歸妹
“Converting the Maiden” — King Wen #54
An untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets.
The Judgment 卦辞
征凶，無攸利。
Gui Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
歸妹以娣，跛能履，征吉。
The first NINE, undivided, shows the younger sister married off in a position ancillary to the real wife. (It suggests the idea of) a person lame on one leg who yet manages to tramp along. Going forward will be fortunate.
眇能視，利幽人之貞。
The second NINE, undivided, shows her blind of one eye, and yet able to see. There will be advantage in her maintaining the firm correctness of a solitary widow.
歸妹以須，反歸以娣。
The third SIX, divided, shows the younger sister who was to be married off in a mean position. She returns and accepts an ancillary position.
歸妹愆期，遲歸有時。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows the younger sister who is to be married off protracting the time. She may be late in being married, but the time will come.
帝乙歸妹，其君之袂，不如其娣之袂良；月幾望，吉。
The fifth SIX, divided, reminds us of the marrying of the younger sister of (king) Di-yi, when the sleeves of her the princess were not equal to those of the (still) younger sister who accompanied her in an inferior capacity. (The case suggests the thought of) the moon almost full. There will be good fortune.
女承筐，無實；士刲羊，無血。無攸利。
The sixth SIX, divided, shows the young lady bearing the basket, but without anything in it, and the gentleman slaughtering the sheep, but without blood flowing from it. There will be no advantage in any way.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 54 places lake (兑) beneath thunder (震) —joy lifting what it touches below, movement breaking out of stillness above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Converting the Maiden”:an untimely union. A position entered out of step brings small regrets Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 54
What does 歸妹 (guī mèi) mean?
Hexagram 54 of the I Ching is named 歸妹 (guī mèi), usually rendered "Converting the Maiden" in English editions. Its figure pairs lake (兑) below with thunder (震) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 54?
震 (Thunder) sits above and 兑 (Lake) sits below — the classical picture is joy lifting what it touches beneath movement breaking out of stillness.
How is hexagram 54 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 54 gives hexagram 53 — 漸 (Infiltrating). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 53 — 漸 (Infiltrating). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 63 — 既濟 (Already Fording).
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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.