Line 6 of
Hexagram 42: 益
“Augmenting” — King Wen #42 · 上九
Line 6 上九
莫益之，或擊之，立心勿恆，凶。
In the sixth NINE, undivided, we see one to whose increase none will contribute, while many will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart. There will be evil.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 6 changing turns hexagram 42 into䷂ Hexagram 3: 屯 — “Sprouting”Read line 6 of hexagram 3 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 6 of hexagram 42 is a strong (yang) line occupying the top line, where the theme of the figure has run its course. The classical line statement — 莫益之，或擊之，立心勿恆，凶。 — 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 6
What does line 6 of hexagram 42 say?
The received text reads: 莫益之，或擊之，立心勿恆，凶。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “In the sixth NINE, undivided, we see one to whose increase none will contribute, while many will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart. There will be evil.”
Which hexagram does line 6 change hexagram 42 into?
Changing only line 6 of hexagram 42 (益, “Augmenting”) gives hexagram 3 — 屯 (zhūn, “Sprouting”). 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.