Hexagram 4 of 64
Inexperience
蒙 Méng
Upper trigram: 艮 Gèn, mountain
Lower trigram: 坎 Kǎn, water
The judgment
亨。匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我。初筮告，再三瀆，瀆則不告。利貞。
Success. I do not go looking for the untaught youth. The untaught youth comes looking for me. The first casting I answer. A second or third casting muddies it, and what is muddied I do not answer. It is fitting to hold firm.
The Great Image
山下出泉，蒙；君子以果行育德。
A spring comes out at the foot of the mountain: Inexperience. In the same way, the noble person acts decisively and nurtures character.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初六
發蒙，利用刑人，用說桎梏，以往吝。
Clearing away ignorance. It is fitting to make use of punishing people and of taking off shackles. Going on like that brings shame.
The old text pairs punishment with the removal of shackles, and we would keep only the second half. Ask what firm structure could help you or someone you teach, and when it should come off.
Line 2 九二
包蒙吉，納婦吉，子克家。
Bearing with the untaught: good fortune. Taking a wife: good fortune. The son is able to run the household.
The line bears with the untaught, and a household runs on that patience. Consider who around you may need more room to get things wrong.
Line 3 六三
勿用取女，見金夫，不有躬，无攸利。
Do not take this woman. She sees a man of gold and does not keep hold of herself. Nothing is favorable.
The old line blames a woman dazzled by a man of gold, and that judgment belongs to its time. Ask whether wealth or status may be making you lose hold of yourself.
Line 4 六四
困蒙，吝。
Trapped in ignorance. Shame.
Being stuck in not knowing can feel shameful, and being alone with it can feel worse. Consider finding one person who could teach you the next small thing.
Line 5 六五
童蒙，吉。
The untaught youth. Good fortune.
The youth who comes and asks is the one the judgment wants to teach. Ask what you could learn if you were willing to be a beginner again.
Line 6 上九
擊蒙，不利為寇，利禦寇。
Striking at ignorance. It is not fitting to act as a raider. It is fitting to defend against raiders.
Sometimes ignorance has to be struck at, and the line allows it only in defense. Ask whether your correction protects someone or only lets you win.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is water below and a mountain above. A spring is coming out at the foot of the mountain, still small and unsure of its course. It is about a mind that has not been taught yet and the bond between learner and teacher.
The judgment speaks in the teacher's voice: the student must come and ask, and the answer is given once. Asking the same question again and again muddies it. Ask whether you are seeking guidance or looking for the answer you already want.
If your question concerns study, a new job or guiding someone younger, tradition reads this as a time to seek instruction and accept it. The lines caution against being dazzled by money and against correcting others with more force than the situation needs.
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/蒙), 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.
Where the sources differ
- In the judgment, Wikisource reads 初筮告 (the first casting I answer). Project Gutenberg reads 初噬告, with 噬 meaning to bite.
- In the third line, Wikisource reads 取女 and notes that it is also written 娶. Project Gutenberg reads 娶女. Both mean to take a wife, and 娶 is the more specific form.
- In the top line, Wikisource reads 利禦寇 and Project Gutenberg reads 利御寇. 禦 means to ward off, and 御 can carry the same sense.
- Project Gutenberg punctuates the third and top lines with a semicolon where Wikisource has a comma. Project Gutenberg writes 無 where Wikisource has 无. These are variant forms of the same word.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.