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Hexagram 46 — Ding, The Cauldron
Chronological no. 46 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 50 · 鼎
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the middle daughter
the eldest daughter
Upon the wood, Fire: the image of the cauldron. Flame transforms raw matter into something nourishing, refined, usable — a vessel that contains the transformation without being consumed by it. This is the figure of culture that refines without destroying. Thus the noble one steadies his destiny by making it upright: as the cauldron gives shape to what it receives, each person shapes their own destiny by what they choose to let cook within it.
The most discreet form is the one that best gathers the essence. It is not outward brilliance that defines a vessel's worth, but its capacity to preserve and transform what it receives. This line teaches that true value often resides in what seems most modest in appearance.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.
The steadied earth reaches its limit: the solidity that upheld the structure is about to change its nature.
At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.
In the action of man, fullness meets its limit: the initiative that led the figure folds back upon itself.
At the sage's seat, emptiness fills: the suppleness that governed with discretion gathers a new force.
At the summit, fullness completes its course and breaks: what had culminated cannot go further without turning back.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
This hexagram is the binary complement of hexagram 17 — Zhun, Difficulty at the Beginning (63 − 46 = 17): its patterns have exactly the same shape, only their colours are permuted. Here are the eight patterns of hexagram 17, one for each admissible family.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
45 — Li, That Which Clings, Fire · 47 — Da You, Possession in Great Measure
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☲ Li): 40 — Jin, Progress · 41 — Shi He, Biting Through · 42 — Wei Ji, Before Completion · 43 — Kui, Opposition · 44 — Lu, The Wanderer · 45 — Li, That Which Clings, Fire · 47 — Da You, Possession in Great Measure
Same lower trigram (☴ Xun): 6 — Sheng, Pushing Upward · 14 — Heng, Duration · 22 — Jing, The Well · 30 — Da Guo, Preponderance of the Great · 38 — Gu, Work on What Has Been Spoiled · 54 — Xun, The Gentle, Wind · 62 — Gou, Coming to Meet
