Anonymous (traditionally attributed to King Wen, the Duke of Zhou and Confucius) · Complete work
Hexagram 22 · Bì ䷕
Hexagram 22 · Bì ䷕ of 69. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Classical Chinese
賁：亨。小利有攸往。
初九：賁其趾，舍車而徒。
六二：賁其須。
九三：賁如濡如，永貞吉。
六四：賁如皤如，白馬翰如，匪寇婚媾。
六五：賁於丘園，束帛戔戔，吝，終吉。
上九：白賁，无咎。
彖曰：賁，亨；柔來而文剛，故亨。分剛上而文柔，故小利有攸往。剛柔交錯，天文也；文明以止，人文也。觀乎天文，以察時變；觀乎人文，以化成天下。
象曰：山下有火，賁；君子以明庶政，无敢折獄。
舍車而徒，義弗乘也。
賁其須，與上興也。
永貞之吉，終莫之陵也。
六四，當位疑也。匪寇婚媾，終无尤也。
六五之吉，有喜也。
白賁无咎，上得志也。
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the classical Chinese, passage for passage, covering all 64 hexagrams with their judgments, line statements and attached commentaries, and the remaining Wings (the Great Commentary, the Discussion of the Trigrams, the Sequence and the Contrasts of the Hexagrams), 1,204 passages in all.
Bi (Adornment): Success. It is somewhat favorable to have somewhere to go.
Nine at the beginning: Adorn the toes; leave the carriage and walk.
Six in the second place: Adorn the beard.
Nine in the third place: Adorned and glistening. Lasting steadfastness brings good fortune.
Six in the fourth place: Adorned in white; a white horse flies toward us. Not a robber, but a suitor.
Six in the fifth place: Adornment in the hill garden; small bundles of silk. Humiliation, but good fortune in the end.
Nine at the top: White adornment. No blame.
The Judgment Commentary says: Bi succeeds: yielding comes to ornament firmness, and so there is success. Firmness separates and rises to adorn the yielding, so it is somewhat favorable to go somewhere. Firm and yielding interwoven make heaven's pattern; brightness and clarity joined with stillness make human culture. Observe heaven's pattern to discern the changes of the seasons; observe human culture to transform and complete all under heaven.
The Image Commentary says: Fire beneath the mountain: Bi. Thus the noble person clarifies the many affairs of government, but does not dare decide criminal cases.
Leaving the carriage to walk: by right one must not ride.
Adorning the beard: it rises with what is above.
The good fortune of lasting steadfastness: in the end none can overcome it.
Six in the fourth place: the fitting position nevertheless gives rise to doubt. Not a robber but a suitor: in the end there is no fault.
The good fortune of six in the fifth place: there is joy.
White adornment without blame: at the top the aspiration is fulfilled.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the classical Chinese, covering all 64 hexagrams with their judgments, line statements and attached commentaries, and the remaining Wings (the Great Commentary, the Discussion of the Trigrams, the Sequence and the Contrasts of the Hexagrams), 1,204 passages in all.
Bi (Adornment): Success. It is somewhat favorable to go somewhere.
Nine at the beginning: Adorn the feet. Leave the carriage and walk.
Six in the second place: Adorn the beard.
Nine in the third place: Adorned and shining as if wet. Staying steady for a long time brings good fortune.
Six in the fourth place: Adorned but white. A white horse runs swiftly. This is not a robber but a suitor.
Six in the fifth place: Adornment in hills and gardens. Small bundles of silk. Humiliation, but good fortune in the end.
Nine at the top: Plain white adornment. No blame.
The Judgment Commentary says: Bi succeeds because the yielding comes and adorns the firm. A firm line is divided off and goes upward to adorn the yielding, so going somewhere is somewhat favorable. Firm and yielding woven together make the patterns of heaven. Brightness checked by a stopping point makes human culture. Look at heaven's patterns to understand the changing seasons; look at human culture to transform and shape the world.
The Image Commentary says: Fire is below the mountain: this is Bi. The noble person therefore clarifies many affairs of government but does not dare decide lawsuits on this basis.
He leaves the carriage and walks because it would not be right to ride.
Adorning the beard means rising along with the upper line.
Staying steady for a long time brings good fortune because in the end no one can overwhelm him.
The six in the fourth place is properly placed but uncertain. The visitor is not a robber but a suitor; there will be no fault in the end.
The good fortune of the six in the fifth place brings joy.
Plain white adornment brings no blame because the top line fulfills its intention.