The Ruling Line

The line that makes the hexagram, and the line that governs it

Every hexagram has one or two pivotal lines that best express its spirit: the ruling line, zhǔyáo 主爻, also called the hexagram's master. Traditional scholarship, for example the Qing-dynasty Balanced Compendium on the Zhouyi (Zhōuyì zhézhōng 周易折中), distinguishes two kinds.

The master that makes the hexagram (chéngguà zhī zhǔ 成卦之主): the line without which this hexagram would not be this hexagram, whatever its rank or virtue. In Fu 復, Return, a single yang comes back beneath five yin; that first line is what makes Return a return.

The master that governs the hexagram (zhǔguà zhī zhǔ 主卦之主): the line whose virtue, timing and position fit it to lead the whole, usually the ruler's seat in the fifth place. Qian's fifth line, “flying dragon in the sky”, central, correct and in the place of honour, is the model.

Sometimes they coincide, sometimes not. In Bǐ 比, Holding Together, the only yang line is the fifth: it makes the hexagram and, central and correct, governs it too. In Shī 師, the Army, the only yang line is the second: it makes the hexagram, a general holding the whole situation together, while the yin ruler in the fifth who appoints him has traditionally been regarded by some as the governing master.

Keep one point in mind: the ruling line has no necessary link to good fortune. The lone yin line of Lǚ 履, Treading, is its third line and its ruler, yet the text reads: “treading on the tiger's tail; it bites; ominous.” A ruling line marks power and focus, not a happy ending.

Method one: the scarce is precious

The clearest case is one against five: one yang among five yin, or one yin among five yang. That one line, yin or yang, is the ruler, because without it the hexagram would not exist. The Yi is even-handed here: when yang is scarce, yang rules; when yin is scarce, yin rules.

There are six hexagrams with one yang, which climbs from bottom to top across them: Return (first), the Army (second), Modesty (third), Delight, Yù 豫 (fourth), Holding Together (fifth), Stripping (top). There are six with one yin: Coming to Meet, Gòu 姤 (first), Fellowship, Tóngrén 同人 (second), Treading (third), Small Taming, Xiǎoxù 小畜 (fourth), Great Possession (fifth), Breakthrough, Guài 夬 (top).

Some examples. Return's first line: “returning before going far; no great regret; supremely auspicious.” Only twelve lines in the whole book are supremely auspicious, which shows how much a ruling line weighs. The Army's second line, “in the midst of the army, auspicious”, central in the lower trigram, is the respected commander; the “elder” (zhàngrén 丈人) of the judgment, “the army: steadfast; the elder is auspicious”, refers to him. Modesty's third line, the toiling jūnzǐ, holds up the whole hexagram even though third lines are rarely fortunate.

Once the ruler is found, read every other line by its relation to it. Lines on good terms with it can relax; lines on bad terms are in trouble. Being connected is what keeps you safe. The worst case is “riding the firm”, a yin line sitting directly on the ruler: the Army's third line, “the army may carry home corpses; ominous”, and Holding Together's top line, “holding together without a head; ominous”.

Methods two and three: echoes and derivations

Only twelve hexagrams are one-against-five. What about the other fifty-two? Two further methods help.

Method two: echoes between judgment and line. Study the one-against-five hexagrams and you find the judgment often speaks directly of the ruler. Modesty's judgment says “the jūnzǐ has an end”, exactly the “has an end” of the third line. Generalise: when a hexagram's judgment clearly overlaps one line statement, that line is the ruler. Zhun 屯, Difficult Beginnings, says in its judgment “favourable to establish feudal lords”, and its first line says the same. So Zhun's ruler is the first line: when everything is hard at the start, set up a leader.

Method three: the derivation the Tuan commentary describes. Explaining the judgment, the Tuan often mentions how the hexagram came about: which line “comes” (moves down, inward) and which “goes” (moves up, outward). “Firm” means a yang line, “soft” a yin line, and “gaining the centre” means reaching the second or fifth place. A derivation always swaps one yin and one yang line, and one of the two is always the ruler. The Tuan for Sòng 訟, Conflict, says “the firm comes and gains the centre”: a yang line has come down to the second place, so the ruler of Conflict is the second line, the party to the lawsuit. Modesty, as the previous lesson showed, arises when Stripping's top line descends to the third place.

The eight doubled trigrams (the same trigram above and below) do not arise by derivation; for them, rely on the echoes and on analogy. Qian: fifth line. Kun: second. Zhen: first. Gen: top. Li: second. Kan: fifth.

What the ruling line is for, and its limits

Once you grasp the ruling line you read with confidence. When a fine-looking hexagram has a poor line, or a tense hexagram has a good one, the reason usually lies in that line's relation to the ruler.

Take Return. Its ruler is the first line, and the Tuan exclaims: “In Return, do we not see the heart of heaven and earth?” In deep winter, with yin at its height, a single yang comes back from below; that is the cosmos's unceasing will to generate life. The judgment, “going out and coming in without harm; friends come, no blame”, also speaks of that yang line. Its appearance and its entry are both sound, and the “friends” are the five yin lines above, all welcoming it back, because without the return of yang they could not hold. The top line, “confused return; ominous”, is the farthest from the first and cannot find the way back.

The ruling line has limits too. First, the clearer it is, the more it matters; where it is hard to find, it matters less, so do not force it. Second, in the seasonal (xiāoxī 消息) hexagrams, read the trend before the ruler. Coming to Meet's first line is formally the lone yin ruler, but it is yin rising from below, about to draw more yin up behind it, and the warning has to be read (more in Lesson 8). Third, ruler does not mean good. You find it to see who in a situation is doing the work, who is leaning on whom and who has been pushed to the margins, not to locate a comfortable seat for yourself.