Hexagram 21
Biting Through
噬嗑Shì Kè
☲ Fire above, ☳ Thunder below
Fire flashes above and thunder rolls beneath: clear seeing and forceful striking belong together in this sign, which bites away obstacles between what wants to unite.
The JudgmentBiting through has success: it is worthwhile to let justice speak. Something sits between the jaws that prevents them from closing: an obstacle, a lie, an injustice. Biting through with force removes the obstruction; looking away keeps the mouth open forever.
The ImageThunder and lightning: the image of biting through. Thus the ancient kings confirmed the laws through clearly defined penalties. Lightning illuminates and thunder rolls after: clarity first, force behind it. Rules without consequences are suggestions; consequences without clear rules are arbitrariness. Justice requires both.
InterpretationSomething is stuck in between that will not go away on its own: an abuse everyone knows about, a lie in a relationship, someone who keeps crossing boundaries. The time for soothing is over; what belongs together can only close again once the obstruction is bitten away. That takes three things: name the problem out loud and precisely, attach clear consequences to it, and carry those out. Soft-handed healers leave festering wounds here; but mind the order of the Image: first the light (clarity, honest inquiry), only then the thunder (the measure). Punishment without clarity is the second abuse.
Place in the sequenceIt follows on from 20, Contemplation: where there is something to contemplate, union arises. Biting through removes what still prevents that union. It forms a pair with 22 · Grace.
Nuclear hexagram
The nuclear hexagram of Biting Through is 39 · Obstruction: Obstruction: do not push stubbornly against the mountain; choose the passable road, seek counsel and friends, and turn your gaze inward as well. It is formed from the inner lines and shows the hidden core of the situation.
The six lines
These texts belong to changing lines in a reading, from the bottom up.
Nine at the beginning
He is held fast in the stocks, so that his toes vanish:
no blame. The first misstep is punished at once and lightly: painful for a moment, wholesome for years, because those stopped early learn before wrongdoing becomes habit. If you are the one taking the rap: receive it as a favor, not an injustice. If you are the one giving it: correcting small and early is the mildest thing you can do; boundaries that come late always come hard.
Six in the second place
He bites through soft flesh, so that his nose vanishes:
no blame. The guilt is obvious and the reaction overshoots: punished more fiercely than strictly needed, the nose disappears in the biting. That is understandable in the face of evident wrong, and great blame does not follow. But remember the lesson: even a just verdict can keep measure. Indignation is a good engine and a bad helmsman; let it drive, not steer.
Six in the third place
He bites on old dried meat and strikes something poisonous:
slight shame, no blame. You are tackling something that has long been going bad, and the rot bites back: old grievances, old loyalties, reproaches aimed at the one cleaning up. Having to swallow hard for a moment does not mean you are wrong; old abuses always defend themselves with poison. Press on, with a little more respect for the age of the problem: what could rot for years also had protectors.
Nine in the fourth place
He bites on dried gristly meat and receives metal arrows:
it is worthwhile to be mindful of difficulties and to persevere; good fortune. The toughest opponent in the hexagram: entrenched interests, hard as dried meat with bone in it. Here you win only with the qualities of the arrow: hard as metal in perseverance, straight as the shaft in the cause. No shortcuts, no half deals; tough injustice capitulates only to someone who is beyond reproach and does not tire.
Six in the fifth placeruling line
He bites on dried lean meat and receives yellow gold:
persevering in awareness of danger, no blame. The case is clear and the verdict is yours to give: then be like yellow gold, pure and impartial as the middle itself. And stay aware of the danger of the judge's role: power over other people's faults corrupts faster than any possession. As judge, test your own motives most strictly; only when no revenge or convenience hides there is the verdict worth its gold.
Nine at the top
His neck is held fast in the wooden yoke, so that his ears vanish:
misfortune. The terminus of incorrigibility: so many warnings ignored that the yoke now makes listening itself impossible. It is not the first mistake that breaks people, but staying systematically deaf to every correction. If you recognize this image in someone else: stop warning where no one listens, and protect what has been entrusted to you. If you fear it is about yourself: your hearing is the first thing to save.