節
“Articulating” — King Wen #60
Limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly.
The Judgment 卦辞
亨，苦節，不可貞。
Jie intimates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and attainment. (But) if the regulations (which it prescribes) be severe and difficult, they cannot be permanent.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
不出戶庭，無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject not quitting the courtyard outside his door. There will be no error.
不出門庭，凶。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject not quitting the courtyard inside his gate. There will be evil.
不節若，則嗟若，無咎。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject with no appearance of observing the (proper) regulations, in which case we shall see him lamenting. But there will be no one to blame (but himself).
安節，亨。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject quietly and naturally (attentive to all) regulations. There will be progress and success.
甘節，吉。往有尚。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject sweetly and acceptably enacting his regulations. There will be good fortune. The onward progress with them will afford ground for admiration.
苦節，貞凶，悔亡。
The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject enacting regulations severe and difficult. Even with firmness and correctness there will be evil. But though there will be cause for repentance, it will (by and by) disappear.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 60 places lake (兑) beneath water (坎) —joy lifting what it touches below, water finding its way through hard gaps above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Articulating”:limitation. Measured restraint makes things work — but do not bind too tightly Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 60
What does 節 (jié) mean?
Hexagram 60 of the I Ching is named 節 (jié), usually rendered "Articulating" in English editions. Its figure pairs lake (兑) below with water (坎) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 60?
坎 (Water) sits above and 兑 (Lake) sits below — the classical picture is joy lifting what it touches beneath water finding its way through hard gaps.
How is hexagram 60 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 60 gives hexagram 56 — 旅 (Sojourning). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 59 — 渙 (Dispersing). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 27 — 頤 (Swallowing).
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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.