Line 1 Yang
Abandon your own sacred turtle to watch another's mouth: appetite displaces your resources.
← The 64 hexagrams
HEXAGRAM 27 · Yí
Nourishment
Examine what you nourish and how you receive nourishment.
☶ Above: Gen · Mountain☳ Below: Zhen · Thunder
Meaning
Mountain and thunder frame the image of a mouth. Nourishment includes food, speech, and what we take in; its sources and pursuit reveal dependence or appetite.
FOR REFLECTION
Does what you take in each day sustain you or merely feed an appetite?
The six lines
Read from line 1 at the bottom to line 6 at the top. These are paraphrases, not verbatim translations.
Line 2 Yin
Seek nourishment in reversed places, then on the hill; the wrong source misdirects the search.
Line 3 Yin
Persist against proper nourishment and the unhelpful pattern becomes a lasting obstruction.
Line 4 Yin
Look downward for nourishment with a tiger's intent gaze; focused need can serve a worthy purpose.
Line 5 Yin
Depart from the usual arrangement, stay steady with support, and avoid a major crossing.
Line 6 Yang
Become a source of nourishment for others; the responsibility is risky yet can sustain a great crossing.
References
Classical Zhouyi · 頤James Legge, The Yî King (1882), Sacred Books of the East XVI, hexagram 27
Editorial policy & bibliography →For reference and reflection. This commentary makes no certain claim about the future.