Hexagram 27
山雷颐
Nourishment
Hexagram 27, Yi (Nourishment), is Mountain over Thunder - thunder stirring at the foot of the mountain, all things sprouting and seeking nourishment.
Upper Trigram
☶
艮 (土)
Lower Trigram
☳
震 (木)
Palace
巽 Palace
Shi / Ying Lines
Shi: Line 4 · Ying: Line 1
The 艮 trigram (土) sits above the 震 trigram (木), forming 山雷颐. This hexagram belongs to the 巽 Palace.
Judgment (卦辞)
The Corners of the Mouth. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Judgment text follows the Wilhelm–Baynes translation (The I Ching or Book of Changes, Princeton University Press), quoted for commentary.
Image (象辞)
At the foot of the mountain, thunder: the image of Providing Nourishment.
Line Texts (爻辞)
You let your magic tortoise go. Misfortune. (舍尔灵龟)
Turning to the summit for nourishment. (颠颐)
Turning away from nourishment. Ten years do not act. (拂颐)
Turning to the summit. Spying with sharp eyes. (颠颐)
Turning away from the path. (拂经)
The source of nourishment. Awareness of danger. (由颐)
Hexagram 27 in Love & Relationships
Relationships: Be a source of nourishment for others, not only a consumer of their energy.
Hexagram 27 in Career & Decisions
Career: Watch what you feed your mind and your team. The quality of what enters determines the quality of what comes out.
Hexagram 27 as a yes / no answer
Depends on timing
The hexagram counsels timing and care: the answer depends on how and when you proceed.
The I Ching reads situations, not fixed outcomes — your reading can weigh the moving lines with this leaning.
In-Depth Analysis[+]
Hexagram 27, Yi (Nourishment), is Mountain over Thunder - thunder stirring at the foot of the mountain, all things sprouting and seeking nourishment. The name means 'the corners of the mouth' - the image of eating, of what we take in to sustain ourselves, physically and spiritually. The judgment: 'perseverance brings good fortune.' The lines contrast two ways of feeding: turning to others for nourishment versus the final line, the source of nourishment itself, which feeds others. Yi teaches that we must watch both what we take in and what we put out - nourish the body and the spirit, and become, in turn, a source of nourishment.
Historical Stories[+]
The mother who feeds her family first, nourishing others before herself - the source of nourishment at the center of the home.
The ancient sage who watched his words as carefully as his food, knowing that both words and food enter and shape a life.
Practical Applications[+]
Career: Watch what you feed your mind and your team. The quality of what enters determines the quality of what comes out.
Relationships: Be a source of nourishment for others, not only a consumer of their energy.
Personal Growth: What are you feeding yourself - in food, in media, in company? Nourish deliberately.
Classical Sources for Hexagram 27
黄金策 (The Golden Strategy)明 (Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644)
The subject-category diagnostic framework and its mnemonic verse formulas for common life-domain questions.
Related Hexagrams
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