The name 名
Shì 噬 is to bite; hé 嗑, read like ‘join’, is the closing of the jaws. Something lodged in the mouth keeps the teeth apart; only by biting through it can they meet. In society the obstruction is dispute and wrongdoing, and only a just decision that cuts through it lets people’s hearts come together.
The image 象
Below is Zhèn, thunder; above is Lí, fire and lightning. Thunder shakes, lightning illuminates, and nothing can hide. In the figure, Lines 1 and 6 are the upper and lower teeth, the yin lines between are the open mouth, and the single yang of Line 4 is lodged in it: ‘something in the jaws’, as the Tuan says. Zhen is decisive action and Li is clear sight, and together they are what judging a case requires.
Layers of images 層
A gua can be read on several levels at once: the trigrams as members of a family (father, mother, eldest to youngest sons and daughters), the six lines as ranks in an organisation (from newcomer to ruler), and as forces of nature and animals. Each extra level adds meaning to the line texts.
Read as a family
Below is Zhèn, the eldest son; above is Lí, the middle daughter. The brother acts decisively, the sister sees every detail: thunder shakes, lightning illuminates, one moving and one seeing, the two things needed to judge right from wrong. It is the same when someone in a family does wrong: you need to see clearly and also be willing to act; either one alone is not enough.
Line 2, “biting soft flesh, nose buried”: lines 2–4 form a nuclear Gèn. The Shuo Gua calls Gèn fruit with a hard rind and soft inside, like fatty meat with its skin; Gèn is also the black-snouted creatures, nose and mouth together. One bites into soft meat and the nose sinks in: an easy case handled with a little too much force, still no great harm.
Line 3, “biting dried meat, meeting poison”: Line 3 is also in the nuclear Gèn, meat with its skin, but it presses up against the fire of Lí and the meat has been smoked hard. It is also in the nuclear Kǎn of lines 3–5, danger, so the bite meets poison. Someone in the wrong position handling a tough case will get bitten back, though it stays a small embarrassment.
Line 4, “biting dried bony meat, finding a metal arrow”: Line 4 sits in the nuclear Kǎn, the bow, and in the upper Lí, weapons: a weapon on a bow is an arrow. The hexagram comes from Pǐ, whose upper Qián turned into Lí, and Qián is metal, so the arrowhead is metal. Line 4 is the minister near the ruler facing the hardest bone of all; it needs the straightness of a metal arrow and must stay steady through hardship to fare well.
Shì Kè inverted is Bì, Adornment: Shì Kè bites through obstacles and deals with wrongdoing by penalty; Bì shapes conduct through grace and ritual form. Running any group needs rules and sanctions in one hand, culture and courtesy in the other; the two hexagrams are two sides of one coin.
Lines 2–5 of Shì Kè form the nuclear hexagram Jiǎn, Obstruction: the act of biting through is itself a hard passage. Something lodged in the mouth that the jaws cannot close on is Jiǎn’s “seeing danger and stopping.” In settling any matter, getting stuck halfway is normal and no reason to lose heart.
In sequence 序
可觀而后有所合，故受之以噬嗑；嗑者合也。
The Sequence says: ‘When there is something to contemplate, there can be union; hence Shihe follows. Hé means to join.’ Once Guan’s government and teaching have shown results, people have a basis for coming together; but to truly unite, the disputes between them must be dealt with. The Miscellaneous Notes add ‘Shihe is eating’: food must be bitten through before it can be digested.
The judgment 辭
噬嗑：亨。利用獄。
‘Shihe: success. It is favourable to administer justice.’ Unlike the many hexagrams that carry all four virtues, this one has only ‘success’, which makes its character unmistakable. ‘Justice’ (yù 獄) here covers investigation, trial, punishment and sentence. Hearts can join only when disputes are judged fairly; when the honest keep the rules and wrongdoers go free, that is itself a torment to the honest.
Commentary on the judgment 彖
彖曰：頤中有物，曰噬嗑，噬嗑而亨。剛柔分，動而明，雷電合而章。柔得中而上行，雖不當位，利用獄也。
The Tuan: ‘Something in the jaws: this is called Shihe’; bitten through and joined, hence success. ‘Firm and yielding are distinct; there is movement and clarity; thunder and lightning unite and all is made plain.’ ‘The yielding gains the centre and moves upward; though not in its proper place, it is favourable for administering justice’: this is Line 5, a yin line on the throne, not formally correct, yet able to judge with central balance, gentleness and clear sight.
The great image 象
象曰：雷電噬嗑；先王以明罰敕法。
‘Thunder and lightning: Shihe. The former kings made penalties clear and laws exact.’ Thunder has force, lightning has clarity; from them the ancient kings learned to define punishments plainly and keep the laws in order. A society has order only when its penalties are clear and its laws well kept, and the aim is not revenge but deterrence, so that fewer people go astray in future.
The six lines 爻
Ruling line Line 5 rules: the Tuan’s ‘the yielding gains the centre and moves upward’ can only mean Line 2 or Line 5, and only Line 5 has moved up. On the throne, it renders the final verdict.
The path of the six lines, bottom to top
Line 1 is someone who has just committed a small offence: shackles on the feet hide the toes, a small penalty that teaches a big lesson, and the wrong is not repeated, so there is no blame. Line 2 bites soft meat and buries its nose: a simple matter handled with a little too much force, no harm done. Line 3 bites dried meat and meets poison: a thorny matter that bites back, but only a small embarrassment. Line 4 gnaws dried meat on the bone, the hardest point in the hexagram, to be passed with straightness and endurance. Line 5 bites dried meat and finds yellow gold: central and steady, in danger yet without blame. The top line is the lifelong offender with a heavy cangue that covers his ears; he cannot hear any warning, and it ends in misfortune.
初九屨校滅趾，无咎。
In plain words
Feet in the stocks, toes hidden: no blame.
Close reading
Jiào 校 is the general word for wooden restraints: fetters on the feet, manacles on the hands. Line 1 is the bottom of Zhen, the foot, and the lowest point of all, so it is the toes; Lines 3 to 5 form a nuclear Kǎn, water, and Line 1 lies beneath it, as if submerged. Lines 1 and 6 are those who are punished; the four lines between are those who judge. A yang line in a yang place, Line 1 would like to act but is locked in place, and with no correspondent in Line 4 it has nowhere to go, and so cannot do further wrong. ‘It cannot walk’: restrained in time, it is without blame.
If you drew this line
Conditions are not ripe; do not rush. A small setback or restraint now may be what spares you a larger mistake later.
A small punishment, a great warning
The Great Commentary quotes Confucius on this line: ‘The small person is not ashamed of inhumanity and does not fear injustice; without the sight of gain he is not roused, without the threat of force he is not corrected. A small punishment that brings a great warning is the small person’s good fortune.’ Whoever lacks shame will not act humanely; whoever fears nothing will not act rightly. If such a person is checked with a minor penalty for a minor fault and learns to stay clear of serious wrong, that is a blessing. To tell a child ‘never mind’ after a misdeed is not kindness; letting him bear a small responsibility for a small fault is how inner strength grows.
六二噬膚滅鼻，无咎。
In plain words
Biting into soft meat so the nose disappears: no blame.
Close reading
Fū 膚 is fatty meat with its skin. Lines 2 to 4 form a nuclear Gen, which the Discussion of the Trigrams calls ‘fruit with a hard rind and soft flesh’, the image of skin over tender meat; Gen is also ‘the black-beaked creatures’, whose noses sit on their mouths, so one bite buries the nose. Line 2, yin in a yin place, is central and correct and stands on the side of the judges; but it rides on the firm Line 1 and has no correspondent in Line 5, so in dealing with a hard offender it bites harder than is graceful. ‘It rides on the firm’: forceful in method but sound in position, it remains without blame.
One level deeper
Line 2, “biting soft flesh, nose buried”: lines 2–4 form a nuclear Gèn. The Shuo Gua calls Gèn fruit with a hard rind and soft inside, like fatty meat with its skin; Gèn is also the black-snouted creatures, nose and mouth together. One bites into soft meat and the nose sinks in: an easy case handled with a little too much force, still no great harm.
If you drew this line
When your position is sound you may act decisively, even somewhat forcefully, without real harm; but keep a sense of proportion.
六三噬腊肉，遇毒；小吝，无咎。
Variant Shown as 「噬腊肉」; some editions read 「昔、臘」.
In plain words
Biting dried, cured meat and meeting poison: slight humiliation, no blame.
Close reading
The text writes xī 昔, an old form of xī 腊, cured meat. Line 3 lies within the nuclear Gen, meat with its skin, and just below the fire of Li, which has smoked it dry; it also lies within the nuclear Kan, danger, hence ‘poison’. A yin line in a yang place, this judge is not properly positioned, and its verdicts readily provoke resentment. The Small Image says simply ‘its place is not proper’. Still, it has Line 4 to lean on and a correspondent in Line 6, so the trouble is minor and there is no blame.
One level deeper
Line 3, “biting dried meat, meeting poison”: Line 3 is also in the nuclear Gèn, meat with its skin, but it presses up against the fire of Lí and the meat has been smoked hard. It is also in the nuclear Kǎn of lines 3–5, danger, so the bite meets poison. Someone in the wrong position handling a tough case will get bitten back, though it stays a small embarrassment.
If you drew this line
Settling a dispute or enforcing a rule will draw some resentment. Accept that being fair is not the same as being seen as fair, and do not be shaken by it.
九四噬乾胏，得金矢，利艱貞，吉。
In plain words
Biting dried meat on the bone, finding a metal arrowhead. It is favourable to be steadfast in hardship: good fortune.
Close reading
Line 4 has entered Li, so the meat is roasted harder still, and being a firm line it is bone: ‘dried meat on the bone’. Kan is the bow and Li is weapons, together an arrow; and since this gua derives from Pǐ 否, whose upper trigram was Qián, metal, the arrowhead is metal. Line 4 is the thing lodged in the mouth, yet it too is biting; it can be read as an upright minister cutting through corrupt ones. Yang in a yin place, not correct, without a correspondent in Line 1, and inside Kan’s danger, it must be ‘steadfast in hardship’. ‘Its light is not yet full’: off-centre, its insight falls short of Line 5’s. This is the only ‘good fortune’ in the gua.
One level deeper
Line 4, “biting dried bony meat, finding a metal arrow”: Line 4 sits in the nuclear Kǎn, the bow, and in the upper Lí, weapons: a weapon on a bow is an arrow. The hexagram comes from Pǐ, whose upper Qián turned into Lí, and Qián is metal, so the arrowhead is metal. Line 4 is the minister near the ruler facing the hardest bone of all; it needs the straightness of a metal arrow and must stay steady through hardship to fare well.
If you drew this line
A hard problem can yield results, but the going is tough. Hold to what is right, proceed carefully, and admit that your view is not yet fully clear.
六五噬乾肉，得黃金，貞厲，无咎。
In plain words
Biting dried meat, finding yellow gold. Steadfastness is perilous, yet no blame.
Close reading
Line 5 is the ruling line, the sovereign delivering the final verdict; the meat it bites is neither fatty, poisoned nor bony. When the gua derived from Pi, this line rose from the lower Kun, earth, whose colour is yellow, into the upper Qian, metal: hence ‘yellow gold’. Yin in a yang place, central but not correct, riding on the firm Line 4 and without a correspondent in Line 2, it faces real risk in holding firm, hence ‘steadfastness is perilous’. ‘It is fitting’: by keeping to the middle way, gentle and clear-sighted, its judgment is sound.
If you drew this line
When the final decision rests with you, holding your ground carries pressure and risk. Keep to the middle, gentle and clear, and the outcome will be fitting.
上九何校滅耳，凶。
In plain words
A cangue on the shoulders, ears hidden: misfortune.
Close reading
Hé 何 is hè 荷, to carry. Line 1 hid the toes; Line 6 hides the ears: the body from bottom to top. Line 6 is at the top of Li and above the nuclear Kan; Li is the eye and Kan the ear, and being above both it neither hears nor sees. Yang in a yin place, not correct, it corresponds with Line 3 but has reached the extreme of punishment. ‘Hearing and sight are not clear’ is short for ‘neither hearing nor seeing’: the cangue appears to cause the deafness, but in truth it was the refusal to listen and to see that led here.
If you drew this line
Force nothing and expect no miracles. Stop, look back at your own conduct, and listen to the advice you have been ignoring.
Do not do a wrong because it is small
The Great Commentary explains this line: ‘Without accumulating good, one cannot make a name; without accumulating evil, one does not destroy oneself. The small person thinks small good deeds useless and does not do them, and small wrongs harmless and does not give them up; so wrongs pile up until they cannot be hidden, and the crime grows until it cannot be pardoned.’ The small fault of Line 1 could still be corrected; the wrongdoing of Line 6 has accumulated past concealment. In the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei’s last edict to his son Liu Shan said: ‘Do not do a wrong because it is small; do not leave a good deed undone because it is small.’ The point is the same: good and evil both build up from small things, and turning back only at the summit is usually too late.
Stories 典
A market at noon
Recounting the inventions of the sage kings, the Great Commentary says that Shennong ‘held a market at midday, drew the people of the world and gathered the goods of the world; they exchanged and went home, each having what he needed: this he took from Shihe’. Li above is the sun at its zenith; Zhen below is movement, people on the road; Lines 2 to 4 form Gen, the hand, trading by hand. Here hé 嗑, joining, is not a verdict but the way division of labour and exchange let everyone have what they need. The same gua can open into quite different meanings in different contexts.
Grieve, and do not rejoice
When the Mengsun family of Lu appointed Yang Fu, a disciple of Zengzi, as chief of criminal justice, he asked his teacher for guidance. Zengzi said: ‘Those above have long lost the Way, and the people have long been scattered. If you get at the truth of a case, grieve and pity them; do not rejoice.’ Of Shihe’s six lines, four say ‘no blame’ and only one says ‘good fortune’. Perhaps this is why: judging cases is no occasion for seeking credit, and even when justice is done, one should feel sorrow for the person punished.
Read the image, not just the words
Someone demonstrating a casting asked about his own near-term prospects and drew Shihe with Lines 4 and 6 moving, changing to Fù 復, Return. Taken literally, Line 6, ‘a cangue that hides the ears: misfortune’, sounds alarming; but the question was about general fortune, not literal prison. It signalled a period in which disputes needed care. The inner trigram Zhen stays unchanged, so he should carry on as himself; the outer Li becomes Kun, so outside circumstances would turn more yielding, followed by the fresh start of Return. He resolved to speak and act with care and to give way when provoked. When an unexpected lawsuit did arise some months later, he met it calmly, and it ended without harm. The text was teaching an attitude, not issuing a threat.
Insight 悟
Shihe is about justice. People need kindness in order to live and justice in order to be at peace. Punishment is not revenge; it lets the wrongdoer truly take responsibility, which is how a person stands up again inside, whereas endless indulgence leaves him hollow. From Line 1 to Line 6 the faults are alike in kind, yet a small correction early can still mend them, while wrongs left to accumulate reach a point past recovery. Those who judge must also understand that fairness draws resentment and insight has limits, and so they should grieve rather than rejoice.