Hexagram 54: Gui Mei

Thunder over Lake · 雷泽归妹 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 54 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷵
• Upper trigram: Zhen (Thunder)
• Lower trigram: Dui (Lake)
• Lines: yang yang yin yang yin yin (bottom to top)

The statement

征凶，无攸利。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram often relates to relationships, belonging, and status, but the position is prone to being improper. It is suitable to handle emotions, cooperation, and commitments cautiously, clarifying the rules first. Do not be carried away by momentary emotions. Advancing rashly when the relationship is unstable may lead to regret.

A Buddhist reading

Guimei (the Marrying Maiden) leaves almost every line out of position. Zhixu locates the danger in acting out of pleasure: what is called continuing the family line is really desire, and in contemplative terms what is called an aid to the path is really attachment to the taste of meditation, so concentration that walks without wisdom ends on a side road. The image, lasting to the end and knowing what wears out, he weighs heaviest: do not ask how splendid a beginning looks, ask whether it can end well. He tells of an elderly worthy who refused to take a concubine, calling that the way virtue moves heaven.

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 / Opposite: Hexagram 53: Jianthe whole figure turned upside down; every line changed to its opposite
• Next: Hexagram 55: Feng
• Nuclear: Hexagram 63: Ji Jilines 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.