Hexagram 21: Shi Ke

Fire over Thunder · 火雷噬嗑 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 21 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷔
• Upper trigram: Li (Fire)
• Lower trigram: Zhen (Thunder)
• Lines: yang yin yin yang yin yang (bottom to top)

The statement

亨。利用狱。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram indicates an obstruction in the middle that requires clarifying rules and removing it. It is suitable for resolving disputes, streamlining processes, and making judgments. Do not bypass the problem, nor over-punish; bite through the obstacle, and things will flow smoothly again.

A Buddhist reading

Shike (Biting Through) pictures something lodged in the mouth that has to be bitten apart. Ouyi Zhixu says that governing by right law, guiding a monastic community by right teaching, and nourishing the dharma body with subtle wisdom are all the mouth, while the stubborn, the precept-breaker, and the afflictions and demonic states that surface during meditation are the obstruction. Two rules govern the remedy. Act early, while the fault is shallow and still easy to remove. And keep the force proportionate, neither too harsh nor too soft. His sharpest warning goes to the top line: evil piled high yet still taken for attainment, wrong things mistaken for holy insight, is the case beyond rescue.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous: Hexagram 20: Guan
• Next / Inverted: Hexagram 22: Bithe whole figure turned upside down
• Opposite: Hexagram 48: Jingevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 39: Jianlines two to four below, three to five above

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.