Line 6 of

Hexagram 35: 晉 jìn

“Prospering” — King Wen #35 · 上九

Line 6 上九

晉其角,維用伐邑,厲吉無咎。貞吝。

The topmost NINE, undivided, shows one advancing his horns. But he only uses them to punish the (rebellious people of his own) city. The position is perilous, but there will be good fortune. (Yet) however firm and correct he may be, there will be occasion for regret.

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

The Changed Hexagram 之卦

Line 6 changing turns hexagram 35 into䷏ Hexagram 16: 豫 yù — “Providing-For”Read line 6 of hexagram 16 →

Reading This Line

In the received Zhouyi text, line 6 of hexagram 35 is a strong (yang) line occupying the top line, where the theme of the figure has run its course. The classical line statement — 晉其角,維用伐邑,厲吉無咎。貞吝。 — 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 35 Line 6

What does line 6 of hexagram 35 say?

The received text reads: 晉其角,維用伐邑,厲吉無咎。貞吝。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The topmost NINE, undivided, shows one advancing his horns. But he only uses them to punish the (rebellious people of his own) city. The position is perilous, but there will be good fortune. (Yet) however firm and correct he may be, there will be occasion for regret.”

Which hexagram does line 6 change hexagram 35 into?

Changing only line 6 of hexagram 35 (晉, “Prospering”) gives hexagram 16 — 豫 (yù, “Providing-For”). 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.