I Ching · Hexagram 27 of 64
Hexagram 27: Yi （颐） — Nourishment
Yi is Mountain over Thunder, the mountain as the root of the spirit and thunder as the open mouth, taking the images of mouth and nourishment. It is the hexagram of nourishing life and cultivating both spirit and body: first the spirit is fed by turning the light inward and receiving the gift of Heaven, then the body by food, and at last one nourishes the worthy and all the people.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 27 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Yi 颐 · Nourishment |
| Upper trigram | Gen （艮）· Mountain |
| Lower trigram | Zhen （震）· Thunder |
| Structure | Mountain over Thunder |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Nourishment. Perseverance brings good fortune. Contemplate the nourishment; seek your own mouthful.
ExplainedTo nourish life and lengthen one's years requires correctness, for the wrong nourishment brings misfortune instead. There are two ways: to contemplate the nourishment is to turn the light inward and look into the spirit, receiving from Heaven the gift that does not run out, called by the Confucians the expansive spirit and by the Buddhists the light of Buddha; to seek one's own mouthful is to take food for the body. Heaven gives birth and earth nourishes, and the two must go together, for only while the gift of Heaven continues can the food of earth keep a life alive. The heart of the hexagram is how to draw in the energy of space and nourish the upright spirit.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
Nourishment. Perseverance brings good fortune: to nourish what is correct is good fortune. Contemplate the nourishment: contemplate what he nourishes. Seek your own mouthful: contemplate his self-nourishing. Heaven and earth nourish all things; the holy one nourishes the worthy and reaches all the people. Great indeed is the meaning of the time of nourishment.
ExplainedTo nourish what is correct is to nourish the expansive spirit, great and strong, and not the body alone. Contemplating the nourishment means turning the light inward and beholding Heaven, so that what is fed is the spirit; seeking one's own mouthful means that food feeds the flesh. When the spirit is unhealthy the body sickens too, since sickness comes from the heart, so the spirit must be nourished first, dissolving greed, resentment and fear with the expansive spirit, and afterward one eats with attention. Beyond the self one nourishes the worthy, the courage and wisdom within oneself, and then all the people; the three stages, cleansing the heart, strengthening the body and saving all beings, grow from small to great.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
Thunder below the mountain: Nourishment. Thus the noble one is careful in speech and moderate in food and drink.
ExplainedThe mountain is the spirit mountain and thunder is the mouth: together they make the mouth. The noble one nourishes life first by nourishing the breath: careful speech means less talk, since opening the mouth scatters the spirit and moving the tongue breeds contention, and words that are good travel a thousand miles and draw the response of the holy. Moderation in food means not stuffing the body, for a full belly keeps the light from entering and brews toxins that must be cleared at the cost of energy. To speak less and eat less is the first step; to talk of right and wrong while eating is to let sickness in at the mouth and trouble out of it.
The Six Lines （六爻）
The lines are read from the bottom upward. Each carries its own text, a Small Image commentary, and a plain-English reading.
Line 1 · YangLine 1
You abandon your spirit turtle and look at me with jaws hanging. Misfortune.
Small ImageLooking at me with jaws hanging: this too is not worth honoring.
ExplainedThe spirit turtle lives without eating by drawing in the energy of space through the mysterious pass rather than the nose, and to abandon it is to give up the spirit's own power for the pleasure of the table. True nobility has known how to live on breath rather than on tonics, and to feed only the body, especially on flesh and blood, is to pile up toxins and invite misfortune. The gift of Heaven and the food of earth must go together, neither neglected.
Line 2 · YinLine 2
To reverse the nourishment, to violate the norm, to nourish at the hill. Going forward brings misfortune.
Small ImageThe second six going forward brings misfortune: his action loses his kind.
ExplainedTo draw food from the summit of the spirit mountain is right, but to violate the norm by taking no food at all and leaving every earthly root behind, or to flee into far hills away from men and seek the silent, is excess and brings misfortune. Such a one has ceased to be of the same kind as men and cannot reach them. The holy one does not become a solitary awakened one but nourishes the worthy and reaches all the people.
Line 3 · YinLine 3
To reverse the nourishment. Perseverance brings misfortune. For ten years, do not act. Nothing is favorable.
Small ImageFor ten years do not act: the Way is greatly opposed.
ExplainedHere both the light of Heaven and the food of earth are cut off: no eating and no turning of the light inward, the modern practice of fasting for health. Even with a correct motive, to fast without the skill of returning the light wastes the vital force and breaks down the tissues, so that though the illness may ease, strength and wisdom are damaged for as much as ten years. One needs the ground of innocence and great taming first; otherwise fasting opposes the way of nourishing life and harms it.
Line 4 · YinLine 4
To reverse the nourishment. Good fortune. He looks like a tiger, his desire is intent. No blame.
Small ImageThe good fortune of reversed nourishment: above, he spreads light.
ExplainedThis is the best line: still receiving from the mountain, and still eating, and wholly attentive as a cat watching a mouse, gathered and ready, so that everything he does, whether eating, listening or bowing, is done with the whole heart and relish. This is to stay within the present occasion, the light of Heaven and the food of earth both complete, so that life is full at every moment. He spreads the great light that Heaven grants, and the expansive spirit, filling him, dissolves greed, anger and delusion as darkness before light.
Line 5 · YinLine 5
To violate the norm. To abide in steadfastness brings good fortune. He cannot cross the great water.
Small ImageThe good fortune of abiding in steadfastness: he complies and follows what is above.
ExplainedHere the yielding sits in the firm place, the leader weak and the ministers strong, and to violate the norm means to entrust full authority to a worthy minister while one quietly nourishes correctness, strengthens the body and cultivates the heart until maturity comes to bear a great charge. The great water cannot yet be crossed, for the affairs of state are not yet his to carry. A leader newly in office must first cultivate both spirit and body and, when wisdom and strength are full, may then govern.
Line 6 · YangLine 6
Nourished from above. Danger, but good fortune. It is favorable to cross the great water.
Small ImageNourished from above with danger and good fortune: there is great celebration.
ExplainedTo be nourished from above is to be the father and sovereign on whom all the people depend, the great one who nourishes the worthy and reaches all the people. Danger and good fortune together mean that the labor is heavy, as with the minister who works himself to death, and yet the end is good fortune, for there is no shirking the charge and the great water can be crossed. One such person's blessing, shared with the multitude, is a blessing for the whole land.
Key takeaway
Nourishment feeds spirit before body and then feeds the worthy and the many, drawing the gift of Heaven inward while eating the bread of earth.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 27 (Yi) mean in the I Ching?
Yi is Mountain over Thunder, the mountain as the root of the spirit and thunder as the open mouth, taking the images of mouth and nourishment. It is the hexagram of nourishing life and cultivating both spirit and body: first the spirit is fed by turning the light inward and receiving the gift of Heaven, then the body by food, and at last one nourishes the worthy and all the people.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 27?
Nourishment. Perseverance brings good fortune. Contemplate the nourishment; seek your own mouthful. To nourish life and lengthen one's years requires correctness, for the wrong nourishment brings misfortune instead. There are two ways: to contemplate the nourishment is to turn the light inward and look into the spirit, receiving from Heaven the gift that does not run out, called by the Confucians the expansive…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 27 say?
Line 1: You abandon your spirit turtle and look at me with jaws hanging. Misfortune. Line 2: To reverse the nourishment, to violate the norm, to nourish at the hill. Going forward brings misfortune. Line 3: To reverse the nourishment. Perseverance brings misfortune. For ten years, do not act. Nothing is favorable. Line 4: To reverse the nourishment. Good fortune. He looks like a tiger, his desire is intent. No blame. Line 5: To violate the norm. To abide in steadfastness brings good fortune. He cannot cross the great water. Line 6: Nourished from above. Danger, but good fortune. It is favorable to cross the great water.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 27 (Nourishment)?
Nourishment feeds spirit before body and then feeds the worthy and the many, drawing the gift of Heaven inward while eating the bread of earth.
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