易I Ching Notes
22

賁

Bì · Grace

Ornament makes a small thing shine, and a big thing suspect.

Read the judgment

Six lines, read from the bottom up.

Upper 艮 Mountain · Lower 離 Fire Tap a line to read it

The judgment

賁:亨,小利有攸往。

Grace brings success, and it helps to have somewhere to go, as long as the matter is small.

Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex22.judgment.

The image

象曰:山下有火,賁;君子以明庶政,無敢折獄。

Fire at the foot of the mountain: grace. A capable person handles everyday affairs clearly, but does not use that clarity to judge criminal cases.

Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex22.image.

Ornament is useful for small things and dangerous when it starts deciding what is true.

The six lines

Each line is a stage, from the bottom of the hexagram to the top. Open any line to read it in plain English.

初九 賁其趾,舍車而徒。 He adorns his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks. At the beginning, grace is about how you move, not what you own.

He adorns his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks. At the beginning, grace is about how you move, not what you own.

六二 賁其須。 He adorns his beard. The beard is not a thing in itself; it belongs to the face. Grace here is borrowed from something else.

He adorns his beard. The beard is not a thing in itself; it belongs to the face. Grace here is borrowed from something else.

九三 賁如濡如,永貞吉。 Graceful and moist, like something polished. Stay true for a long time, and good fortune follows.

Graceful and moist, like something polished. Stay true for a long time, and good fortune follows.

六四 賁如皤如,白馬翰如,匪寇婚媾。 Grace turns white and plain. A white horse comes flying. He is not a bandit but a suitor.

Grace turns white and plain. A white horse comes flying. He is not a bandit but a suitor.

六五 賁于丘園,束帛戔戔,吝,終吉。 He brings grace to the garden, with only a thin roll of silk. It looks stingy, but in the end it is lucky.

He brings grace to the garden, with only a thin roll of silk. It looks stingy, but in the end it is lucky.

上九 白賁,無咎。 Plain white grace. No blame. At the end, ornament gives way to what is simply true.

Plain white grace. No blame. At the end, ornament gives way to what is simply true.

Cast six lines

Hold one question in mind. Throw three coins, six times, from the bottom line up.