Hexagram 43 — Displacement
King Wen #43 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Breakthrough. Resolute decision removes what must go — be honest about it, and do not gloat.
What Hexagram 43 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 43 places heaven (乾) beneath lake (兑) — creative force pressing upward below, joy lifting what it touches above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Displacement”: breakthrough. Resolute decision removes what must go — be honest about it, and do not gloat. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
澤上於天，夬；君子以施祿及下，居德則忌。
(The trigram representing) heaven and that for the waters of a marsh mounting above it form Kwâi. The superior man, in accordance with this, bestows emolument on those below him, and dislikes allowing his gifts to accumulate (undispensed).— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The marsh rises to heaven: breakthrough. The wise share their bounty downward — and dread holding virtue to themselves alone.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 43 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Displacement describes breakthrough. Resolute decision removes what must go — be honest about it, and do not gloat — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: creative force pressing upward, held inside a larger setting of joy lifting what it touches. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Displacement about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: breakthrough. Resolute decision removes what must go — be honest about it, and do not gloat. 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 43
What does 夬 (guài) mean?
Hexagram 43 of the I Ching is named 夬 (guài), usually rendered "Displacement" in English editions. Its figure is built from heaven (乾) below and lake (兑) above — creative force pressing upward beneath joy lifting what it touches.
Is hexagram 43 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 43 contains no promise of easy good fortune — its six lines carry 1 warnings of danger (厲). That is the point of the figure: it names a real difficulty, and its reading is about how to move through it, not whether it is comfortable.
What does hexagram 43 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Displacement points to breakthrough. Resolute decision removes what must go — be honest about it, and do not gloat. The figure pairs heaven (乾) beneath lake (兑) — creative force pressing upward meeting joy lifting what it touches — 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 43 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Displacement through the figure itself: heaven (乾) below, lake (兑) above — creative force pressing upward held inside joy lifting what it touches. The plain reading: Breakthrough. Resolute decision removes what must go — be honest about it, and do not gloat. The text promises no easy good fortune; it names a difficulty to be worked through, so its counsel for money and work is caution before gain.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 43 mean?
A cast of hexagram 43 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 43 gives hexagram 23, 剝 (Stripping). 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 43 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 43 gives hexagram 23 — 剝 (Stripping). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 44 — 姤 (Coupling). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 1 — 乾 (Force).
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
揚于王庭，孚號有厲；告自邑，不利即戎，利有攸往。
Guai requires (in him who would fulfil its meaning) the exhibition (of the culprit's guilt) in the royal court, and a sincere and earnest appeal (for sympathy and support), with a consciousness of the peril (involved in cutting off the criminal). He should (also) make announcement in his own city, and show that it will not be well to have recourse at once to arms. (In this way) there will be advantage in whatever he shall go forward to.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
壯于前趾，往不勝為咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject in (the pride of) strength advancing with his toes. He goes forward, but will not succeed. There will be ground for blame.
惕號，莫夜有戎，勿恤。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject full of apprehension and appealing (for sympathy and help). Late at night hostile measures may be (taken against him), but he need not be anxious about them.
壯于頄，有凶。君子夬夬獨行，遇雨若濡，有慍無咎。
The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject (about to advance) with strong (and determined) looks. There will be evil. (But) the superior man, bent on cutting off (the criminal), will walk alone and encounter the rain, (till he be hated by his proper associates) as if he were contaminated (by the others). (In the end) there will be no blame against him.
臀無膚，其行次且；牽羊悔亡，聞言不信。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows one from whose buttocks the skin has been stripped, and who walks slowly and with difficulty. (If he could act) like. a sheep led (after its companions), occasion for repentance would disappear. But though he hear these words, he will not believe them.
莧陸夬夬，中行無咎。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows (the small men like) a bed of purslain, which ought to be uprooted with the utmost determination. (The subject of the line having such determination), his action, in harmony with his central position, will lead to no error or blame.
無號，終有凶。
The sixth SIX, divided, shows its subject without any (helpers) on whom to call. His end will be evil.
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.