Hexagram 21 — Gnawing Bite
King Wen #21 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
An obstruction sits between the jaws. Firm justice clears away what blocks union.
What Hexagram 21 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 21 places thunder (震) beneath fire (离) — movement breaking out of stillness below, light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Gnawing Bite”: an obstruction sits between the jaws. Firm justice clears away what blocks union. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
雷電，噬嗑；先王以明罰敕法。
(The trigrams representing) thunder and lightning form Shih Ho. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, framed their penalties with intelligence, and promulgated their laws.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Thunder and lightning: biting through. Ancient kings made penalties clear and laws firm.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 21 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Gnawing Bite describes an obstruction sits between the jaws. Firm justice clears away what blocks union — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: movement breaking out of stillness, held inside a larger setting of light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Gnawing Bite about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: an obstruction sits between the jaws. Firm justice clears away what blocks union. When lines move in your cast, read them against this base — the moving lines show which part of the figure is awake for you, and the changed hexagram shows where it is heading.
Questions About Hexagram 21
What does 噬嗑 (shì kè) mean?
Hexagram 21 of the I Ching is named 噬嗑 (shì kè), usually rendered "Gnawing Bite" in English editions. Its figure is built from thunder (震) below and fire (离) above — movement breaking out of stillness beneath light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates.
Is hexagram 21 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 21 is warm: it contains one occurrence of 吉 (good fortune), 1 of 凶 (misfortune), and 4 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached.
What does hexagram 21 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Gnawing Bite points to an obstruction sits between the jaws. Firm justice clears away what blocks union. The figure pairs thunder (震) beneath fire (离) — movement breaking out of stillness meeting light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates — which is the traditional picture of how this energy behaves between two people. For how to phrase a love question before casting, see our guide to asking the I Ching about love.
What does hexagram 21 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Gnawing Bite through the figure itself: thunder (震) below, fire (离) above — movement breaking out of stillness held inside light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. The plain reading: An obstruction sits between the jaws. Firm justice clears away what blocks union. The text carries 1 mention of 吉 (good fortune) and 1 of 凶 (misfortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 21 mean?
A cast of hexagram 21 can produce moving lines. Each of the six lines has its own statement (爻辭) in the classical text below, read from the bottom up, and a moving line is read as the part of the figure that is awake for your question. When a line moves it turns into its opposite, and the whole figure becomes a second hexagram: changing every line of 21 gives hexagram 48, 井 (Welling). Every line also has a page of its own on this site — Line 1 through Line 6 under this hexagram — with the classical Chinese and Legge's translation side by side.
How is hexagram 21 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 21 gives hexagram 48 — 井 (Welling). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 22 — 賁 (Adorning). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 39 — 蹇 (Limping).
Cast it yourself
Shake the tube, watch your own coins fall.
- The hexagram's classical meaning — judgment and all six lines
- Moving lines marked — but not read for you
- No account, no email, nothing to pay
Get the reading, not just the text
Same cast, read all the way through:
- Every line read for you — what each moving line means inside your question
- The changed hexagram — where your situation is heading, and how to read the turn
- A closing that answers you directly — act, wait, or say it out loud
New to casting? How it works · All 64 hexagrams
Related Hexagrams 錯綜互
The Classical Text 經文
亨，利用獄。
Shi He indicates successful progress (in the condition of things which it supposes). It will be advantageous to use legal constraints.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
屨校滅趾，無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows one with his feet in the stocks and deprived of his toes. There will be no error.
噬膚滅鼻，無咎。
The second SIX, divided, shows one biting through the soft flesh, and (going on to) bite off the nose. There will be no error.
噬臘肉，遇毒；小吝，無咎。
The third SIX, divided, shows one gnawing dried flesh, and meeting with what is disagreeable. There will be occasion for some small regret, but no (great) error.
噬幹胏，得金矢；利艱貞，吉。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows one gnawing the flesh dried on the bone, and getting the pledges of money and arrows. It will be advantageous to him to realise the difficulty of his task and be firm,--in which case there will be good fortune.
噬乾肉，得黃金，貞厲，無咎。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows one gnawing at dried flesh, and finding the yellow gold. Let him be firm and correct, realising the peril (of his position). There will be no error.
何校滅耳，凶。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows one wearing the cangue, and deprived of his ears. There will be evil.
Line by Line 逐爻细读
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text.2 The Image (象傳) is an ancient text in the public domain; its plain-English gloss here is original to The Hexagrams, not a quotation from any copyrighted edition. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.