Hexagram 27 of 64
颐 yí
Nourishment
艮 (gèn, Mountain) above · 震 (zhèn, Thunder) below
The Judgment 卦辞
Watch what you take in — food, words, information, company. Nourish yourself and others properly; speech and diet both shape who you become.
The Image 大象
Thunder below the mountain: nourishment. The wise person is careful with their words and moderate in eating and drinking.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 颐 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
You abandon your own treasure — the spirit turtle — to watch me eat. Envy of another's nourishment is the misfortune.
「舍尔灵龟，观我朵颐，凶」
Line 2 · 六二
Nourishment turned upside-down — begging on the hillside. Seeking from above what you should find within — misfortune.
「颠颐，拂经，于丘颐，征凶」
Line 3 · 六三
Feeding against the grain — ten years of nothing. What you take in is who you become.
「拂颐，贞凶，十年勿用，无攸利」
Line 4 · 六四
Turning nourishment to others — the tiger's intense gaze, desire in order. No blame in wanting well.
「颠颐吉，虎视眈眈，其欲逐逐，无咎」
Line 5 · 六五
Off the usual path — stay put and steady. Good fortune at home, not on the great crossing.
「拂经，居贞吉，不可涉大川」
Line 6 · 上九
The source of nourishment for others — heavy responsibility, good fortune, and the river can be crossed.
「由颐，厉吉，利涉大川」
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 震 (Thunder) below — arousing shock — movement, initiative, sudden change. Where those two energies meet, 颐 is born.
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