中孚
“Center Returning” — King Wen #61
Inner truth. Sincerity from the center moves even distant hearts.
The Judgment 卦辞
豚魚吉，利涉大川，利貞。
Zhong Fu (moves even) pigs and fish, and leads to good fortune. There will be advantage in crossing the great stream. There will be advantage in being firm and correct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
虞吉，有他不燕。
I. The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject resting (in himself). There will be good fortune. If he sought to any other, he would not find rest.
鳴鶴在陰，其子和之；我有好爵，吾與爾靡之。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject (like) the crane crying out in her hidden retirement, and her young ones responding to her. (It is as if it were said), 'I have a cup of good spirits,' (and the response were), 'I will partake of it with you.'
得敵，或鼓或罷，或泣或歌。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject having met with his mate. Now he beats his drum, and now he leaves off. Now he weeps, and now he sings.
月幾望，馬匹亡，無咎。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject (like) the moon nearly full, and (like) a horse (in a chariot) whose fellow disappears. There will be no error.
有孚攣如，無咎。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject perfectly sincere, and linking (others) to him in closest union. There will be no error.
翰音登于天，貞凶。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject in chanticleer (trying to) mount to heaven. Even with firm correctness there will be evil.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 61 places lake (兑) beneath wind (巽) —joy lifting what it touches below, gentle influence working inward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Center Returning”:inner truth. Sincerity from the center moves even distant hearts Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 61
What does 中孚 (zhōng fú) mean?
Hexagram 61 of the I Ching is named 中孚 (zhōng fú), usually rendered "Center Returning" in English editions. Its figure pairs lake (兑) below with wind (巽) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 61?
巽 (Wind) sits above and 兑 (Lake) sits below — the classical picture is joy lifting what it touches beneath gentle influence working inward.
How is hexagram 61 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 61 gives hexagram 62 — 小過 (Small Exceeding). Turned upside down, the figure is itself — one of the four symmetrical hexagrams. Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 27 — 頤 (Swallowing).
Ask your own question
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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.