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Hexagram 61, Inner Truth

I Ching · King Wen 61

Hexagram 61: Inner Truth

中孚 Zhōng Fú · also called Central Sincerity, Inner Confidence, Centre Returning · The Gentle above The Joyous

Wind over the lake, an empty centre: sincerity so complete that it moves pigs and fishes, and crosses the great water.

sinceritytrustopennessinfluenceunderstanding

The meaning of Hexagram 61

Lake below, wind above: wind moving the surface of the water, the influence of the invisible on the visible. The hexagram's shape has two yielding lines at its centre, an emptiness in the middle, which the tradition reads as a heart free of prejudice and open to truth. Inner Truth describes sincerity that reaches even the least receptive, pigs and fishes, and that makes large undertakings possible. The judgement promises good fortune and the crossing of the great water. The image is of the wise person discussing criminal cases in order to delay executions: truth that leans toward understanding. The reading says the situation is decided by inner sincerity, and that the empty centre is not weakness but the space through which truth passes.

The image. Wind over the lake; the wise person discusses criminal cases in order to delay executions.

Advice
Keep the centre open and sincere; truth held that way reaches everyone and carries the large undertaking.
Warning
Sincerity that depends on being reciprocated, or confidence placed in the wrong person, is the hexagram's undoing.
Xùn, wind: a broken bar under two solidoverDuì, lake: a broken bar over two solid

Structure: The Joyous (Lake) below, The Gentle (Wind) above. Nuclear hexagram 27, Nourishment. Every line reversed: 62, Small Excess.

Hexagram 61 for love and relationships

The reading is about trust: complete sincerity, an open centre, and the influence that has on the other person. Say what is true, without agenda. The lines warn against sincerity that depends on the other's response, and against confidence in the wrong person.

Hexagram 61 love & relationships in full →

Hexagram 61 for career

Influence through honesty and openness rather than position. People are moved by someone whose centre they can see into. The reading supports large undertakings founded on trust and warns against the confidence that is only ambition.

Hexagram 61 career in full →

Hexagram 61 for money

Dealings founded on trust, transparently. The reading is favourable to ventures built on sincere agreement and warns against trusting the wrong party, which the fifth and sixth lines describe.

Hexagram 61 money in full →

Hexagram 61 for decisions

Decide from your own inner truth, with an open mind and no prejudice. The reading supports the large decision when it rests on sincerity, and it asks you to examine whether your confidence is real or merely wishful.

Hexagram 61 a decision in full →

The six changing lines

Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.

  1. Line 6 · yang

    Cockcrow penetrating to heaven. Persistence brings misfortune.

    The cock crows and does not fly: words that reach further than the person behind them can follow. Confidence in mere speech, without inner substance. The line warns that persisting in this brings misfortune.

    Changing, it becomes Hexagram 60, Limitation. Read line 6

  2. Line 5 · yang

    He possesses truth, which links together. No blame.

    The leader whose sincerity binds everyone to them. Truth as the force that holds a group together. The line is the hexagram's centre fully realised in a person of authority.

    Changing, it becomes Hexagram 41, Decrease. Read line 5

  3. Line 4 · yin

    The moon nearly at the full. The team horse goes astray. No blame.

    Turning from a comrade toward the higher source of one's truth, at the moment of greatest receptivity. The horse leaves its team to follow its master. The line approves of giving up a lesser bond for a greater loyalty.

    Changing, it becomes Hexagram 10, Treading. Read line 4

  4. Line 3 · yin

    He finds a comrade. Now he beats the drum, now he stops. Now he sobs, now he sings.

    Confidence that depends entirely on someone else: up and down with their every mood. The line describes the instability of a centre that is not one's own. The truth here is borrowed.

    Changing, it becomes Hexagram 9, Small Taming. Read line 3

  5. Line 2 · yang

    A crane calling in the shade; its young answers it. I have a good goblet; I will share it with you.

    Sincerity that reaches its kin without being seen, as the crane's call reaches its young. Influence that needs no display. The shared goblet is the line's warmth: what is offered is received.

    Changing, it becomes Hexagram 42, Increase. Read line 2

  6. Line 1 · yang

    Being prepared brings good fortune. If there are secret designs, it is disquieting.

    Inner truth at the start depends on having no hidden agenda. The person who is prepared and sincere is fortunate; the one with secret designs, however small, cannot rest. The line asks for a clean start.

    Changing, it becomes Hexagram 59, Dispersion. Read line 1

Related hexagrams

60 Limitation62 Small Excess

Cast your own reading

Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.

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Common questions

What does I Ching Hexagram 61 mean?
Wind over the lake, an empty centre: sincerity so complete that it moves pigs and fishes, and crosses the great water. Lake below, wind above: wind moving the surface of the water, the influence of the invisible on the visible. The hexagram's shape has two yielding lines at its centre, an emptiness in the middle, which the tradition reads as a heart free of prejudice and open to truth. Inner Truth describes sincerity that reaches even the least receptive, pigs and fishes, and that makes large undertakings possible. The judgement promises good fortune and the crossing of the great water. The image is of the wise person discussing criminal cases in order to delay executions: truth that leans toward understanding. The reading says the situation is decided by inner sincerity, and that the empty centre is not weakness but the space through which truth passes.
What does Hexagram 61 mean for love?
The reading is about trust: complete sincerity, an open centre, and the influence that has on the other person. Say what is true, without agenda. The lines warn against sincerity that depends on the other's response, and against confidence in the wrong person.
Which hexagram does Hexagram 61 change into?
It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 59, Dispersion; line 2 gives Hexagram 42, Increase; line 3 gives Hexagram 9, Small Taming; line 4 gives Hexagram 10, Treading; line 5 gives Hexagram 41, Decrease; line 6 gives Hexagram 60, Limitation. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 62, Small Excess.