Line 3 of
Hexagram 6: 訟
“lawsuit” — King Wen #6 · 六三
Line 3 六三
食舊德，貞厲，終吉；或從王事，無成。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject keeping in the old place assigned for his support, and firmly correct. Perilous as the position is, there will be good fortune in the end. Should he perchance engage in the king's business, he will not (claim the merit of) achievement.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 3 changing turns hexagram 6 into䷫ Hexagram 44: 姤 — “Coupling”Read line 3 of hexagram 44 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 3 of hexagram 6 is a yielding (yin) line occupying the third line, at the threshold between the lower and upper trigrams — in the received text a classic place of unease. The classical line statement — 食舊德，貞厲，終吉；或從王事，無成。 — 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 6 Line 3
What does line 3 of hexagram 6 say?
The received text reads: 食舊德，貞厲，終吉；或從王事，無成。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The third SIX, divided, shows its subject keeping in the old place assigned for his support, and firmly correct. Perilous as the position is, there will be good fortune in the end. Should he perchance engage in the king's business, he will not (claim the merit of) achievement.”
Which hexagram does line 3 change hexagram 6 into?
Changing only line 3 of hexagram 6 (訟, “lawsuit”) gives hexagram 44 — 姤 (gòu, “Coupling”). 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.