Hexagram 60 Line 6: 上六
Position: Line 6 (Upper Trigram)上六 —Yin ⚋ (Broken)Register: inauspicious
Classical Chinese Text
上六 苦節貞凶。悔亡。
苦kǔbitter
節jiélimitation
貞zhēnpersistence
凶xiōngis unfortunate
悔huǐbut
亡wángpass
Line Commentary
Galling limitation. Persistence brings misfortune. Remorse disappears. If one is too severe in setting up restrictions, people will not endure them. The more consistent such severity, the worse it is—a reaction is unavoidable. On the other hand, although ruthless severity is not to be applied persistently, there may be times when it is the only means of safeguarding against guilt and remorse. In such situations, ruthlessness toward oneself is the only means of saving one's soul.
When This Line Changes
If Line 6 changes, Hexagram 60 Jie (Limitation) transforms into Hexagram 61 Zhong Fu (Inner Truth).
Parent Hexagram
Limitation
Jie節 (60)
Water (坎) over Lake (兌)
Upper Trigram: ☵ Water | Lower Trigram: ☱ Lake