Yarrow / Source Notes / 2026-07-17

Yarrow source note · 2026-07-17

Hexagram 27 Yi: Read the Judgment Before the Advice

A source-first reading note for Hexagram 27, Yi (Nourishment), with a reference translation, trigram frame, and one reversible observation practice.

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Hexagram 27 · 颐 · Yi

Nourishment

The lower trigram is 震 (雷), associated in the bundled corpus with 动; the upper trigram is 艮 (山), associated with 止. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.

Reference translation

I (Yi) — Nourishment: auspicious. Observe what is nourished, and seek your own sustenance. The Tuan says: Nourishment, perseverance brings good fortune. To nourish in the right way brings good fortune. Observe nourishment — observe whom one nourishes. Observe his seeking food for the mouth — observe how he nourishes himself. Heaven and earth nourish the ten thousand things; the sage nourishes the worthy and thereby reaches the myriad people. Great indeed is the time of Nourishment! The Xiang says: Thunder beneath the mountain — the image of Nourishment. Thus the superior man is careful of his words and temperate in eating and drinking.

See the original-text and authority layers in the complete catalog entry.

Context from the authority layer

The hexagram Yi carries two meanings: nourishing oneself and nourishing the worthy. The ancient sages, observing the image of Yi, came to understand that the way of nourishment lies in "nourishing rightly." Thus, to nourish the worthy means to support those of virtue; to nourish oneself means to seek one's food and drink through righteous means. Yet the true significance of nourishment goes further: what nourishes a person is not food alone, but more importantly, virtue. Food can nourish a person, and so can virtue.

Read the structure before the slogan

The lower trigram is 震 (雷), associated in the bundled corpus with 动; the upper trigram is 艮 (山), associated with 止. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.

One accountable observation practice

Copy one concrete verb, condition, or image from the reference translation for Hexagram 27. Name one place where it is observable in the situation you are examining. Then choose one small step you can reverse and write the condition that would make you review it.

Common misread to avoid

Do not turn Nourishment into a personality label, a guaranteed event, or a verdict about another person. The translation and trigram frame are source layers to examine, not an instruction to surrender judgment.

Source boundary

The reference translation and context are drawn from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. Yarrow keeps that layer separate from optional modern reflection. This page does not claim that Hexagram 27 was cast for your question.