SIX LINES
The Potato Eaters
䷚

Hexagram 27

頤

Yí

Nourishment

The Potato Eaters — Vincent van Gogh, 1885

Dutch peasants gather in lamplight around their evening meal—potatoes dug from fields they worked since dawn. Vincent van Gogh painted these figures in 1885 using earth tones and shadow, emphasizing the coarse hands that lift food to mouths. The faces are weathered, the room spare. Nothing decorative or refined appears; the painting insists on basic sustenance earned through labor. Steam rises from the dish of potatoes. One woman pours coffee. This is nourishment at its elemental level—fuel for bodies that must rise again tomorrow.

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Zhou Dynasty diviners called this hexagram Yi (頤), meaning "corners of the mouth" or "jaws." The character depicts the lower face, emphasizing physical intake. Mountain (Gen) sits above Thunder (Zhen): stillness above, movement below—the mouth's structure (jaw holding still) enables eating (tongue and throat in motion). Ancient practitioners saw this configuration when questions of sustenance arose, both physical and spiritual. What feeds you? What do you feed? Van Gogh's peasants embody the hexagram's physical dimension, but the painting itself nourishes viewers through honest representation of labor's dignity. Van Gogh's early work depicts Dutch peasants gathered around a simple meal they have earned through hard labor. The dark palette and rough faces emphasize the basic sustenance that nourishes life, connecting to the hexagram's theme of proper nourishment and what truly sustains us. The Judgment text states: "Pay heed to the providing of nourishment and to what a man seeks to fill his own mouth with." The warning cuts two ways—what you consume matters, and what you offer others matters. Van Gogh wrote to his brother that these peasants "have honestly earned their food," distinguishing nourishment obtained through rightful effort from consumption divorced from production. Song Dynasty commentary on this hexagram distinguished between those who nourish themselves (earning their bread) and those who nourish others (teachers, rulers, parents). The painting captures the former; the act of painting serves the latter. The Image Text offers counsel: "The superior person is careful of his words and temperate in eating and drinking." Moderation in intake applies to speech as to food—both enter through the mouth's corners. Van Gogh's peasants speak little in the painting; their nourishment is silent, concentrated, necessary. In the I-Ching's sequence, Nourishment follows Great Accumulating Force: after gathering strength (26), one must sustain it through proper feeding (27). The potatoes glow humble and sufficient under lamplight, offering what bodies need without excess or ornament—nourishment as fact rather than performance.

Upper Trigram

☶

艮 Gèn

Mountain — Stillness

ElementEarthDirectionNortheastFamilyYoungest SonQualitiesstill, stopping, resting

Lower Trigram

☳

震 Zhèn

Thunder — Arousing

ElementWoodDirectionNorthwestFamilyEldest SonQualitiesarousing, movement, shocking

Classical Texts

The Judgment

Steady attention to what you feed yourself—body and mind—brings good fortune. Watch what a person takes in and what they put out. That tells you everything about their character. The mouth works both ways: what you consume and what you speak.

The Lines

Line 1

You abandon your own resources to gaze enviously at others. The tortoise that lives on air needs nothing, yet you drop it to stare at someone's feast. This brings misfortune. You had independence; you traded it for longing.

Line 2

Looking upward for nourishment, turning from your own path for sustenance. If you can't support yourself and depend on favors from above, something is wrong. This pattern leads to shame if continued.

Line 3

Turning away from real nourishment toward what doesn't satisfy. From desire to gratification to desire again—the cycle of craving. Ten years of this leads nowhere. Complete waste.

Line 4

Looking upward for provision—but from this position, this serves the greater good. Tiger-like intensity in seeking capable people. When you work for everyone rather than yourself, the hunger serves a purpose.

Line 5

Aware of your own insufficiency. You should be providing but lack the strength. Turn from the usual path to seek help from someone wiser but less visible. Stay in place; don't attempt the great crossing.

Line 6

The source of nourishment for others. Great responsibility comes with this position. Stay aware of the danger, and you can undertake even the most difficult ventures. Success and general benefit follow.

Yilin: Forest of Changes

From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 27 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

Yilin artwork for Hexagram 27
家給人足，頌聲並作。四夷賓服，干戈卷閣。

Every household provided, every person content; songs of praise arise in chorus. The four frontiers submit as guests; weapons of war are rolled up and shelved.

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Mountain over thunder remains mountain over thunder — Nourishment unchanged, its essence distilled. Every household is well provisioned and every person satisfied; hymns of praise arise in chorus. The four barbarian peoples submit as guests, and weapons of war are rolled up and stored in the pavilion. This is the golden age vision of nourishment perfected: when the mouth is governed wisely, material abundance cascades into cultural harmony and diplomatic peace. Spears sheathed and songs composed — the realm needs no army because it is properly fed. Nourishment turning upon itself amplifies its own virtue, proving that careful governance of what enters and exits the mouth underlies all civilization.

中文注释

山下有雷不變，頤之本質自我澄明。家給人足，頌聲並作——家家富足，人人飽暖，讚歌四起。四夷賓服，干戈卷閣——蠻夷歸順，兵器收藏。此為養之至善之象：口之所養得宜，物質之豐化為文教之盛、邦交之和。不須甲兵而天下歸心，蓋因養之正也。頤之自化自證：「慎言語、節飲食」之修為，推而廣之即為太平之基。一口之養繫天下之治。

Transformations

Hexagram 27 transforming into each of the 64 hexagrams, with Yilin verses.

䷀1䷁2䷂3䷃4䷄5䷅6䷆7䷇8䷈9䷉10䷊11䷋12䷌13䷍14䷎15䷏16䷐17䷑18䷒19䷓20䷔21䷕22䷖23䷗24䷘25䷙26䷚27䷛28䷜29䷝30䷞31䷟32䷠33䷡34䷢35䷣36䷤37䷥38䷦39䷧40䷨41䷩42䷪43䷫44䷬45䷭46䷮47䷯48䷰49䷱50䷲51䷳52䷴53䷵54䷶55䷷56䷸57䷹58䷺59䷻60䷼61䷽62䷾63䷿64

Related Hexagrams

Same upper trigram: Mountain (艮)

䷃蒙Youthful Folly䷑蠱Work on the Decayed䷕賁Grace䷙大畜Great Taming䷨損Decrease䷳艮Keeping Still Mountain䷷旅The Wanderer䷽小過Small Exceeding

Same lower trigram: Thunder (震)

䷂屯Difficulty at the Beginning䷐隨Following䷔噬嗑Biting Through䷗復Return䷘无妄Innocence䷩益Increase䷲震The Arousing Thunder䷽小過Small Exceeding
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