Hexagram 22
賁
Bì
Grace
Upper Trigram
艮 Gèn
Mountain — Stillness
Lower Trigram
離 Lí
Fire — Clinging
Classical Texts
The Judgment
亨。小利有攸往。
The Image
山下有火，賁。君子以明庶政，無敢折獄。
The Lines
Line 1
初九 賁其趾。舍車而徒。
Line 2
六二 賁其須。
Line 3
九三 賁如濡如。永貞吉。
Line 4
六四 賁如皤如。白馬翰如。匪寇婚媾。
Line 5
六五 賁于丘園。束帛戔戔。吝。終吉。
Line 6
上九 白賁。无咎。
The Kiss
Klimt, Unknown
Grace
Two lovers embrace on a meadow strewn with flowers, their bodies wrapped in elaborate patterns of gold leaf. Gustav Klimt created this work during his Golden Period, transforming the intimate scene into a shimmering mosaic of geometric and organic decoration. The man's robe bears severe rectangular forms; the woman's gown flows with circular floral patterns. Gold transforms flesh into ornament, private feeling into public spectacle.
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The I-Ching calls this Bì (賁), Grace—a character suggesting adornment, decoration, the surface that makes content visible. The hexagram shows Mountain (Gèn) above Fire (Lí): stillness resting over clarity and light. In ancient practice, this configuration appeared when form mattered, when ceremony enhanced substance, when beauty served truth. But the text treats grace with caution—decoration can reveal essential nature or obscure it. Klimt's gold leaf both celebrates the embrace and distances the viewer from the bodies beneath. Klimt created this Symbolist work during his 'Golden Period', using gold leaf and decorative patterns inspired by Byzantine mosaics. The painting depicts an embracing couple on a flower-filled meadow, their bodies adorned with elaborate geometric and organic ornamentation. The decorative surface treatment transforms the intimate scene into a highly stylized composition. The Judgment text speaks carefully: "Grace has success. In small matters it is favorable to undertake something." Grace succeeds in minor affairs, in social ceremony, in aesthetic refinement. But the text limits its scope—grace is not the solution to fundamental problems. Ancient diviners knew that decoration could smooth social friction, that ritual could restore harmony in small disputes, that beauty could make truth palatable. But grace alone cannot address structural flaws. Klimt painted passion as pattern, making feeling acceptable to Viennese patrons who purchased it for their walls. The Image Text offers a crucial distinction: "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." Use grace for daily matters, ceremony for small occasions. But when stakes are high, when truth is contested, when fundamental questions arise, decoration becomes dangerous. In the I-Ching sequence, Grace follows Biting Through: after removing the obstruction through force, grace smooths the remaining roughness. The next hexagram is Splitting Apart, when surface beauty can no longer conceal underlying decay.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 22 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.
政不暴虐，鳳凰來舍；四時順節，民安其居。
Governance neither cruel nor oppressive; the phoenix comes to dwell. The four seasons follow their proper order; the people rest secure in their homes.
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Fire beneath the mountain mirrors itself — Grace transforms into Grace, the hexagram unchanged. When governance is not tyrannical, the phoenix comes to dwell. The four seasons follow their proper rhythm, and the people rest secure in their homes. The phoenix appears only under a sage ruler whose virtue radiates without coercion. This self-referential verse captures Grace's highest potential: adornment as the natural expression of good order, not artifice imposed upon chaos. When the source and target are identical, the message is: this pattern, fully realized, needs no transformation. Civilized beauty at its best is not decoration but the visible form of virtue — the phoenix choosing to settle where it senses authentic grace.
中文注释
山下有火，賁之自照。政不暴虐——政令不殘暴。鳳凰來舍——鳳凰來此棲居。四時順節——四季依序運行。民安其居——百姓安居樂業。鳳凰唯聖世而現，明君之德自然輻射，不假強制。源卦與變卦同為賁，此自指之詩道出賁之最高境界：文飾為善治之自然表達，非強加於亂世之人工。卦變為自身，寓意明確：此格局圓滿實現，無須變化。文明之美非裝飾，乃德之可見形態——鳳凰擇真正之文采而棲。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Mountain (艮)