Line 2 of
Hexagram 42: 益
“Augmenting” — King Wen #42 · 六二
Line 2 六二
或益之十朋之龜，弗克違。永貞吉；王用享于帝，吉。
The second SIX, divided, shows parties adding to the stores of its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells whose oracles cannot be opposed. Let him persevere in being firm and correct, and there will be good fortune. Let the king, (having the virtues thus distinguished), employ them in presenting his offerings to God, and there will be good fortune.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 2 changing turns hexagram 42 into䷼ Hexagram 61: 中孚 — “Center Returning”Read line 2 of hexagram 61 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 2 of hexagram 42 is a yielding (yin) line occupying the second line, settled inside the lower trigram. The classical line statement — 或益之十朋之龜，弗克違。永貞吉；王用享于帝，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 42 Line 2
What does line 2 of hexagram 42 say?
The received text reads: 或益之十朋之龜，弗克違。永貞吉；王用享于帝，吉。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The second SIX, divided, shows parties adding to the stores of its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells whose oracles cannot be opposed. Let him persevere in being firm and correct, and there will be good fortune. Let the king, (having the virtues thus distinguished), employ them in presenting his offerings to God, and there will be good fortune.”
Which hexagram does line 2 change hexagram 42 into?
Changing only line 2 of hexagram 42 (益, “Augmenting”) gives hexagram 61 — 中孚 (zhōng fú, “Center Returning”). 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.