HEXAGRAM 54 · guī mèi

The Marrying Maiden

The Marrying Maiden: attraction, position, and the cost of entering a bond on unequal terms

雷泽归妹Classical Chinese included

Translation approach

The Chinese source stays visible. Where an editorial close rendering is available, it stays near the wording before Astro I Ching expands into cultural interpretation. Why we separate these layers →

CLASSICAL CHINESE

The source anchor

Read the source first. The English layer below remains accountable to these passages rather than replacing them with a simplified verdict.

卦辞 · Judgment

归妹：征凶，无攸利。

Close rendering

The Marrying Maiden: going forward brings misfortune. Nothing is favorable.

《大象》 · Image

泽上有雷，归妹；君子以永终知敝。

Close rendering

Thunder above Lake: The Marrying Maiden. The noble person therefore, in considering lasting endings, understands what can go wrong.

How to read the middle layer

Close rendering stays near wording and sequence. It is not presented as the only possible translation; the cultural reading below is where Astro I Ching explains image, structure, and practical logic in fuller English.

ASTRO I CHING · CULTURAL READING

Why this hexagram says what it says

Cultural reading of the image

Thunder moves above Lake: relationship is stirred by feeling and external momentum, yet the positions are not fully equal. Gui Mei examines role, timing, and fit inside a bond.

Cultural reading of the judgment

Being together is not enough. Commitment, responsibility, and position have to fit one another or strong attraction can create long-term instability.

SIX LINES · ONE STORY

How the hexagram develops from bottom to top

Line 1 · 初九

Classical Chinese

归妹以娣，跛能履，征吉。

Close rendering

The marrying maiden goes as a secondary wife. A lame person can still walk. Going forward brings good fortune.

Cultural reading

A secondary position can still act well when its limits and responsibilities are clearly understood.

Line 2 · 九二

Classical Chinese

眇能视，利幽人之贞。

Close rendering

A one-eyed person can still see. Favorable for the secluded person to remain correct.

Cultural reading

When perspective or resources are incomplete, quiet self-possession is safer than trying to prove the relationship’s value.

Line 3 · 六三

Classical Chinese

归妹以须，反归以娣。

Close rendering

The marrying maiden waits in a secondary position and returns again as an attendant.

Cultural reading

Lowering one’s own position further does not solve a bond whose basic conditions are not ready.

Line 4 · 九四

Classical Chinese

归妹愆期，迟归有时。

Close rendering

The marrying maiden misses the proper time. A delayed marriage still has its time.

Cultural reading

Delay is not necessarily a defect. Waiting for proper timing can be healthier than binding early for the sake of form.

Line 5 · 六五

Classical Chinese

帝乙归妹，其君之袂，不如其娣之袂良，月几望，吉。

Close rendering

King Di Yi gives his daughter in marriage. The main wife’s sleeves are not as fine as those of the attendant. The moon is nearly full. Good fortune.

Cultural reading

Rank and ornament say less about relational quality than the fit of the actual position.

Line 6 · 上六

Classical Chinese

女承筐无实，士刲羊无血，无攸利。

Close rendering

The woman holds a basket with nothing in it; the man slaughters a sheep but there is no blood. Nothing is favorable.

Cultural reading

A complete ceremony with empty substance is false completion; commitment must correspond to real action.

BRING IT BACK TO LIFE

What this can help you notice

Useful when attraction or opportunity is real but the position being offered may not match the commitment, authority, or reciprocity expected.

A common misreading

The Marrying Maiden is not a universal judgment on marriage. It examines what happens when relationship and position are misaligned.

Keep the classical text and the interpretive layer separate: one is the source, the other is Astro I Ching's explanation of how the source can be read.

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