Hexagram 54 — Converting the Maiden
King Wen #54 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
An untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets.
What Hexagram 54 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 54 places lake (兑) beneath thunder (震) — joy lifting what it touches below, movement breaking out of stillness above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Converting the Maiden”: an untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
澤上有雷，歸妹；君子以永終知敝。
(The trigram representing the waters of) a marsh and over it that for thunder form Kwei Mei. The superior man, in accordance with this, having regard to the far-distant end, knows the mischief (that may be done at the beginning).— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Thunder above the marsh: the marrying maiden. The wise look to the lasting end of things and know where decay begins.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 54 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Converting the Maiden describes an untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: joy lifting what it touches, held inside a larger setting of movement breaking out of stillness. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Converting the Maiden about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: an untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets. 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 54
What does 歸妹 (guī mèi) mean?
Hexagram 54 of the I Ching is named 歸妹 (guī mèi), usually rendered "Converting the Maiden" in English editions. Its figure is built from lake (兑) below and thunder (震) above — joy lifting what it touches beneath movement breaking out of stillness.
Is hexagram 54 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 54 is warm: it contains 2 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), 1 of 凶 (misfortune). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached.
What does hexagram 54 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Converting the Maiden points to an untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets. The figure pairs lake (兑) beneath thunder (震) — joy lifting what it touches meeting movement breaking out of stillness — 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 54 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Converting the Maiden through the figure itself: lake (兑) below, thunder (震) above — joy lifting what it touches held inside movement breaking out of stillness. The plain reading: An untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets. The text carries 2 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 54 mean?
A cast of hexagram 54 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 54 gives hexagram 53, 漸 (Infiltrating). 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 54 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 54 gives hexagram 53 — 漸 (Infiltrating). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 53 — 漸 (Infiltrating). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 63 — 既濟 (Already Fording).
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
征凶，無攸利。
Gui Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
歸妹以娣，跛能履，征吉。
The first NINE, undivided, shows the younger sister married off in a position ancillary to the real wife. (It suggests the idea of) a person lame on one leg who yet manages to tramp along. Going forward will be fortunate.
眇能視，利幽人之貞。
The second NINE, undivided, shows her blind of one eye, and yet able to see. There will be advantage in her maintaining the firm correctness of a solitary widow.
歸妹以須，反歸以娣。
The third SIX, divided, shows the younger sister who was to be married off in a mean position. She returns and accepts an ancillary position.
歸妹愆期，遲歸有時。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows the younger sister who is to be married off protracting the time. She may be late in being married, but the time will come.
帝乙歸妹，其君之袂，不如其娣之袂良；月幾望，吉。
The fifth SIX, divided, reminds us of the marrying of the younger sister of (king) Di-yi, when the sleeves of her the princess were not equal to those of the (still) younger sister who accompanied her in an inferior capacity. (The case suggests the thought of) the moon almost full. There will be good fortune.
女承筐，無實；士刲羊，無血。無攸利。
The sixth SIX, divided, shows the young lady bearing the basket, but without anything in it, and the gentleman slaughtering the sheep, but without blood flowing from it. There will be no advantage in any way.
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.