Hexagram 50 — Holding
King Wen #50 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
The cauldron. Refinement and nourishment — the institutions of the superior mature.
What Hexagram 50 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 50 places wind (巽) beneath fire (离) — gentle influence working inward below, light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Holding”: the cauldron. Refinement and nourishment — the institutions of the superior mature. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
木上有火，鼎；君子以正位凝命。
(The trigram representing) wood and above it that for fire form Ting. The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps his every position correct, and maintains secure the appointment (of Heaven).— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Fire above wood: the cauldron. The wise steady their position and settle their mandate.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 50 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Holding describes the cauldron. Refinement and nourishment — the institutions of the superior mature — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: gentle influence working inward, held inside a larger setting of light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Holding about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: the cauldron. Refinement and nourishment — the institutions of the superior mature. 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 50
What does 鼎 (dǐng) mean?
Hexagram 50 of the I Ching is named 鼎 (dǐng), usually rendered "Holding" in English editions. Its figure is built from wind (巽) below and fire (离) above — gentle influence working inward beneath light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates.
Is hexagram 50 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 50 is warm: it contains 4 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), 1 of 凶 (misfortune), and 1 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached (the text notes possible regret 悔 where the moment is mishandled).
What does hexagram 50 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Holding points to the cauldron. Refinement and nourishment — the institutions of the superior mature. The figure pairs wind (巽) beneath fire (离) — gentle influence working inward meeting light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates — 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 50 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Holding through the figure itself: wind (巽) below, fire (离) above — gentle influence working inward held inside light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. The plain reading: The cauldron. Refinement and nourishment — the institutions of the superior mature. The text carries 4 mentions of 吉 (good fortune) and 1 of 凶 (misfortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 50 mean?
A cast of hexagram 50 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 50 gives hexagram 3, 屯 (Sprouting). 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 50 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 50 gives hexagram 3 — 屯 (Sprouting). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 49 — 革 (Skinning). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 43 — 夬 (Displacement).
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
元吉，亨。
Ding gives the intimation of great progress and success.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
鼎顛趾，利出否；得妾以其子，無咎。
The first SIX, divided, shows the caldron overthrown and its feet turned up. (But) there will be advantage in its getting rid of what was bad in it. (Or it shows us) the concubine (whose position is improved) by means of her son. There will be no error.
鼎有實，我仇有疾，不我能即，吉。
The second NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with the things (to be cooked) in it. (If its subject can say), 'My enemy dislikes me, but he cannot approach me,' there will be good fortune.
鼎耳革，其行塞。雉膏不食；方雨虧悔，終吉。
The third NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with (the places of) its ears changed. The progress (of its subject) is (thus) stopped. The fat flesh of the pheasant (which is in the caldron) will not be eaten. But the (genial) rain will come, and the grounds for repentance will disappear. There will be good fortune in the end.
鼎折足，覆公餗，其形渥，凶。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with its feet broken; and its contents, designed for the ruler's use, overturned and spilt. Its Subject will be made to blush for shame. There will be evil.
鼎黃耳，金鉉，利貞。
The fifth six, divided, shows the caldron with yellow ears and rings of metal in them. There will be advantage through being firm and correct.
鼎玉鉉，大吉，無不利。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows the caldron with rings of jade. There will be great good fortune, and all action taken will be in every way advantageous.
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.