Hexagram Fire and Thunder, Biting Through - Meaning and Application in the I Ching

What is the Hỏa Lôi Phệ Hạp hexagram among the 64 hexagrams?

The Hỏa Lôi Phệ Hạp (噬嗑) hexagram is the 21st of the 64 hexagrams in the Chu Dịch order, composed of the upper trigram Ly (Fire) and the lower trigram Chấn (Thunder). The name of the hexagram is written in Han characters as 噬嗑, read as Phệ Hạp.

Tradition attributes the drawing of the trigrams to Phục Hy, the naming and writing of the quái từ to Văn Vương, the writing of the hào từ to Chu Công, and the writing of the Thập Dực to Khổng Tử; modern scholarship does not treat that chain of authorship as proven, and places the commentary portion around the 5th to 2nd centuries BCE.

How is the original text of the Phệ Hạp hexagram written?

The quái từ reads: 噬嗑：亨。利用獄。 Read as "Phệ Hạp: hanh, lợi dụng ngục", meaning literally that biting and closing brings success, and that it is favorable for matters of prison punishment.

The six hào từ are written in order from the bottom up:

• Hào Sơ cửu: 初九：屨校滅趾，无咎。 Read as "Cù giáo diệt chỉ, vô cữu", meaning to put a cangue on the foot until it covers the toes, no fault.
• Hào Lục nhị: 六二：噬膚滅鼻，无咎。 Read as "Phệ phu diệt tị, vô cữu", meaning to bite soft skin until it fills the nose, no fault.
• Hào Lục tam: 六三：噬昔肉，遇毒；小吝，无咎。 Read as "Phệ tích nhục, ngộ độc; tiểu lận, vô cữu", meaning to bite dried meat and meet poison; a little regret, no fault.
• Hào Cửu tứ: 九四：噬乾胏，得金矢，利艱貞，吉。 Read as "Phệ can tỉ, đắc kim thỉ, lợi gian trinh, cát", meaning to bite dried meat with bone attached, obtain a golden arrow, favorable in hardship to keep correctness, auspicious.
• Hào Lục ngũ: 六五：噬乾肉，得黃金，貞厲，无咎。 Read as "Phệ can nhục, đắc hoàng kim, trinh lệ, vô cữu", meaning to bite dried meat, obtain gold, keeping correctness though in danger, no fault.
• Hào Thượng cửu: 上九：何校滅耳，凶。 Read as "Hà giáo diệt nhĩ, hung", meaning to carry a cangue until it covers the ears, inauspicious.

The Thoán truyện (part of the Thập Dực) reads: 頤中有物，曰噬嗑，噬嗑而亨。剛柔分，動而明，雷電合而章。柔得中而上行，雖不當位，利用獄也。 The literal meaning is that there is an object in the mouth, so it is called Phệ Hạp; biting and closing brings success. The firm and the yielding are divided, movement and brightness, thunder and lightning join and become clear. The yielding attains the center and moves upward; though it does not occupy the proper place, it is favorable for matters of prison punishment.

The Đại Tượng truyện (Tượng truyện, part of the Thập Dực) reads: 雷電噬嗑；先王以明罰敕法。 The literal meaning is that thunder and lightning are Phệ Hạp; the former kings accordingly made punishments clear and reformed the laws.

How do Vương Bật and Chu Hy comment on the Phệ Hạp hexagram?

Vương Bật comments on the quái từ and the Thoán truyện: "Phệ means to bite, Hạp means to close. In general, things that are not close to one another are so because there is a gap; things that are not even with one another are so because there is a fault. When there is a gap and a fault, biting and closing them is the way to make things go through. Punishment overcomes in order to bring things through, and that is the benefit of the prison." Vương Bật adds: "When there is an object and there is a gap, if one does not bite and does not close, there is no path to success." On the phrase "the firm and the yielding are divided, movement and brightness, thunder and lightning join and become clear", Vương Bật comments: "The firm and the yielding are divided and move, and only when there is no disorder is there brightness; thunder and lightning join, and only when there is no confusion is there clarity; both carry the meaning of 'favorable for the prison'." On the Lục ngũ hào, Vương Bật comments: "This speaks of the fifth hào. To be able to preside over the biting and closing that brings success, there must surely be a master, and the fifth hào is that. 'Moving upward' speaks of where it is headed in the direction of advance. Whenever 'moving upward' is spoken of, it always means where one is headed in the noble position. Though it does not occupy the proper place, it does no harm to the use of the prison."

Vương Bật comments on the Sơ cửu hào: "It is in a place with no position for administering punishment at the outset, so it is one who receives punishment and not one who governs punishment. In general, a fault begins small and only afterward becomes clear; punishment begins light and only afterward reaches killing. A light fault and light killing, and so 'cù giáo diệt chỉ', which is to shackle the foot. When the warning is enough, it stops, and so it is not heavy. Only when there is a fault and it is not corrected is it called a fault. To warn of the small and thereby warn of the great, that is to obtain blessing, and so 'vô cữu'. 'Giáo' is to shackle with wood, that is, the shackle; calling it giáo is using the general name."

Vương Bật comments on the Lục nhị hào: "Phệ means to bite. The one who bites speaks of punishment overcoming. Being in the center and occupying the place, the place of punishment is correct, and so it says 'phệ phu'. Riding over the firm while punishing, one has not yet exhausted the way of compliance, and bites beyond one's own portion, and so 'diệt tị'. The punishment strikes the place that deserves detestation, and so though 'diệt tị' it is 'vô cữu'. 'Phu' is a soft and weak thing."

Vương Bật comments on the Lục tam hào: "Being at the end of the lower body and treading on a place that is not its own, using that position to eat a thing, that thing must be hard. And is it only hard? It will meet poison. 'Phệ' is used to liken punishing a person, 'tích' to liken their not submitting, 'độc' to liken the resentment that arises. But since it succeeds the fourth hào and does not ride over the firm, though it loses correctness, the punishment does not encroach on the compliant, and so though 'ngộ độc, tiểu lận' it is 'vô cữu'."

Vương Bật comments on the Cửu tứ hào: "Though it is a yang body and rules over the yin, it is in a place that is not the center and also not the proper place; using that position to bite a thing, the thing likewise does not submit, and so it says 'phệ can tỉ'. Kim is the firm, thỉ is the straight. 'Phệ can tỉ' and yet obtaining the firm and straight, one may be favorable in hardship and keeping correctness and so auspicious, but it is not yet enough to exhaust the way of bringing things through and ordering them."

Vương Bật comments on the Lục ngũ hào: "Dried meat is hard. Vàng is the center. Kim is the firm. Taking yin in a yang place, taking the soft to ride over the firm, using that position to bite a thing, the thing likewise does not submit, and so it says 'phệ can nhục'. But being in the honorable place, taking the soft to ride over the firm and being in the center, it can carry out killing. To be in a place that is not correct and yet be able to carry out killing is to be one whom the firm overcomes. Though the biting does not make things submit, obtaining the center it overcomes, and so it says 'phệ can nhục đắc hoàng kim'. Though the self is not correct, the punishment is correct, and so though 'trinh lệ' it is 'vô cữu'."

Vương Bật comments on the Thượng cửu hào: "Being at the extreme of punishment, it is one whose evil is accumulated and who does not correct it. The crime is not something a warning can reach, and so punishment reaches the head, reaching 'diệt nhĩ'; reaching the head it is not a warning, and 'diệt nhĩ' is not a warning, and there is no inauspiciousness greater than this."

Chu Hy (Chu Dịch bản nghĩa) comments on the quái từ: "Phệ means to bite, Hạp means to close. When a thing has a gap, one bites and closes it. In making the hexagram, the upper and lower are two yang with a gap in the middle, following the image of a mouth; the Cửu tứ hào, one yang, intrudes in the middle, and one must bite and only afterward close, and so it is Phệ Hạp. The place it occupies deserves to be successful; because there is a gap it is not through, and biting and closing it makes it through. Also, three yin and three yang, the firm and the yielding half and half, below movement and above brightness, below thunder and above lightning, originally from the Ích hexagram's Lục tứ hào, the soft moving upward to the fifth hào and obtaining the center, and so taking yin in a yang place, though it does not occupy the proper place, it is favorable for matters of the prison. Broadly, the way of governing the prison values only awe and brightness with the attainment of the center; and so one who divines and obtains this hexagram, having that virtue, will correspond to what it occupies."

Chu Hy comments on the Sơ cửu hào: "The first and the top have no position, and are the image of receiving punishment; the four middle hào are the image of using punishment. The first is at the beginning of the hexagram, its crime is thin and its fault small, and it is also below the hexagram, and so it is the image of 'cù giáo diệt chỉ'. To stop evil from the beginning is why it obtains vô cữu; one who divines sees a small wound and vô cữu."

Chu Hy comments on the Lục nhị hào: "Tế has meat on the top, which is soft and weak meat, easy to bite and close. Lục nhị is central and correct, and so the place it governs is like biting easy meat; but taking the soft to ride over the firm, and so though it is very easy it cannot avoid being wounded and having its nose destroyed; one who divines, though wounded, in the end has vô cữu."

Chu Hy comments on the Lục tam hào: "Dried meat is meat of a dried animal with all its bones, a hard and tough thing. Yin and soft, not central and not correct, governing people while the people do not submit, it is the image of biting dried meat and meeting poison; one who divines, though a little regretful, is at a time of Phệ Hạp, and in meaning it is vô cữu."

Chu Hy comments on the Cửu tứ hào: "Phệ is meat with bone attached, interchangeable with the character 'tự'. In the Chu Lễ, in prison litigation one submits a bundle of metal and a bundle of arrows and only afterward is heard. Cửu tứ takes the firm in the soft, obtains the way of using punishment, and so has this image; it says that what it bites is harder and yet it obtains what is fitting for hearing a case. But it must be favorable in hardship and correct and steadfast to be auspicious, warning the one who divines that it should be thus."

Chu Hy comments on the Lục ngũ hào: "Biting dried meat is harder than skin and easier than dried meat with bone attached. Vàng is the color of the center, and kim is also called a bundle of metal. Lục ngũ is soft and compliant and central, in the honorable place, using punishment on people while none do not submit, and so it has this image; but it must be trinh lệ to obtain vô cữu, which is also a word of warning to the one who divines."

Chu Hy comments on the Thượng cửu hào: "Hà means to carry. Yang is at the extreme of excess at the top of the hexagram, evil at its extreme and crime great; this is the way of inauspiciousness, and so the image it occupies is thus."

In Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, what does the Phệ Hạp hexagram suggest?

In Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, the central image of the hexagram is an object lodged between the two rows of teeth, so that the mouth cannot close; one must bite that object for the mouth to close and for matters to go through. The quái từ says "hanh, lợi dụng ngục" and the Đại Tượng truyện says "tiên vương dĩ minh phạt sắc pháp", and so tradition ties this hexagram to making rules clear and keeping reward and punishment distinct. This is a reading within the framework of the Kinh Dịch, not a promise of a specific outcome for a specific person.

The six hào từ sketch a ladder from light to heavy: the Sơ cửu hào is a shackle on the foot, stopping a fault while it is small; the Lục nhị hào is biting soft skin, handling an easy matter and yet still overreaching; the Lục tam hào is biting dried meat and meeting poison, that is, a hard matter giving rise to resentment; the Cửu tứ hào is biting dried meat with bone attached, obtaining a golden arrow, having to keep correctness through hardship; the Lục ngũ hào is biting dried meat and obtaining gold, in danger yet without fault; the Thượng cửu hào is carrying a cangue up to the ears, inauspicious. Vương Bật's commentary and Chu Hy's commentary both read this sequence as a progression in the use of punishment, where the light is warned early and the heavy must be handled with care.

The hào từ carry the social standards of ancient times, such as matters of shackles, litigation, ruler and minister, and so should be read as the historical context of the Chu era, not converted directly into advice for the present day. Where Vương Bật and Chu Hy differ, as with the Lục tam hào's character "tích" or "tịch" and the understanding of "ngộ độc", both sides should be stated clearly rather than merged into one.

When one meets the Phệ Hạp hexagram asking about work, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: when work has a sticking point lodged in the middle, one should identify exactly that sticking point and deal with it early, not let it remain for long. The quái từ says "lợi dụng ngục" and the Đại Tượng truyện says "minh phạt sắc pháp", so the spirit that is easy to see is making the rules clear and keeping things transparent, not using force arbitrarily.

When one meets the Phệ Hạp hexagram asking about love, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: if there is a misunderstanding or something blocking between two people, one should speak plainly to clear that blockage, rather than let it pile up. The Lục tam hào is biting dried meat and meeting poison, that is, a hard matter that can give rise to resentment, so that guidance reminds one to keep one's words at a moderate level. This is a suggestion for self-reflection, not a prediction of the outcome for a specific relationship.

When one meets the Phệ Hạp hexagram asking about money, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: the Cửu tứ hào says "đắc kim thỉ" and the Lục ngũ hào says "đắc hoàng kim", but both hào come with the condition of keeping correctness through hardship or of trinh lệ, so it should be read as a reminder to keep clarity in papers and contracts, not as a promise of gain. One should not use the hexagram to decide a specific investment.

When one meets the Phệ Hạp hexagram asking about health, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: this hexagram does not speak of illness, so do not use it to guess at disease. Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: if the body has a discomfort that drags on, what should be done is to go for an examination, while keeping one's daily routine and dealing early with the unsettled spot are also worth attention.

When one meets the Phệ Hạp hexagram asking about leadership, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: the Đại Tượng truyện says "tiên vương dĩ minh phạt sắc pháp", so the part that is easy to see is making the rules clear and keeping fairness. The Lục nhị hào and the Lục ngũ hào both show that the one handling matters may overreach or meet danger, so one should be careful before concluding about other people. This is a suggestion about how to act, not a guarantee of results.

Quick reference table: the Hỏa Lôi Phệ Hạp hexagram

The figures in the table match the results of the lookup tools on Nhật Nguyệt.