Line 4 of
Hexagram 8: 比
“Grouping” — King Wen #8 · 六四
Line 4 六四
外比之，貞吉。
In the fourth SIX, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with the one beyond himself. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 4 changing turns hexagram 8 into䷬ Hexagram 45: 萃 — “Clustering”Read line 4 of hexagram 45 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 4 of hexagram 8 is a yielding (yin) line occupying the fourth line, risen into the upper trigram. The classical line statement — 外比之，貞吉。 — 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 8 Line 4
What does line 4 of hexagram 8 say?
The received text reads: 外比之，貞吉。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “In the fourth SIX, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with the one beyond himself. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.”
Which hexagram does line 4 change hexagram 8 into?
Changing only line 4 of hexagram 8 (比, “Grouping”) gives hexagram 45 — 萃 (cuì, “Clustering”). 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.