Line 1 of
Hexagram 44: 姤
“Coupling” — King Wen #44 · 初六
Line 1 初六
繫于金柅，貞吉；有攸往，見凶，羸豕孚躑躅。
The first SIX, divided, shows how its subject should be kept (like a carriage) tied and fastened to a metal drag, in which case with firm correctness there will be good fortune. (But) if he move in any direction, evil will appear. He will be (like) a lean pig, which is sure to keep jumping about.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 1 changing turns hexagram 44 into䷀ Hexagram 1: 乾 — “Force”Read line 1 of hexagram 1 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 1 of hexagram 44 is a yielding (yin) line occupying the opening line, where the situation is only beginning to show its shape. The classical line statement — 繫于金柅，貞吉；有攸往，見凶，羸豕孚躑躅。 — 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 44 Line 1
What does line 1 of hexagram 44 say?
The received text reads: 繫于金柅，貞吉；有攸往，見凶，羸豕孚躑躅。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The first SIX, divided, shows how its subject should be kept (like a carriage) tied and fastened to a metal drag, in which case with firm correctness there will be good fortune. (But) if he move in any direction, evil will appear. He will be (like) a lean pig, which is sure to keep jumping about.”
Which hexagram does line 1 change hexagram 44 into?
Changing only line 1 of hexagram 44 (姤, “Coupling”) gives hexagram 1 — 乾 (qián, “Force”). 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.