Line 4 of

Hexagram 22: 賁 bì

“Adorning” — King Wen #22 · 六四

Line 4 六四

賁如,皤如,白馬翰如,匪寇,婚媾。

The fourth SIX, divided, shows one looking as if adorned, but only in white. As if (mounted on) a white horse, and furnished with wings, (he seeks union with the subject of the first line), while (the intervening third pursues), not as a robber, but intent on a matrimonial alliance.

— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)

The Changed Hexagram 之卦

Line 4 changing turns hexagram 22 into䷝ Hexagram 30: 離 lí — “Radiance”Read line 4 of hexagram 30 →

Reading This Line

In the received Zhouyi text, line 4 of hexagram 22 is a yielding (yin) line occupying the fourth line, risen into the upper trigram. The classical line statement — 賁如,皤如,白馬翰如,匪寇,婚媾。 — is what commentators from the Ten Wings onward have read as the figure's own commentary on this one position. James Legge's 1882 rendering, quoted above, keeps the imagery of the original: each line of a hexagram is read as a stage of the same picture, and this page collects the source text for that stage. If you treat the line as moving in the traditional way, flipping it alone produces the changed hexagram linked above; readers have long used that pair of figures to compare a situation as given with the same situation one line different. As always with classical divination texts, this is presented for cultural and reference interest — the text itself carries no prediction about any modern reader's situation.

Questions About Hexagram 22 Line 4

What does line 4 of hexagram 22 say?

The received text reads: 賁如,皤如,白馬翰如,匪寇,婚媾。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The fourth SIX, divided, shows one looking as if adorned, but only in white. As if (mounted on) a white horse, and furnished with wings, (he seeks union with the subject of the first line), while (the intervening third pursues), not as a robber, but intent on a matrimonial alliance.”

Which hexagram does line 4 change hexagram 22 into?

Changing only line 4 of hexagram 22 (賁, “Adorning”) gives hexagram 30 — 離 (lí, “Radiance”). This is the classical way a changed hexagram is derived from moving lines.

Are line pages available for every hexagram?

Yes. Every one of the 64 hexagrams now has six line pages — one per line from the bottom line up to the top line — each with the classical Chinese text, Legge's 1882 translation, and the changed hexagram that line produces when it moves.

1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1882), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and reference — not financial, medical, or life advice.