Hexagram 22 · ䷕
Grace brings success. However, it is not the essential or fundamental thing; it is only the ornament and must therefore be used sparingly and only in little thi...
This hexagram shows a fire that breaks out of the secret depths of the earth and, blazing up, illuminates and beautifies the mountain, the heavenly heights. Grace—beauty of form—is necessary in any union if it is to be well ordered and pleasing rather than disordered and chaotic.
GRACE has success. In small matters It is favorable to undertake something.
Grace brings success. However, it is not the essential or fundamental thing; it is only the ornament and must therefore be used sparingly and only in little things. In the lower trigram of fire a yielding line comes between two strong lines and makes them beautiful, but the strong lines are the essential content and the weak line is the beautifying form. In the upper trigram of the mountain, the strong line takes the lead, so that here again the strong element must be regarded as the decisive factor. In nature we see in the sky the strong light of the sun; the life of the world depends on it. But this strong, essential thing is changed and given pleasing variety by the moon and the stars. In human affairs, aesthetic form comes into being when traditions exist that, strong and abiding like mountains, are made pleasing by a lucid beauty. By contemplating the forms existing in the heavens we come to understand time and its changing demands. Through contemplation of the forms existing in human society it becomes possible to shape the world.
Grace succeeds. The yielding comes and gives form to the firm, therefore in small matters it is favorable to go forward. The firm rises and gives form to the yielding. This is the pattern of heavenly adornment. Civilized clarity joined with stillness is the pattern of human adornment. By observing the patterns of heaven, one discerns the changes of the times. By observing the patterns of human culture, one transforms and completes the world.
Grace means adornment. The soft comes to adorn the firm, and the firm rises to adorn the soft. This is why small advance is favorable. The patterns of heaven reveal changes in time, and the patterns of human culture can transform and complete the world.
Fire at the foot of the mountain: The image of GRACE. Thus does the superior man proceed When clearing up current affairs. But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.
The fire, whose light illuminates the mountain and makes it pleasing, does not shine far; in the same way, beautiful form suffices to brighten and to throw light upon matters of lesser moment, but important questions cannot be decided in this way. They require greater earnestness.
He lends grace to his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks.
A beginner in a subordinate place must take upon himself the labor of advancing. There might be an opportunity of surreptitiously easing the way—symbolized by the carriage—but a self-contained man scorns help gained in a dubious fashion. He thinks it more graceful to go on foot than to drive in a carriage under false pretenses.
Small Image
He lends grace to his toes; he leaves the carriage and walks. He does not ride because the yielding is in the lowest place.
He leaves the carriage and walks because he does not ride when the yielding is in the lowest place.
Lends grace to the beard on his chin.
The beard is not an independent thing; it moves only with the chin. The image therefore means that form is to be considered only as a result and attribute of content. The beard is a superfluous ornament. To devote care to it for its own sake, without regard for the inner content of which it is an ornament, would bespeak a certain vanity.
Small Image
He lends grace to the beard on his chin. Thus he ascends with the firm above.
Grace on the beard means following the one above with adornment.
Graceful and moist. Constant perseverance brings good fortune.
This represents a very charming life situation. One is under the spell of grace and the mellow mood induced by wine. This grace can adorn, but it can also swamp us. Hence the warning not to sink into convivial indolence but to remain constant in perseverance. Good fortune depends on this.
Small Image
Graceful and moist. Constant perseverance brings good fortune, because he does not change his aim.
Graceful and moist, perseverance brings good fortune through unchanging purpose.
Grace or simplicity? A white horse comes as if on wings. He is not a robber, He will woo at the right time.
An individual is in a situation in which doubts arise as to which is better—to pursue the grace of external brilliance, or to return to simplicity. The doubt itself implies the answer. Confirmation comes from the outside; it comes like a white winged horse. The white color indicates simplicity. At first it may be disappointing to renounce comforts that might have been obtained, yet one finds peace of mind in a true relationship with the friend who courts him. The winged horse is the symbol of the thoughts that transcend all limits of space and time.
Small Image
He is not a robber, he will woo at the right time. He doubts and does not act rashly.
He is not a robber but will woo in due time, because he restrains doubt and does not act rashly.
Grace in hills and gardens. The roll of silk is meager and small. Humiliation, but in the end good fortune.
A man withdraws from contact with people of the lowlands, who seek nothing but magnificence and luxury, into the solitude of the heights. There he finds an individual to look up to, whom he would like to have as a friend. But the gifts he has to offer are poor and few, so that he feels ashamed. However, it is not the material gifts that count, but sincerity of feeling, and so all goes well in the end.
Small Image
Grace in hills and gardens. The roll of silk is meager and small. One may be humiliated, but in the end it furthers one to proceed.
Grace in hills and gardens with meager silk may bring humiliation, but in the end one may still proceed.
Simple grace. No blame.
Here at the highest stage of development all ornament is discarded. Form no longer conceals content but brings out its value to the full. Perfect grace consists not in exterior ornamentation of the substance, but in the simple fitness of its form.
Small Image
Simple grace brings no blame. He attains the summit.
Simple grace brings no blame because one reaches the highest point.
What does Pi / Grace mean in the I Ching?
Grace brings success. However, it is not the essential or fundamental thing; it is only the ornament and must therefore be used sparingly and only in little thi...
How should I study Hexagram 22 on this page?
Start with the judgment and image, then read the line statements in sequence. A beginner in a subordinate place must take upon himself the labor of advancing. There might be an opportunity of surreptitiously easing the way—symbolized by the carriage—but a se...
How can this hexagram be applied in a modern reading?
Grace means adornment. The soft comes to adorn the firm, and the firm rises to adorn the soft. This is why small advance is favorable. The patterns of heaven reveal changes in time, and the patterns of human culture can...
Primary text: Zhouyi / I Ching, including the Judgment, Image, line texts, and related commentaries.
Translation basis: public-domain and modern study references, with AI used only as a learning aid.
Zhouyi / I Ching primary text: The received text of the Book of Changes, including the Judgment, Image, and line statements.
The I Ching or Book of Changes, Richard Wilhelm / Cary F. Baynes: Princeton University Press translation used as a major English-language reference point for names, structure, and commentary framing.
The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Confucianism, James Legge: Classical English reference used for comparative reading of source terminology and commentarial tradition.
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