Hexagram 27 of 64
Nourishment
頤 Yí
Upper trigram: 艮 Gèn, mountain
Lower trigram: 震 Zhèn, thunder
The judgment
貞吉。觀頤，自求口實。
Holding firm brings good fortune. Look at the jaws. Seek out for yourself what goes in the mouth.
The Great Image
山下有雷，頤；君子以慎言語，節飲食。
Below the mountain there is thunder: Nourishment. In the same way, the noble person is careful in speech and measured in food and drink.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初九
舍爾靈龜，觀我朵頤，凶。
You set aside your spirit tortoise and watch my jaws working. Misfortune.
You have a spirit tortoise, a thing of worth of your own, and you are staring at someone else's full jaws. Ask what you already have that envy is keeping you from using.
Line 2 六二
顛頤，拂經，于丘頤，征凶。
Nourishment turned upside down goes against the norm. Seeking nourishment on the hill. Setting out brings misfortune.
Turning things upside down and looking up the hill for food suggests asking the wrong source for support. Consider where you could find what you need nearer at hand.
Line 3 六三
拂頤，貞凶，十年勿用，无攸利。
Going against nourishment. Holding firm brings misfortune. For ten years do not act. Nothing is favorable.
Nourishment goes wrong here, and ten years is the old way of saying a very long while. Ask whether the thing you keep feeding gives anything back to you.
Line 4 六四
顛頤吉，虎視眈眈，其欲逐逐，无咎。
Nourishment turned upside down: good fortune. A tiger stares intently, its wanting relentless. No blame.
A tiger watches steadily and wants more, and the line finds no fault in it. If you need support from others, you could look for it with clear intent and be open about what you want.
Line 5 六五
拂經，居貞吉，不可涉大川。
Going against the norm. Staying put and holding firm brings good fortune. One cannot cross the great river.
Going against the usual order here means staying put. If you cannot do everything yourself, consider leaning on someone wiser and holding off on the large step for now.
Line 6 上九
由頤，厲吉，利涉大川。
All nourishing comes through here. Danger and good fortune. It is fitting to cross the great river.
Others get what they need by way of this place, and the line names danger alongside good fortune. Ask what it would take to carry that responsibility with care.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is thunder below and mountain above, and its solid lines at top and bottom look like an open mouth. The lower jaw moves and the upper stays still. It stands for feeding, both what you take in and what you provide.
The judgment tells you to look at the jaws and see what each person seeks to put in their own mouth. What people hunger for says a lot about them. Ask what you are feeding in yourself with your time and attention.
If your question is about work, a household or someone who depends on you, tradition reads this as a time to look at who supports whom. The image pairs care over food with care over words, and the first line cautions against envy of what others have. It is a reading about what sustains your life in general and offers no guidance on diet or health.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/頤), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.