The 64 hexagrams / Hexagram 21
Biting Through
Hexagram 21 · 噬嗑 Shì Kè
Fire above · Thunder below
巽 palace · 五世
What hexagram 21 says
Thunder and lightning: clarity plus decisiveness. Something is lodged between the jaws — it must be bitten through before anything closes properly.
Above: Fire (Li) — clinging, bright, illuminating.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. The first line is the beginning of the situation, the sixth is its outer edge. The Chinese text is the classical line text; the line below it is a reading of what it is pointing at.
yang — solid
yin — broken
yin — broken
yang — solid
yin — broken
yang — solid
How to use this hexagram
If you cast this as your primary hexagram, it describes the situation you are in. If it came up as the transformed hexagram, it describes where things are heading once the changing lines have flipped. If you are only looking it up, read the judgment first — the line texts are for specific moments inside the situation, not for the situation as a whole.
Frequently asked
What does I Ching hexagram 21 mean?
Hexagram 21, Biting Through, is made of Fire above and Thunder below. Thunder and lightning: clarity plus decisiveness. Something is lodged between the jaws — it must be bitten through before anything closes properly.
How do I read hexagram 21 in a casting?
Read the primary hexagram first — it describes the situation as it stands. If any of your six lines were changing lines (sixes or nines from the coin tosses), read those lines' texts next: they mark where the situation is moving. The hexagram produced after those lines flip is the transformed hexagram, and it shows where the movement leads.
What are the six lines of hexagram 21?
Hexagram 21 has six lines, read from the bottom up. The texts below are given in order, first line (bottom) to sixth line (top).
Which palace does hexagram 21 belong to?
In the six-line (liuyao) system, hexagram 21 sits in the 巽 palace, fifth generation — the turn is nearly complete. The palace gives the hexagram its ruling element, and from that element the Six Relatives are assigned to each line.