Grace
- In Chinese
- 賁 bì
- Above
- Keeping Still, mountain
- Below
- The Clinging, fire
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castWhat hexagram 22 means
Hexagram 22 is about ornament and where it belongs. Legge calls its name “the symbol of what is ornamental and of the act of adorning”. The figure is fire below a mountain.
The judgment gives ornament its room and then sets a limit. In Legge it says “there should be free course”, and it adds “There will be little advantage (however) if it be allowed to advance (and take the lead)”.
Wilhelm keeps the same measure. He writes “GRACE has success.” and then narrows it to small matters.
The six lines begin with adorned feet and end in plain white. Legge ends his note on the top line with a plain sentence, “Substantiality is better than ornament.”
The judgment and the image
The judgment
賁亨。小利有攸往。
GRACE has success. In small matters It is favorable to undertake something.
success things flow and come throughit furthers it is favorable
The image
山下有火，《賁》。君子以明庶政，无敢折獄。
Fire at the foot of the mountain: The image of GRACE. Thus does the superior man proceed When clearing up current affairs. But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.
What the commentaries say
Legge states the idea behind the judgment. He writes “As there is ornament in nature, so should there be in society; but its place is secondary to that of what is substantial”.
The commentary on the judgment finds both halves in the two trigrams. Below it sees “the weak line coming and ornamenting the strong lines (of the lower trigram)”, and from that comes the free course. Above, “the strong line above ornaments the weak ones (of the upper trigram)”, and from that comes the little advantage.
The same commentary reads the trigrams as qualities. It says “Elegance and intelligence (denoted by the lower trigram) regulated by the arrest (denoted by the upper) suggest the observances that adorn human (society)”.
It then sets the sky beside human custom. “We look at the ornamental figures of the sky, and thereby ascertain the changes of the seasons.” In the same way the observances of society show how things are transformed under heaven.
The image is a mountain with fire under it. From it the commentary draws a rule with a limit inside it. The superior man “throws a brilliancy around his various processes of government, but does not dare (in a similar way) to decide cases of criminal litigation”.
Wilhelm gives the same limit in plainer words. The superior man clears up current affairs, “But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.”
The six lines
First line
賁其趾，舍車而徒。
He lends grace to his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks.
no verdict
Adorning starts at the feet, in the lowest place. Legge says its subject “has nothing to do but to attend to himself”, and reads a person who “cultivates--adorns--himself in his humble position”.
The carriage is given up for a reason. The commentary says “righteousness requires that he should not ride”, and Legge adds that such a person “can give up every luxury and indulgence”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 52, Keeping Still
Second line
賁其須。
Lends grace to the beard on his chin.
no verdict
The beard does not move by itself. Legge explains that the second and third lines “keep together, and are as the beard and the chin”, and the commentary says of the second that “he rouses himself to action (only) along with the (subject of the) line above”.
Legge draws the lesson in one sentence. “What is substantial commands and rules what is merely ornamental.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 26, Great Taming
Third line
賁如濡如，永貞吉。
Graceful and moist. Constant perseverance brings good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
This whole line sits between two broken ones. Legge says they “adorn it, and bestow their favours on it”, and then gives a warning, “But this happy condition is from the accident of place.”
The good fortune of the line depends on staying firm. Wilhelm has “Constant perseverance brings good fortune.” The commentary says what the good fortune is due to, that “to the end no one will insult him”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 27, Nourishment
Fourth line
賁如皤如，白馬翰如，匪寇，婚媾。
Grace or simplicity? A white horse comes as if on wings. He is not a robber, He will woo at the right time.
no verdict
The adorning here is “only in white”. Legge explains that this line looks to the first, but the second and third lines stand between them, “so that the ornament is only white, and of no bright colour”.
The one who pursues comes “not as a robber, but intent on a matrimonial alliance”. Wilhelm opens the line with a question, “Grace or simplicity?”, and then has “A white horse comes as if on wings.”
Legge says the fourth line “is faithful to 1, and earnest for their union”. The third line turns out to have no purpose to injure, “so that the union of 1 and 4 takes place”.
The commentary admits that the place of this line “affords ground for doubt”. Since the one who pursues is no robber, it concludes that “he will in the end have no grudge against him”.
Legge sums up the line. “All this is intended to indicate how ornament recognises the superiority of solidity.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 30, The Clinging
Fifth line
賁于丘園，束帛戔戔，吝終吉。
Grace in hills and gardens. The roll of silk is meager and small. Humiliation, but in the end good fortune.
humiliation it leads to embarrassmentgood fortune it goes well
The fifth line is adorned by the heights and gardens. Legge takes them as the strong top line, pictured as heights and gardens round a city, “serving both to protect and to beautify it”. He reads that its subject “receives adorning from without, and does not of itself try to manifest it”.
The gift is a roll of silk, “small and slight”. The text admits how that looks and still ends well, “He may appear stingy; but there will be good fortune in the end.” Legge concludes that “stinginess does not prevent a good auspice”.
Legge backs this with a saying he gives to Confucius, “In ceremonies it is better to be sparing than extravagant.” The commentary says the good fortune of this line “affords occasion for joy”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 37, The Family
Sixth line
白賁，无咎。
Simple grace. No blame.
no blame there is no mistake in it
At the top the only ornament left is white. Legge writes “Ornament has had its course, and here there is a return to pure, 'white,' simplicity.”
The text finds no error here. Wilhelm has four words for it, “Simple grace. No blame.” The commentary says the plain white “shows how he has attained his aim”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light
Hexagram 22 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 22 unchanging, what remains is a judgment that lets ornament have its course but not take the lead, and an image that keeps brilliance for ordinary affairs and away from the deciding of criminal cases.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 22 mean?
It stands for ornament, which has its place but comes second. Legge writes that “its place is secondary to that of what is substantial”.
What does hexagram 22 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 22 that is ornament given free course without taking the lead, and brilliance kept away from the deciding of criminal cases.
What does hexagram 22 changing to 36 mean?
It is hexagram 22 with its top line moving. That line shows one with “white as his (only) ornament”, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 36.
What does hexagram 22 changing to 52 mean?
It is hexagram 22 with its first line moving. That line shows one who “can discard a carriage and walk on foot”, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 52.
Is hexagram 22 a good sign?
The judgment is favorable within a limit. Wilhelm has “GRACE has success.”, and both translations keep the advantage small. Two of the lines, the third and the fifth, speak of good fortune.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Pî in James Legge. Grace in Wilhelm and Baynes.
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