Hexagram 22 line 6: Grace, yang in the sixth place

What changes when line 6 moves

Line 6 of Hexagram 22 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light: The light gone into the earth: a time of adversity survived by hiding one's brightness while keeping it.

Read together, the reading moves from Grace toward Darkening of the Light. Form and beauty in their proper place: adornment that serves substance, and knows its limits. Fire below, earth above: the sun sunk beneath the ground. Darkening of the Light describes a time when a bad situation or a bad leader makes it dangerous to be seen clearly, and the tradition's counsel is to veil one's light without extinguishing it. The primary hexagram describes the situation; the changing line is the point of movement in it; the resulting hexagram is where that movement leads. Both hexagrams belong to the reading, and the changing line is the hinge between them.

Hexagram 22 changing to 36 →

Line 6 in context

Love & relationships

Let the ornament go; plainness is the final elegance. In love and relationships, Hexagram 22 reads: Attention to how things are done: courtesy, gesture, the setting. It matters and it is enjoyable. The reading warns against mistaking the surface for the bond, and its last line points at plain, unadorned sincerity as the highest grace.

Career

Let the ornament go; plainness is the final elegance. In career, Hexagram 22 reads: Presentation counts: how you frame the proposal, how the work looks, the manners of the negotiation. Take the care. Do not let polish stand in for content, and do not make a large decision on the strength of appearances.

Money

Let the ornament go; plainness is the final elegance. In money, Hexagram 22 reads: Good for matters of style, display and small refinement; poor for major financial decisions, which should not be made on how something is presented. Look past the packaging.

A decision

Let the ornament go; plainness is the final elegance. In decisions, Hexagram 22 reads: Fine for small choices of form and manner. For a large decision, strip away the presentation and decide on substance. The reading explicitly does not support deciding great matters by appearances.