䷵The Marrying MaidenGuī Mèi

The judgment

征凶，无攸利

Thunder over the lake and the younger one enters a house that was set before her. Standing here is fixed by someone else's order, so the move is to do the work and let the naming wait.

The image

Thunder shakes the lake and the water takes the shape of the shore. A place assigned in advance leaves little room to argue.

The six lines

Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.

1. 初九Line 1

   归妹以娣，跛能履，征吉

   Entering as a secondary wife, lame yet still walking; a low start still leaves a road, at the cost of always being second.

   Marked in the textauspicious

2. 九二Line 2

   眇能视，利幽人之贞

   One eye still sees; from the inner center, keep to quiet persistence and expect no notice.

3. 六三Line 3

   归妹以须，反归以娣

   Waiting to be principal wife and waiting in vain, then stepping back to secondary; caught between advance and retreat, yielding is the only exit.

4. 九四Line 4

   归妹愆期，迟归有时

   The wedding is postponed; a late marriage has its own timing, and forced waiting hides room to rearrange.

5. 六五Line 5

   帝乙归妹，其君之袂，不如其娣之袂良，月几望，吉

   Emperor Yi weds his daughter; the principal bride's sleeves are plainer than her attendant's, and the higher the seat, the more dignity is laid aside. The moon nears its full, its light spreading, not yet at the top.

   Marked in the textauspicious

6. 上六Line 6

   女承筐无实，士刲羊无血，无攸利

   The woman's basket is empty, the man's sheep yields no blood; at the very end only a hollow shell remains.

   Marked in the textnothing is served

Where each changing line leads

Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.

• 初九→DeliveranceHexagram 40
• 九二→The ArousingHexagram 51
• 六三→Great PowerHexagram 34
• 九四→ApproachHexagram 19
• 六五→The JoyousHexagram 58
• 上六→OppositionHexagram 38