I Ching Oracle / Hexagrams / 15
The Judgement
Success. The noble one carries things through.
The one hexagram with no unlucky line: humility that completes the work.
The Image
Within the earth, a mountain; the noble one reduces that which is too much, and augments that which is too little.
This hexagram on ten matters
- WorkCAREER
- The only hexagram whose every line is favourable. Modesty with merit carries things through — what you gain by not claiming credit outlasts what you seize.
- LoveRELATIONSHIP
- Relationships that do not compete are the stable ones. Reducing what is too much, augmenting what is too little: the one with more moves toward the one with less.
- MoneyFINANCE
- Do not display. No boasting of wealth before one's neighbour is explicit advice in this hexagram.
- HealthBODY
- Weighing things and making them equal — moderation. Both excess and deficiency cost you; find your own measure.
- StudyLEARNING
- Humility learns fastest. Admitting you do not know is the starting point of progress, not an embarrassment.
- An examEXAM
- The modest do well. Admitting what you do not know and fixing it beats feeling good about yourself. Every line here is favourable.
- PeopleSOCIAL
- The most favoured category here. Modesty earns trust, and trust is worth more than a wide network.
- A choiceDECISION
- Yield rather than seize. Modesty in movement, nothing that does not further — giving ground gets you the better position.
- TravelJOURNEY
- Go. This hexagram makes even crossing the great water favourable.
- A lost itemLOST ITEM
- Low down, in a corner, somewhere inconspicuous. Drop the assumption about where it ought to be and try the least likely corner.
The Six Lines
A noble one modest about his modesty may cross the great water. Good fortune.
A noble one modest about his modesty may cross the great water. Modesty taken to its limit is what permits the risk. The strength here is having nothing to protect.
Modesty that comes to expression. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Modesty that comes to expression. Modesty heard by others — not silence, but proportion that shows of itself.
A noble one of modesty and merit carries things to conclusion. Good fortune.
A noble one of modesty and merit carries things to conclusion. The governing line of the hexagram, and among the most admired lines in the entire book.
Nothing that would not further modesty in movement.
Nothing that would not further modesty in movement. A rare unconditional endorsement: nothing you do here goes wrong.
No boasting of wealth before one's neighbor. It is favorable to attack with force.
No boasting of wealth before one's neighbour; it is favourable to attack with force. Modesty is not weakness. When force is needed, the modest may still use it.
Modesty that comes to expression. It is favorable to set armies marching.
Modesty that comes to expression; it is favourable to set armies marching. Even at the end, order must be imposed — on your own house, not on others.
The governing line
Nuclear · Opposite · Reverse
The nuclear hexagram shows the middle stretch of the matter; the opposite is the same situation seen from the reverse position; the reverse is the view from the other party's side.