Hexagram 15 of 64
谦 qiān
Modesty
坤 (kūn, Earth) above · 艮 (gèn, Mountain) below
The Judgment 卦辞
The mountain hides itself inside the earth. Modesty is not weakness: it makes you trusted by allies and unthreatening to rivals. Everything completes itself.
The Image 大象
Within the earth, a mountain: modesty. The wise person reduces what is too much and increases what is too little, weighing things fairly.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 谦 has its own classical text. If a line in your cast is changing, its text is the heart of your reading.
Line 1 · 初六
Modest through and through — such a person can cross the great river. Good fortune.
「谦谦君子，用涉大川，吉」
Line 2 · 六二
Modesty that sings — known and still humble. Steadiness brings good fortune.
「鸣谦，贞吉」
Line 3 · 九三
Working hard and staying humble — this person finishes what they begin. Good fortune.
「劳谦君子，有终吉」
Line 4 · 六四
Nothing works against you — wield modesty actively, everywhere.
「无不利，撝谦」
Line 5 · 六五
Not enriched by neighbors — sometimes the modest must take up arms. Even that is fitting.
「不富以其邻，利用侵伐，无不利」
Line 6 · 上六
Modesty that sings, yet armies may march to set one's own house right.
「鸣谦，利用行师，征邑国」
If you drew this in a reading
A favorable pattern. Among the sixty-four patterns, this one belongs to the favorable family: its core movement supports what you would do with it. Favorable does not mean automatic — the hexagram still asks you to hold up your end with steadiness and good faith.
In yes/no questions this hexagram leans yes — the pattern supports proceeding.
The trigrams give the flavor: 坤 (Earth) above — receptive devotion — nourishment, patience, carrying others — over 艮 (Mountain) below — keeping still — restraint, meditation, knowing when to stop. Where those two energies meet, 谦 is born.
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