Yarrow self-inverse source note · 2026-07-17

Yi: What a Self-Inverse Hexagram Does—and Does Not—Mean

Read Hexagram 27 Yi (Nourishment) as a self-inverse zong gua: reversing its six-line order preserves the pattern without fixing the meaning, context, or outcome.

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27 · Yi · Nourishment

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.

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.

Complete source entry

Structural symmetry

Stored sequence: 001100

Reversed sequence: 001100

The equality is a property of the line arrangement. It is not a result forecast.

What self-inverse actually says

The local structured corpus records Hexagram 27's 综卦 (zong gua, inverse) as itself. Its stored six-line sequence is 001100; reversing the order still gives 001100. This is structural symmetry under a change of viewing direction, not evidence that the situation or its outcome is fixed.

Hold the pattern, vary the context

Write 001100 twice, reverse the second copy, and verify that the sequences still match. Copy one concrete phrase from the reference layer, list two different observable contexts in which it might matter, and choose one reversible check that could distinguish those contexts.

Common misread to avoid

Self-inverse does not mean predetermined, unchanging, or identical from every human viewpoint. It says only that reversing the six line positions leaves this structural pattern unchanged.

Source boundary

The reference layer and the self-inverse relationship come from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi corpus. The English wording is an editorial explanation. This note is not a fresh cast, a prediction, or a promise that every direction leads to the same result.