| Name | 贲 Bì, “Grace” |
|---|---|
| Upper trigram | ☶ 艮 Mountain: stillness and limits |
| Lower trigram | ☲ 离 Fire: clarity and attachment |
The Judgment
亨，小利有攸往。
Success. In small matters, wise to have somewhere to go.
Beauty and form matter — just don't confuse the surface for the substance. Light moves only.
The Image
山下有火，贲；君子以明庶政，无敢折狱。
Fire below the mountain — Grace. The wise illuminate daily affairs but do not dare to decide great cases by elegance alone.
Style up the everyday. But when it really matters, don't let aesthetics make the call — substance does.
The six lines
If a line changes in your cast, read its text below. Lines are numbered from the bottom.
Line 1 · first (bottom) · Yang
贲其趾，舍车而徒。
Grace to the toes. Leaves the carriage and walks.
Choosing the harder, more honest path even when an easier one is available. Style is in the integrity.
Line 2 · second · Yin
贲其须。
Grace to the beard.
You can only adorn what already exists. Build the substance first, then the polish.
Line 3 · third · Yang
贲如濡如，永贞吉。
Graced, soaked in beauty. Stay true forever — fortune.
Surrounded by the good life. Real fortune comes if you don't lose your center in the comfort.
Line 4 · fourth · Yin
贲如皤如，白马翰如，匪寇婚媾。
Graced or plain? A white horse comes flying. Not a robber, but a suitor.
Caught between performing and being real. What looks like trouble incoming is actually genuine connection.
Line 5 · fifth · Yin
贲于丘园，束帛戋戋，吝，终吉。
Grace in the hills and gardens. Roll of silk small and meager. Shame, but in the end — fortune.
A simple offering, maybe embarrassing in its smallness. But sincerity outranks scale. It lands.
Line 6 · top · Yang
白贲，无咎。
Simple grace. No blame.
Strip it all back. The cleanest version is the truest one — and it works.
Related hexagrams
- Inverted (turned upside down): Hexagram 21, Biting Through
- Complement (every line reversed): Hexagram 47, Oppression