Hexagram 22 of 64
贲 bì
Grace
艮 (gèn, Mountain) above · 离 (lí, Fire) below
The Judgment 卦辞
Grace is form upon substance — the fire lighting up the mountain. Polish how things appear, but remember the adornment rides on what is underneath.
The Image 大象
Fire below the mountain: grace. The wise person clarifies administration, but never decides by polish alone.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 贲 has its own classical text. If a line in your cast is changing, its text is the heart of your reading.
Line 1 · 初九
Adorning the feet — leaving the carriage to walk. Simplicity chosen over display.
「贲其趾，舍车而徒」
Line 2 · 六二
Adorning the beard: decoration that rides on something else. Beauty depends on substance.
「贲其须」
Line 3 · 九三
Lustrous and moist with beauty. Stay grounded in what lasts — good fortune.
「贲如濡如，永贞吉」
Line 4 · 六四
Plain white, then a white horse flying — not a raider but a suitor. Let the plainness be swept along.
「贲如皤如，白马翰如，匪寇婚媾」
Line 5 · 六五
Adorning the hillside garden with a mere handful of silk. Modest — and finally fortunate.
「贲于丘园，束帛戋戋，吝，终吉」
Line 6 · 上九
Plain white adornment — beauty with nothing added. No blame.
「白贲，无咎」
If you drew this in a reading
A pattern of tension and craft. This hexagram belongs to the large middle family of mixed patterns: it works, but only along its own grain. Read the Judgment closely — mixed hexagrams usually name the exact condition on which their promise depends.
In yes/no questions this hexagram reads as “not yet clear” — the answer hinges on timing and execution.
The trigrams give the flavor: 艮 (Mountain) above — keeping still — restraint, meditation, knowing when to stop — over 离 (Fire) below — clarity and clinging — insight, illumination, dependence on fuel. Where those two energies meet, 贲 is born.
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