无妄
“Without Embroiling” — King Wen #25
Innocence and naturalness. Align with what is right, and unexpected good follows.
The Judgment 卦辞
元亨利貞。其匪正有眚，不利有攸往。
Wu Wang indicates great progress and success, while there will be advantage in being firm and correct. If (its subject and his action) be not correct, he will fall into errors, and it will not be advantageous for him to move in any direction.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
無妄，往吉。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject free from all insincerity. His advance will be accompanied with good fortune.
不耕穫，不菑畬，則利有攸往。
The second SIX, divided, shows one who reaps without having ploughed (that he might reap), and gathers the produce of his third year's fields without having cultivated them the first year for that end. To such a one there will be advantage in whatever direction he may move.
無妄之災：或繫之牛，行人之得，邑人之災。
The third SIX, divided, shows calamity happening to one who is free from insincerity - as in the case of an ox that has been tied up. A passer by finds it (and carries it off), while the people in the neighbourhood have the calamity (of being accused and. apprehended).
可貞，無咎。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows (a case) in which, if its subject can remain firm and correct, there will be no error.
無妄之疾，勿藥有喜。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows one who is free from insincerity, and yet has fallen ill. Let him not use medicine, and he will have occasion for joy (in his recovery).
無妄，行有眚，無攸利。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject free from insincerity, yet sure to fall into error, if he take action. (His action) will not be advantageous in any way.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 25 places thunder (震) beneath heaven (乾) —movement breaking out of stillness below, creative force pressing upward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Without Embroiling”:innocence and naturalness. Align with what is right, and unexpected good follows Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 25
What does 无妄 (wú wàng) mean?
Hexagram 25 of the I Ching is named 无妄 (wú wàng), usually rendered "Without Embroiling" in English editions. Its figure pairs thunder (震) below with heaven (乾) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 25?
乾 (Heaven) sits above and 震 (Thunder) sits below — the classical picture is movement breaking out of stillness beneath creative force pressing upward.
How is hexagram 25 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 25 gives hexagram 46 — 升 (Ascending). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 26 — 大畜 (Great Accumulating). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 53 — 漸 (Infiltrating).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.