The name 名
Xián 咸 originally means “all, together.” Add the heart radical 心 beneath it and it becomes 感, to feel, to move and be moved. The hexagram is about that mutual response, and it opens the Lower Canon, which turns from cosmos to human relationships.
The image 象
Above is Duì, the lake and the youngest daughter; below is Gèn, the mountain and the youngest son. The young man places himself beneath the young woman, courting with humility, and the young fall for each other quickly. A lofty mountain hollows out room for a lake, and the lake waters the mountain in return: each completes the other.
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
Several hexagrams pair a son with a daughter, and they read best side by side. In Xián the youngest son is below the youngest daughter, courting from a humble place: first attraction. In Héng the eldest son is above the eldest daughter: a settled couple. In Jiàn the eldest daughter is above the youngest son: a marriage reached step by step. In Guīmèi the youngest daughter is below the eldest son, the woman rushing to follow, the most error-prone. Xián is where the series begins; all six lines correspond, so feeling is quickest and purest here, and most in need of steadiness to hold it.
Line 3, “feeling in the thighs; it clings to what it follows; going brings humiliation”: Line 3 corresponds with the top line, so the pull is strong, and it sits in the nuclear Qián (lines 3–5), full of drive. Yet it is the top of the lower Gèn, which means stopping, and two yang lines block the way above: it wants to follow along but is not its own master, and forcing the move ends in embarrassment.
Line 4, “steadiness brings good fortune and regret vanishes; restlessly coming and going, only friends follow your thoughts”: Line 4 governs the hexagram and sits where the heart is, so instead of a body part the text says “thoughts.” It is the centre of the nuclear Qián, with yang lines of its own kind above and below, hence “friends,” and Line 1 corresponds and wants to follow too. A steady heart lets regret fade; a heart that frets over gain and loss draws only a circle of friends and moves no one beyond it.
Top line, “feeling in the jaws, cheeks and tongue”: the six lines climb the body, big toe, calf, thigh, heart, back, and finally cheeks and tongue. The upper Duì is the mouth, so at the end feeling is reduced to talk: pleasant words without action or real heart.
Turn Xián over and you get Héng, Duration; the Lower Canon opens with these two side by side. Xián is quick feeling, Héng long keeping; the youngest son and daughter turn into the eldest pair, as two lovers grow into a marriage. Drawing Xián, look at Héng: after the heart is moved, the next question is how to make it last.
Lines 2–5 of Xián make Gòu, Coming to Meet, the unplanned encounter. The inner process of Xián is exactly that: attraction often starts with a chance meeting. But Gòu warns “the woman is strong; do not marry her,” while Xián says “taking a wife is auspicious.” The difference is steadiness: a chance attraction must prove upright and settled before it can become a marriage.
In sequence 序
有天地然後有萬物，有萬物然後有男女，有男女然後有夫婦，有夫婦然後有父子，有父子然後有君臣，有君臣然後有上下，有上下然後禮儀有所錯。
The Xu Gua lays out a chain: heaven and earth, then the myriad things, then man and woman, then husband and wife, then father and son, ruler and minister, and finally ritual order. The sentence never names Xián, but its “man and woman” is exactly this hexagram: human society begins when two people are moved by each other.
The judgment 辭
咸：亨。利貞。取女吉。
The judgment reads: mutual feeling brings success; it is fitting to be upright and steady; taking a wife is auspicious. The classic rarely speaks so plainly of marriage. A union needs both sides to be moved, yet the key word is steadiness: feeling must be upright and single-minded, not answered wherever it arises, or one ends up anxious over every gain and loss.
Commentary on the judgment 彖
彖曰：咸，感也。柔上而剛下，二氣感應以相與，止而說，男下女，是以亨利貞，取女吉也。天地感而萬物化生，聖人感人心而天下和平；觀其所感，而天地萬物之情可見矣！
The Tuan glosses 咸 as 感. Yielding rises, firm descends, and the two forces respond and join; Gèn below means stillness, Duì above means joy, and the man humbles himself. It then widens the frame: heaven and earth respond, and all things come to life; the sage moves people’s hearts, and the world is at peace. Watch what responds to what, and the true state of things becomes visible (情 here means “reality”).
The great image 象
象曰：山上有澤，咸；君子以虛受人。
The Great Image: a lake on the mountain; the noble person receives others with emptiness. The high mountain makes room for a lake, so the noble person, however superior in virtue, learning or ability, keeps an open space within and welcomes others. Only what is empty can receive; a mind full of itself lets no feeling in.
The six lines 爻
Ruling line Line 4 governs. Instead of a body part it speaks of “thoughts”; it sits where the heart is, the very subject of feeling, and it states the hexagram’s core teaching: steadiness brings good fortune.
The path of the six lines, bottom to top
Line 1 feels in the big toe: the heart has turned outward, but the body has not moved. Line 2 reaches the calf: chasing after it is ominous, staying put is fortunate. Line 3 is the thigh, at the top of the lower trigram, eager to follow others; going ahead brings embarrassment. Line 4 enters the upper trigram at the place of the heart: steady, regret disappears; anxious over gain and loss, it moves only its own kind. Line 5 is the back flesh: feeling runs deep but faces away from others, no regret, yet not wide-reaching. The top line has only cheeks and tongue left: feeling dwindles into talk.
初六咸其拇。
In plain words
Feeling stirs in the big toe.
Close reading
The lines climb the body from the feet up, and the bottom line is the toe. A yin line in a yang place, it corresponds with Line 4, so the Small Image says its intent lies outside. But only the toe has stirred: the feeling is shallow, the body cannot follow, and the lower trigram Gèn is about stopping anyway.
If you drew this line
The pull has only just begun; it is not yet a basis for action. Observe, and let the feeling settle and deepen.
The Thesis and the Toe
Someone asked whether a doctoral thesis would be finished and drew this line, “feeling in the big toe.” At first it seems unrelated. On reflection, a toe beginning to move suggests setting off, relocating, which sits uneasily with staying put to finish a thesis; and at the first line, the matter is still far from done. The lesson: frame the question clearly, and the line text becomes easier to read.
六二咸其腓，凶，居吉。
In plain words
Feeling reaches the calf. Moving brings misfortune; staying put brings good fortune.
Close reading
The calf. A yin line in a yin place, correct and central, it corresponds with Line 5 and naturally wants to move; but it sits inside Gèn, stillness, and cannot. Declaring oneself at the first spark of attraction often scares the other away. The Small Image: by going along with the moment and staying put, no harm comes.
If you drew this line
Feeling has arrived, but don’t rush to act. Hold your place until minds have truly met.
九三咸其股，執其隨，往吝。
In plain words
Feeling reaches the thigh; it clings to what it follows. Going forward brings difficulty.
Close reading
A yang line in a yang place, correct, corresponding with the top line, and part of the inner Qián formed by Lines 3–5: the thigh is eager to stride. Yet it still belongs to Gèn, with two yang lines blocking above. The Small Image: the thigh cannot rest either; its intent is to follow others, but what it holds to is low. Thighs should not make decisions; the heart above must decide.
One level deeper
Line 3, “feeling in the thighs; it clings to what it follows; going brings humiliation”: Line 3 corresponds with the top line, so the pull is strong, and it sits in the nuclear Qián (lines 3–5), full of drive. Yet it is the top of the lower Gèn, which means stopping, and two yang lines block the way above: it wants to follow along but is not its own master, and forcing the move ends in embarrassment.
If you drew this line
When the urge is strong, don’t let impulse decide. Slow down and let a clear mind judge.
九四貞吉悔亡，憧憧往來，朋從爾思。
In plain words
Steadiness brings good fortune and regret vanishes. Restlessly coming and going, only your own friends follow your thoughts.
Close reading
Now the heart. The line speaks of “thoughts,” as Mencius said: “the office of the heart is to think.” A yang line in a yin place, not correct, answering Line 1 below and among its own kind in the inner Qián, it is busy with comings and goings. True feeling is open and selfless; tending only one’s own circle is narrow. The Small Image: no harm yet, but nothing broad or bright either.
One level deeper
Line 4, “steadiness brings good fortune and regret vanishes; restlessly coming and going, only friends follow your thoughts”: Line 4 governs the hexagram and sits where the heart is, so instead of a body part the text says “thoughts.” It is the centre of the nuclear Qián, with yang lines of its own kind above and below, hence “friends,” and Line 1 corresponds and wants to follow too. A steady heart lets regret fade; a heart that frets over gain and loss draws only a circle of friends and moves no one beyond it.
If you drew this line
Hold to what is right and keep an open heart. You need not answer every attraction or scheme to please; those who fit will come.
Looking Only for Endorsement
Some people consult others before every decision, yet their minds are made up; no advice moves them until the other finally nods. They want not counsel but cover: the chance to say later, “you agreed.” Such earnest-seeming visits are just “restless coming and going”: not an open heart, only a search for echoes. Divination is the same: ask only when you are genuinely unsure, and if you won’t listen, don’t ask.
九五咸其脢，无悔。
In plain words
Feeling reaches the upper back. No regret.
Close reading
The upper back near the shoulders, above the heart, is the least sensitive part; that even it responds shows strong feeling. Central and correct, matched with Line 2, this would seem a perfect pairing. But the Tuan says the sage moves all hearts; one in the seat of power who responds only to a single partner is too narrow, so the line earns only “no regret.” The Small Image: its intent reaches only the trivial.
If you drew this line
In a position of responsibility, let your care reach everyone, not just a favoured few.
上六咸其輔，頰，舌。
In plain words
Feeling reaches the jaws, cheeks and tongue.
Close reading
From the toe the feeling has climbed all the way to the mouth. A yin line in a yin place, corresponding with Line 3, at the top of Duì, which is itself the mouth. The Small Image: 滕口說, words that soar and spill over. At its peak, feeling turns into grand vows, and the fuller the words, the thinner the sincerity.
One level deeper
Top line, “feeling in the jaws, cheeks and tongue”: the six lines climb the body, big toe, calf, thigh, heart, back, and finally cheeks and tongue. The upper Duì is the mouth, so at the end feeling is reduced to talk: pleasant words without action or real heart.
If you drew this line
Beware of saying more than you mean. Fewer sweet words; let conduct show your feeling.
Stories 典
The Inchworm Bends: Confucius on “Coming and Going”
In the Great Commentary, Confucius builds on Line 4: “What does the world think of, what does it worry over? All return to one place by different roads; one aim, a hundred deliberations.” Sun goes, moon comes, and light is born; cold goes, heat comes, and the year is made. Heaven and earth never scheme. What goes contracts, what comes expands, and from their interplay benefit arises. “The inchworm bends in order to stretch; dragons and snakes hibernate to preserve themselves.” Anyone who has raised silkworms has seen it: they arch before they advance, as a jumper crouches before the leap. Then: penetrate principle to its subtlest point in order to use it; settle your life in order to raise your virtue. So with human feeling: no need to contrive. Be sound yourself, and response will come.
The Old Ferryman’s Answer
An often-told parable: a young man, unhappy and friendless on one bank of a river, wants to cross and start over. He asks the old ferryman whether the people on the far side are any better. The ferryman asks him first to describe the people here, and the young man complains for half an hour. The ferryman says only: the people over there are just like the people here. Response depends not only on surroundings but on oneself. Unchanged, you find the same world everywhere; change, and the people before you change too.
Insight 悟
Every line here has its partner, so feeling comes fast and unmistakably; yet the hexagram has only two “auspicious” words, “stay put” in Line 2 and “steadiness” in Line 4, and both tell you to pause. Feeling is good: without some impulse nobody would marry. But feeling is not judgment. From toe to tongue, the higher it climbs the more care it needs: the higher your position, the wider your care should reach; the fuller your words, the more you should check your sincerity. Receive others with an open mind, stay upright, and feeling can grow into the constancy of the next hexagram.