Hexagram 61: Zhōng Fú (Inner Truth)
风泽中孚 · 第 61 卦 · Wind over Lake · 中文版
The Judgment
Zhong Fu (moves even) pigs and fish, and leads to good fortune. There will be advantage in crossing the great stream. There will be advantage in being firm and correct.
中孚：豚鱼吉，利涉大川，利贞。
Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)
In Zhong Fu we have the (two) weak lines in the innermost part (of the figure), and strong lines occupying the central places (in the trigrams). (We have the attributes) of pleased satisfaction and flexible penetration. Sincerity (thus symbolled) will transform a country. 'Pigs and fish (are moved), and there will be good fortune:' - sincerity reaches to (and affects even) pigs and fishes. 'There will be advantage in crossing the great stream:' - (we see in the figure) one riding on (the emblem of) wood, which forms an empty boat. In (the exercise of the virtue denoted by) Zhong Fu, (it is said that) 'there will be advantage in being firm and correct:' - in that virtue indeed we have the response (of man) to Heaven.
彖曰：中孚，柔在内而刚得中。说而巽，孚乃化邦也。豚鱼吉，信及豚鱼也。利涉大川，乘木舟虚也。中孚以利贞，乃应乎天也。
The Great Image
(The trigram representing the waters of) a marsh and that for wind above it form Zhong Fu. The superior man, in accordance with this, deliberates about cases of litigation and delays (the infliction of) death.
象曰：泽上有风，中孚；君子以议狱缓死。
The six lines
Line 1 (first): I. The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject resting (in himself). There will be good fortune. If he sought to any other, he would not find rest.
'The first NINE, (undivided), shows its subject resting (in himself). There will be good fortune:' - no change has yet come over his purpose.
In plain words: Settled in good faith: good fortune; if there is another aim, no peace. The hexagram stands for inner truth; the first line corresponds to the fourth, and single-mindedness brings good fortune. The Small Image says its aim has not changed.
初九：虞吉，有它不燕。 象曰：初九虞吉，志未变也。
Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject (like) the crane crying out in her hidden retirement, and her young ones responding to her. (It is as if it were said), 'I have a cup of good spirits,' (and the response were), 'I will partake of it with you.'
'Her young ones respond to her:' - from the (common) wish of the inmost heart.
In plain words: A crane calls in the shade; its young answer. I have a fine goblet of wine and will share it with you. The second line is strong and central; moving others with sincerity, it finds an echo without making a show. The Great Commentary quotes it: words that come from oneself reach the people; deeds done nearby are seen far away. The Small Image says this is the heart's own wish.
九二：鸣鹤在阴，其子和之，我有好爵，吾与尔靡之。 象曰：其子和之，中心愿也。
Line 3 (third): The third SIX, divided, shows its subject having met with his mate. Now he beats his drum, and now he leaves off. Now he weeps, and now he sings.
'Now he beats his drum, and now he leaves off:' - the position (of the line) is the appropriate one for it.
In plain words: Meeting its match: now beating the drum, now stopping, now weeping, now singing. The match is the top line, its partner. The third line is weak, neither central nor correct, with no good faith to hold to, and its moods swing back and forth. The Small Image says its position is improper.
六三：得敌，或鼓或罢，或泣或歌。 象曰：或鼓或罢，位不当也。
Line 4 (fourth): The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject (like) the moon nearly full, and (like) a horse (in a chariot) whose fellow disappears. There will be no error.
'A horse the fellow of which disappears:' - he breaks from his (former) companions, and mounts upwards.
In plain words: The moon nearly full; the horse's mate is lost: no fault. The mate is the first line, its partner. The fourth line is yielding and correct, close to the ruler in the fifth place; it lets go of its own kind to serve the one above wholeheartedly. The Small Image says it breaks from its kind to follow the one above.
六四：月几望，马匹亡，无咎。 象曰：马匹亡，绝类上也。
Line 5 (fifth): The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject perfectly sincere, and linking (others) to him in closest union. There will be no error.
'He is perfectly sincere, and links others to him in closest union:' - the place (of the line) is the correct and appropriate one.
In plain words: With good faith, closely bound together: no fault. The fifth line is central and correct in the place of honour, the ruler of the hexagram, holding the world together through good faith. The Small Image says its position is right.
九五：有孚挛如，无咎。 象曰：有孚挛如，位正当也。
Line 6 (sixth (top)): The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject in chanticleer (trying to) mount to heaven. Even with firm correctness there will be evil.
'Chanticleer (tries to) mount to heaven:' - but how can (such an effort) continue long?
In plain words: The cock's crow rises to heaven: holding on brings misfortune. A cock cannot fly high, yet wants its voice to reach heaven: a picture of a reputation that outruns the reality. The top line is at the end of inner truth, where good faith overreaches into emptiness. The Small Image asks how this could last.
上九：翰音登于天，贞凶。 象曰：翰音登于天，何可长也。
Line positions
3 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 strong, so they do not correspond.
Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 2 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.
| Line | Proper place | Central | Corresponds with |
|---|---|---|---|
| top (strong) | — | — | 3rd line: yes |
| 5th (strong) | yes | yes | 2nd line: no |
| 4th (weak) | yes | — | 1st line: yes |
| 3rd (weak) | — | — | top line: yes |
| 2nd (strong) | — | yes | 5th line: no |
| 1st (strong) | yes | — | 4th line: yes |
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 Gen palace runs: Gèn (head), Bì (1st change), Dà Chù (2nd change), Sǔn (3rd change), Kuí (4th change), Lǚ (5th change), Zhōng Fú (wandering soul), Jiàn (returning soul).
A recorded case from Takashima
Zhong Fu to Yi: arranging a match for a widowed dignitary: A dignitary had been a widower for years and ignored his friends' urging to remarry. When they heard of a fine woman from a samurai family in Gifu, they wanted to make the match but feared he would refuse, so they cast first. The second line of Zhong Fu, "a crane calls in the shade; its young answer; I have a fine cup and will share it with you", Takashima read as two hearts in tune, supremely good.
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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.