Hexagram 54: Gui Mei

Judgment

征凶，无攸利。

Kwei Mei indicates that (under the conditions which it denotes) action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.

Moving ahead brings trouble here, and nothing goes your way. Tradition says the arrangement is out of order from the start, so forcing it only makes the flaws worse.

Image

澤上有雷，歸妹；君子以永終知敝。

(The trigram representing the waters of) a marsh and over it that for thunder form Kwei Mei. The superior man, in accordance with this, having regard to the far-distant end, knows the mischief (that may be done at the beginning).

Line 1 · 初九

歸妹以娣，跛能履，征吉。

The first line, undivided, shows the younger sister married off in a position ancillary to the real wife. (It suggests the idea of) a person lame on one leg who yet manages to tramp along. Going forward will be fortunate.

You enter as the junior companion, like a lame person who can still walk. Your help is limited, and going forward within those limits goes well.

Line 2 · 九二

眇能視，利幽人之貞。

The second line, undivided, shows her blind of one eye, and yet able to see. There will be advantage in her maintaining the firm correctness of a solitary widow.

You see with one eye, which is enough to get by with. It helps to keep the quiet, steady correctness of someone living in seclusion.

Line 3 · 六三

歸妹以須，反歸以娣。

The third line, divided, shows the younger sister who was to be married off in a mean position. She returns and accepts an ancillary position.

Hoping for a better place, you have to wait. In the end you come back and accept the junior position.

Line 4 · 九四

歸妹愆期，遲歸有時。

The fourth line, undivided, shows the younger sister who is to be married off protracting the time. She may be late in being married, but the time will come.

The union is delayed past its usual time. A late arrival has its own moment, so you can wait for the right partner.

Line 5 · 六五

帝乙歸妹，其君之袂，不如其娣之袂良，月幾望，吉。

The fifth line, divided, reminds us of the marrying of the younger sister of (king) Tî-yî, when the sleeves of her the princess were not equal to those of the (still) younger sister who accompanied her in an inferior capacity. (The case suggests the thought of) the moon almost full. There will be good fortune.

King Di Yi gives a younger sister in marriage, and the bride's sleeves are plainer than the attendant's. Modesty, like a moon just short of full, reads as a good sign.

Line 6 · 上六

女承筐无實，士刲羊无血，无攸利。

The sixth line, divided, shows the young lady bearing the basket, but without anything in it, and the gentleman slaughtering the sheep, but without blood flowing from it. There will be no advantage in any way.

The basket carried to the offering is empty, and the sheep is cut without any blood. The ritual has lost its substance, and nothing in it helps you.