Hexagram 50, Dǐng (The Cauldron): Line 5
鼎卦六五 · 火风鼎 · 中文版
六五：鼎黄耳金铉，利贞。
The line (Legge)
The fifth six, divided, shows the caldron with yellow ears and rings of metal in them. There will be advantage through being firm and correct.
Small Image commentary
'The caldron has yellow ears:' - the central position (of the line) is taken as (a proof of) the solid (virtue of its subject).
象曰：鼎黄耳，中以为实也。
In plain words
The cauldron has yellow handles and a golden carrying bar: it is favourable to be steadfast. The fifth line is yielding and central in the place of honour: empty at the centre, it can receive what is solid. The Small Image says it takes the middle as its substance.
Applying it to your situation
If you are in a key position, this line suggests that openness and balance let you carry a heavy load. How could you become more open to others' views?
Position
A broken (yin) line in the fifth place, which is a yang (odd) place, so it is not in its proper place. It holds the centre of the upper trigram. Its partner is line 2; one is yin and the other yang, so they respond to each other.
If this line moves
With this line moving alone, Dǐng changes into Hexagram 44 Gòu (Coming to Meet). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·鼎之姤.
A recorded case from Takashima
Ding to Gou: the cauldron's handles, and knowing how to lift it: A merchant asked about his fortunes and received the fifth line of Ding, "the cauldron has yellow handles and a bronze carrying bar; steadfastness pays". Takashima said a cauldron with handles can only be lifted once a bar is passed through them, just as a profitable business yields only to someone who knows the method; yellow handles and a bronze bar are precious things, so the profits would be rich.
The hexagram
Hexagram 50 Dǐng (The Cauldron). The Judgment: Ding gives the intimation of great progress and success.
Previous: Line 4 · Next: Line 6 (top)
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. Plain-English readings and position notes by this site.