Hexagram 55
Abundance
豐 · 풍
Thunder over Fire
The Judgment
Abundance is the season when illumination and decisive action meet, bringing affairs to their fullest expression. Great responsibility belongs to whoever stands at its center, for plentiful resources alone do not create an ordered realm. Meet this height without anxious brooding, shining impartially as the sun does at midday. Yet fullness is not a possession that can be locked away against change. Its proper use is generous clarity: make what is present fruitful now, rather than darkening it with fear of decline.
The Image
Thunder sounds above fire, joining force with illumination. The noble one takes this conjunction as a charge to examine disputes clearly and carry out penalties with decision. Bright discernment must precede coercive action, so that authority serves justice rather than anger, and punishment answers the actual wrong.
In the light of the Dao
At the summit of fullness, the return has already begun. This need not cause sorrow. Use abundance without trying to arrest its movement, as daylight gives itself without storing brightness. The empty center can receive prosperity and release it; the grasping center turns plenty into a burden.
The two trigrams
Upper · outer
☳Thunder
Arousing, movement · Eldest son
Lower · inner
☲Fire
Clinging, clarity · Middle daughter
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. A line speaks only when it moves — when the cast gives it as 6 or 9.
First line · the beginning · yang, nine
You meet a companion whose strength and understanding match your own. Even a full ten days together need not produce fault. When this line moves, advance through this balanced alliance; mutual recognition makes effective action possible and brings due acknowledgment.
Second line · the inner centre · yin, six
So thick is the screening that stars appear at noon. Clarity is obscured, and a direct approach may provoke suspicion or hostility. Do not answer darkness with accusation; sincere purpose, steadily maintained, can awaken trust and turn the situation toward good fortune.
Third line · the threshold · yang, nine
The covering grows so dense that even small stars can be seen at midday. Your effective power is disabled, as though the right arm were broken. Recognize the obstruction without inventing personal guilt; inability under such conditions is not itself blameworthy.
Fourth line · the minister · yang, nine
A heavy screen again makes stars visible at noon, but now you encounter a lord of equal capacity. Shared understanding offers a passage through the obscurity. Seek the capable partner rather than struggling alone; this meeting opens the possibility of good fortune.
Fifth line · the ruler · yin, six
The seat of authority receives those whose gifts bring brightness to the realm. Their arrival brings honor, blessing, and good fortune. Welcome genuine ability without jealousy; abundance becomes fruitful when leadership gathers illumination instead of claiming to be its only source.
Top line · the end · yin, six
The house is made magnificent, but its household is hidden behind screens. Looking through the gate, no one is seen; isolation continues for three years. Wealth has become a sealed enclosure. Refusing fellowship and counsel turns the appearance of abundance into misfortune.