No. 27 Providing Nourishment
山雷颐 · Yí · Thunder under Mountain
“Watch what you take in. What nourishes you shapes what comes out.”
Lower trigram ☳ Thunder 震 — initiation & action
Upper trigram ☶ Mountain 艮 — stillness & boundary
Trigram: a three-line symbolic figure that forms one half of an I Ching hexagram.
- Nourishment
- Careful intake
- Right source
- Steady feeding
- Watch the mouth
Introduction
Thunder moves under the mountain, and the image is an open mouth being filled. Providing Nourishment asks what you are taking in, and from where.
In practice, this names a stretch about inputs: what you read, eat, listen to, and who you learn from.
The judgement
“Providing Nourishment. Perseverance furthers. Pay heed to the filling of the mouth, and see what a person seeks to fill his own mouth with.”
In plain words: feeding yourself well works, and persistence keeps it working. The old text asks you to watch what you are actually taking in.
Read it as a question about sources rather than about quantity. The same amount from a different source produces a different person.
Core themes
- What you take in becomes what you have to give.
- The source matters more than the amount.
- Nourishing others starts with nourishing yourself properly.
Line-by-line overview
Six lines, read bottom to top — matching the figure above.
Each line describes one stage in an evolving situation. Line 1 marks the earliest, foundational beginning; line 6 shows where the pattern has run its course. Open a line to read it.
Line 1 初九
At the base, you abandon what sustains you and watch what others have.
The old image is dropping your own tortoise to stare at someone else’s mouth.
Envy here is expensive.
Line 2 六二
Here you look above yourself for what should come from your own ground.
The old line calls nourishment from that direction wrong.
Depending upward tends to leave you weaker, not fuller.
Line 3 六三
At this level, the line refuses what would feed it.
The old line says nothing furthers for a long while afterwards.
Refusing good input works more slowly than taking bad input, yet it hollows you out just the same.
Line 4 六四
Here the looking upward is clean, because it serves others rather than appetite.
The old image is a tiger watching with steady, craving eyes.
Focused attention is what makes this line work.
Line 5 六五
At the centre, the line steps off the usual path and keeps its persistence.
The old line finds good in it and advises against the great crossing.
Small, steady feeding suits this height better than a big move.
Line 6 上九
At the top, the line becomes a source for others.
The old line pairs awareness of danger with good, and opens the crossing.
Feeding others well is the last shape of this figure.
Summary
Read as a whole, this figure asks you to watch what you take in and from where. Feed yourself from sound sources, refuse envy, and become a source for others in turn.
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Hexagram 27 · Providing Nourishment 颐
A way to look at what is moving around you now, not a fixed answer. Notice your inner state, then decide how to act.
Notice what feeds the bond, and what drains it quietly.
Shared meals and ordinary time tend to nourish more than big talks.
People often compare their bond with others. Comparing tends to starve the one they have.
Feed the relationship where it actually lives: in ordinary hours.
Ultimately, your real-world facts and personal choices will shape how things unfold.
This hexagram contains 1 changing line. You may read detailed line interpretations inside the full hexagram-knowledge page. If you want to deepen your understanding of changing lines and line positions, please visit our I-Ching six-line learning page.
Read the full guide →- Notice what you take in about relationships from outside. Outside input tends to set expectations. Checking it tends to keep your own bond yours.
- Ask whether you are feeding the bond or being fed by it. Both are fine when they are balanced. One-way feeding tends to empty the feeder.
Related reading
Short reads from the blog. A changing line is a line that may shift as a situation moves.
Working with changing lines
Learn about changing lines and how to interpret them
Expectation & inner honesty
Set proper expectations before your reflection reading
Using the I Ching for self-reflection
What you feed your attention.
Related hexagrams
Preponderance of the Great · 大过
Its opposite, line for line
No. 26The Taming Power of the Great · 大畜
The hexagram before this one
No. 25Innocence · 无妄
The hexagram before this one
If you would like to browse all 64 hexagrams, visit All 64 Hexagrams.
If you would like to learn about static hexagrams and the interpretation rules for changing lines within I-Ching, please visit our general guide: Understanding Changing & Static Lines.