Line 5 of
Hexagram 63: 既濟
“Already Fording” — King Wen #63 · 九五
Line 5 九五
東鄰殺牛，不如西鄰之禴祭，實受其福。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject (as) the neighbour in the east who slaughters an ox (for his sacrifice); but this is not equal to the (small) spring sacrifice of the neighbour in the west, whose sincerity receives the blessing.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 5 changing turns hexagram 63 into䷣ Hexagram 36: 明夷 — “Darkening of the Light”Read line 5 of hexagram 36 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 5 of hexagram 63 is a strong (yang) line occupying the fifth line, the place the tradition treats as the ruler's position of the figure. The classical line statement — 東鄰殺牛，不如西鄰之禴祭，實受其福。 — 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 63 Line 5
What does line 5 of hexagram 63 say?
The received text reads: 東鄰殺牛，不如西鄰之禴祭，實受其福。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject (as) the neighbour in the east who slaughters an ox (for his sacrifice); but this is not equal to the (small) spring sacrifice of the neighbour in the west, whose sincerity receives the blessing.”
Which hexagram does line 5 change hexagram 63 into?
Changing only line 5 of hexagram 63 (既濟, “Already Fording”) gives hexagram 36 — 明夷 (míng yí, “Darkening of the Light”). 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.