Hexagram 27 — Swallowing
King Wen #27 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Nourishment. Watch what you feed — body and mind — and how you feed others.
What Hexagram 27 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 27 places thunder (震) beneath mountain (艮) — movement breaking out of stillness below, stillness holding its ground above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Swallowing”: nourishment. Watch what you feed — body and mind — and how you feed others. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
山下有雷，頤；君子以慎言語，節飲食。
(The trigram representing) a mountain and under it that for thunder form Î. The superior man, in accordance with this, (enjoins) watchfulness over our words, and the temperate regulation of our eating and drinking.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Thunder below the mountain: nourishment. The wise are careful with words and moderate with food and drink.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 27 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Swallowing describes nourishment. Watch what you feed — body and mind — and how you feed others — 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 stillness holding its ground. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Swallowing about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: nourishment. Watch what you feed — body and mind — and how you feed others. 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 27
What does 頤 (yí) mean?
Hexagram 27 of the I Ching is named 頤 (yí), usually rendered "Swallowing" in English editions. Its figure is built from thunder (震) below and mountain (艮) above — movement breaking out of stillness beneath stillness holding its ground.
Is hexagram 27 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 27 is warm: it contains 4 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), 3 of 凶 (misfortune), and 1 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached.
What does hexagram 27 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Swallowing points to nourishment. Watch what you feed — body and mind — and how you feed others. The figure pairs thunder (震) beneath mountain (艮) — movement breaking out of stillness meeting stillness holding its ground — 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 27 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Swallowing through the figure itself: thunder (震) below, mountain (艮) above — movement breaking out of stillness held inside stillness holding its ground. The plain reading: Nourishment. Watch what you feed — body and mind — and how you feed others. The text carries 4 mentions of 吉 (good fortune) and 3 of 凶 (misfortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 27 mean?
A cast of hexagram 27 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 27 gives hexagram 28, 大過 (Great Exceeding). 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 27 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 27 gives hexagram 28 — 大過 (Great Exceeding). Turned upside down, the figure is itself — one of the eight hexagrams that stay unchanged when inverted. Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 2 — 坤 (Field).
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
貞吉，觀頤，自求口實。
Yi indicates that with firm correctness there will be good fortune (in what is denoted by it). We must look at what we are seeking to nourish, and by the exercise of our thoughts seek for the proper aliment.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
舍爾靈龜，觀我朵頤，凶。
The first NINE, undivided, (seems to be thus addressed), 'You leave your efficacious tortoise, and look at me till your lower jaw hangs down.' There will be evil.
顛頤；拂經于丘頤，征凶。
The second SIX, divided, shows one looking downwards for nourishment, which is contrary to what is proper; or seeking it from the height (above), advance towards which will lead to evil.
拂頤；貞凶，十年勿用；無攸利。
The third SIX, divided, shows one acting contrary to the method of nourishing. However firm he may be, there will be evil. For ten years let him not take any action, (for) it will not be in any way advantageous.
顛頤，吉；虎視眈眈，其欲逐逐，無咎。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows one looking downwards for (the power to) nourish. There will be good fortune. Looking with a tiger's downward unwavering glare, and with his desire that impels him to spring after spring, he will fall into no error.
拂經；居貞吉，不可涉大川。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows one acting contrary to what is regular and proper; but if he abide in firmness, there will be good fortune. He should not, (however, try to) cross the great stream.
由頤；厲吉，利涉大川。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows him from whom comes the nourishing. His position is perilous, but there will be good fortune. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream.
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.