Hexagram 4: Meng

Mountain over Water · 山水蒙 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 4 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷃
• Upper trigram: Gen (Mountain)
• Lower trigram: Kan (Water)
• Lines: yin yang yin yin yin yang (bottom to top)

The statement

亨。匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我。初筮告，再三渎，渎则不告。利贞。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

Things are still in an unclear and immature stage, requiring learning, consultation, and establishing rules. It is suitable to first understand the problem, then make decisions. Don't pretend to know, nor repeatedly ask without acting; real progress comes from earnest absorption and practice.

A Buddhist reading

Danger below the mountain brings movement to a halt, and the result is Meng, a mind not yet opened. Ouyi Zhixu sets down one firm line here: dullness can cover things, but it cannot cover the nature itself, so Meng always has a way through. Teaching runs in one direction only. The teacher does not go seeking the student; the student must come in sincerity, and a careless question earns a careless answer. A teacher holds only methods for removing cataracts, none for handing over light. Force your own system on someone and you have become the bandit.

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 / Inverted: Hexagram 3: Zhunthe whole figure turned upside down
• Next: Hexagram 5: Xu
• Opposite: Hexagram 49: Geevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 24: Fulines 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.