Hexagram 50 of 64
鼎 dǐng
The Cauldron
离 (lí, Fire) above · 巽 (xùn, Wind) below
The Judgment 卦辞
The sacred vessel: raw ingredients become nourishment for what is highest. Cultivate what — and who — you feed; consecrate your work to something worthy.
The Image 大象
Fire over wood: the cauldron. The wise person keeps their position upright, and by devotion consecrates the highest.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 鼎 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
The cauldron upturned — good: the stale contents empty out. The humble concubine bears the heir. Upending clears.
「鼎颠趾，利出否，得妾以其子，无咎」
Line 2 · 九二
The vessel holds real substance; my rival ails and cannot reach me. Good fortune.
「鼎有实，我仇有疾，不我能即，吉」
Line 3 · 九三
The cauldron's ears changed — it cannot be lifted; the pheasant fat goes untasted. Wait for the rain: regret fades, good fortune at the end.
「鼎耳革，其行塞，雉膏不食，方雨亏悔，终吉」
Line 4 · 九四
The cauldron breaks a leg, the duke's stew spills, the trust is slimed. The unworthy entrusted with much.
「鼎折足，覆公餗，其形渥，凶」
Line 5 · 六五
The vessel with golden ears and a metal handle — firm and movable at once. Steadiness furthers.
「鼎黄耳金铉，利贞」
Line 6 · 上九
The cauldron with a jade handle — the highest tempered by the finest. Great good fortune, nothing amiss.
「鼎玉铉，大吉，无不利」
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: 离 (Fire) above — clarity and clinging — insight, illumination, dependence on fuel — over 巽 (Wind) below — gentle penetration — gradual influence, flexibility, patience. Where those two energies meet, 鼎 is born.
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