cast your own.
The classical text is the Zhouyi, public domain, checked against a Wikisource transcript. The readings are ours. Daily hexagram