Hexagram 21: Shì Kè (Biting Through)

The Judgment

Shi He indicates successful progress (in the condition of things which it supposes). It will be advantageous to use legal constraints.

噬嗑：亨。利用狱。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

The existence of something between the jaws gives rise to the name Shi He (Union by means of biting through the intervening article). The Union by means of biting through the intervening article indicates 'the successful progress (denoted by the hexagram).' The strong and weak (lines) are equally divided (in the figure). Movement is denoted (by the lower trigram), and bright intelligence (by the upper); thunder and lightning uniting in them, and having brilliant manifestation. The weak (fifth) line is in the centre, and acts in its high position. Although it is not in its proper position, this is advantageous for the use of legal constraints.

彖曰：颐中有物，曰噬嗑。噬嗑而亨，刚柔分，动而明，雷电合而章。柔得中而上行，虽不当位，利用狱也。

The Great Image

(The trigrams representing) thunder and lightning form Shi He. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, framed their penalties with intelligence, and promulgated their laws.

象曰：雷电，噬嗑；先王以明罚敕法。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first NINE, undivided, shows one with his feet in the stocks and deprived of his toes. There will be no error.

   'His feet are in the stocks, and he is deprived of his toes:' - there is no walking (to do evil).

   In plain words: Feet in the stocks, toes hidden: no fault. The first line is the start of punishment: the offence is small and so is the penalty, and after a small lesson one does not offend again. The Small Image says this stops one from going further. The Great Commentary says a small punishment that brings a great warning is good fortune for the petty person.

   初九：屦校灭趾，无咎。 象曰：屦校灭趾，不行也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second SIX, divided, shows one biting through the soft flesh, and (going on to) bite off the nose. There will be no error.

   'He bites through the soft flesh, and (goes on) to bite off the nose:' - (the subject of the line) is mounted on the strong (first line).

   In plain words: Biting into soft flesh, so deep the nose disappears: no fault. The second line is central and correct and finds its work easy, but because it rides on the strong first line, it uses a little too much force. The Small Image says this is because it rides on the strong.

   六二：噬肤灭鼻，无咎。 象曰：噬肤灭鼻，乘刚也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third SIX, divided, shows one gnawing dried flesh, and meeting with what is disagreeable. There will be occasion for some small regret, but no (great) error.

   'He meets with what is disagreeable and hurtful:' - his position is not the proper one for him.

   In plain words: Biting into dried meat and meeting poison: a little regret, but no fault. The third line is weak, neither central nor correct; a hard task is too much for it, and it draws resentment. The Small Image says this is because its position is improper.

   六三：噬腊肉，遇毒；小吝，无咎。 象曰：遇毒，位不当也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth NINE, undivided, shows one gnawing the flesh dried on the bone, and getting the pledges of money and arrows. It will be advantageous to him to realise the difficulty of his task and be firm,--in which case there will be good fortune.

   'It will be advantageous to him to realise the difficulty of his task and be firm, in which case there will be good fortune:' - his light has not yet been sufficiently displayed.

   In plain words: Biting into dried meat on the bone and finding a metal arrowhead; it is favourable to be steadfast in hardship: good fortune. The arrowhead stands for firmness and straightness. The fourth line tackles hard matters with strength and must hold to that, persisting through difficulty. The Small Image says its light has not yet spread.

   九四：噬干胏，得金矢，利艰贞，吉。 象曰：利艰贞吉，未光也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth SIX, divided, shows one gnawing at dried flesh, and finding the yellow gold. Let him be firm and correct, realising the peril (of his position). There will be no error.

   'Let him be firm and correct, realising the peril (of his position), and there will be no error:' - he will possess every quality appropriate (to his position and task).

   In plain words: Biting into dried meat and finding yellow gold; being steadfast with a sense of danger, there is no fault. Yellow is the colour of the centre and gold stands for firmness. The fifth line is yielding in the place of honour and, in judging, must be central and firm. The Small Image says it acts appropriately.

   六五：噬干肉，得黄金，贞厉，无咎。 象曰：贞厉无咎，得当也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The sixth NINE, undivided, shows one wearing the cangue, and deprived of his ears. There will be evil.

   'He wears the cangue and is deprived of his ears:' - he hears, but will not understand.

   In plain words: Wearing a cangue that hides the ears: misfortune. The top line is at the height of the hexagram: its offence is great, and it will not listen to warnings. The Small Image says its hearing is not clear. The Great Commentary says that when wrongs pile up they cannot be hidden, and when the offence is great it cannot be undone.

   上九：何校灭耳，凶。 象曰：何校灭耳，聪不明也。

Line positions

2 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).

The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; both are weak, so they do not correspond.

Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 1 pair is made of one strong and one weak line.

Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.

These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.

Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces

Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Xun palace runs: Xùn (head), Xiǎo Chù (1st change), Jiā Rén (2nd change), Yì (3rd change), Wú Wàng (4th change), Shì Kè (5th change), Yí (wandering soul), Gǔ (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Shi He to Yi: how a business dispute will end: An acquaintance caught up in a major business dispute received the fourth line of Shi He, "biting dried meat on the bone; finding a bronze arrow; persevering in hardship is good". Takashima said the other side was tough and difficult, a firm and upright person would be needed to settle it, and though slow it would end.

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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction.

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