Hexagram 54 · 歸妹 · guī mèi
Hexagram 54. Guī Mèi · The Marrying Maiden
☳☱ Thunder over lake: Zhèn above, Duì below.
Kwei Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.
Kwei Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.
Entering a position where you are not the principal: the junior wife, the second partner, a dependent role. In itself this is not ruinous — ruinous are illusions and claims to a primacy that is not there. If you accept such a place, accept it soberly, knowing its bounds; to insist and push them wider now invites disaster.
The Image
Thunder above the lake: young joy enters the house in a secondary role. The plot of dependent position: the junior partner, the invited specialist, the newcomer in an established system. In itself no misfortune — the misfortune is in illusions. Accept the place soberly, with clear boundaries, and fill it with dignity; or refuse at once. Claims to a primacy not yours are ruinous here.
Interpretation of hexagram 54
LIV. The Kwei Mei Hexagram. conditions that may be gathered from the Text. P. Regis gives this exposition of the subject, as taken by him from the symbolism, which he ascribes to Confucius :—‘ Viri probi, seu republica digni, in virtutis soliditate instituendi sunt a sapiente, bonisque regulis ut allis radicibus firmandi, nec alii ad rempublicam tractandam promovendi, nisi qui paulatim per varios minoresque gradus ad magnum hoc regimen periculo facto ascendere digni sint.’ He then illustrates this sentiment by the words of Pliny:—‘Eligetur multis experiments eruditus, et qui futura possit ex praeteritis praevidere.’
The lines of hexagram 54
First line
The second line, 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.
But how does the lineal figure give the idea of a gradual advance ? We shall see how it is attempted in the Great Sym¬ bolism to get this from the component trigrams. The account there is not satisfactory ; and still less so is what else I have been able to find on the subject. E. g., the trigrams were originally Khwan and Kh\zn\ but the third line of Khwan and the first of Kh ien have changed places; and the trigrams now denote ‘the youngest son,’ and ‘ the eldest daughter.’ If all this, which is a mere farrago, were admitted, it would not help us to the idea of an advance.
Second line
The third line, divided, shows the younger sister who was to be married off in a mean position. She returns and accepts an ancillary position.
Again, the lines 2, 3, 4, 5 are all in the places proper to them as strong or weak; we ascend by them as by regular steps to the top of the hexagram; and this, it is said, gives the notion of the gradual steps of the advance. But neither does this carry con¬ viction with it to the mind. We must leave the question. King Wan, for reasons which we cannot discover, or without such reasons, determined that the hexagram Wien should denote the gradual advance of men to positions of influence and office.
Third line
The fourth line, 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.
The marriage of a young lady is mentioned in the Thwan as an illustration of an important event taking place with various
Fourth line
The fifth line, divided, reminds us of the marrying of the younger sister of (king) Ti-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.
THE KWEI MEI HEXAGRAM.
Fifth line
The sixth line, 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.
i. The first line, undivided, shows the younger sister married off in a position ancillary to the real wife. (It suggests the idea of) a person lame on
Top line
preliminary steps, continued from its initiation to its consummation. But all must be done in an orderly and correct manner. And so must it be with the rise of a man in the service of the state.
Did hexagram 54 come up in your reading? The oracle itself gives the full reading, with changing lines and the second hexagram.
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