Line 6 of
Hexagram 38: 睽
“Polarising” — King Wen #38 · 上九
Line 6 上九
睽孤，見豕負塗，載鬼一車，先張之弧，後說之弧；匪寇婚媾，往遇雨則吉。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (In the subject of the third line, he seems to) see a pig bearing on its back a load of mud, (or fancies) there is a carriage full of ghosts. He first bends his bow against him, and afterwards unbends it, (for he discovers) that he is not an assailant to injure, but a near relative. Going forward, he shall meet with (genial) rain, and there will be good fortune.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 6 changing turns hexagram 38 into䷵ Hexagram 54: 歸妹 — “Converting the Maiden”Read line 6 of hexagram 54 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 6 of hexagram 38 is a strong (yang) line occupying the top line, where the theme of the figure has run its course. The classical line statement — 睽孤，見豕負塗，載鬼一車，先張之弧，後說之弧；匪寇婚媾，往遇雨則吉。 — 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 38 Line 6
What does line 6 of hexagram 38 say?
The received text reads: 睽孤，見豕負塗，載鬼一車，先張之弧，後說之弧；匪寇婚媾，往遇雨則吉。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (In the subject of the third line, he seems to) see a pig bearing on its back a load of mud, (or fancies) there is a carriage full of ghosts. He first bends his bow against him, and afterwards unbends it, (for he discovers) that he is not an assailant to injure, but a near relative. Going forward, he shall meet with (genial) rain, and there will be good fortune.”
Which hexagram does line 6 change hexagram 38 into?
Changing only line 6 of hexagram 38 (睽, “Polarising”) gives hexagram 54 — 歸妹 (guī mèi, “Converting the Maiden”). 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.