I Ching Shi He Meaning: Hexagram 21

Draw Shi He 噬嗑 and some think it is a hexagram of eating, some a hexagram of quarreling. Both touch it; both are not accurate.

Shi is bite; He is close. Something is stuck in the mouth; bite through it, then the mouth can close. There is an obstruction in the middle; do not bite, and above and below will not line up. So this hexagram is most used on jail, contracts, collecting a debt, surgery, law, making a decision on a right-and-wrong that has been dragging. It is not telling you to go bite people.

First get the image right. Shi He is Fire over Thunder, Biting Through. Li 離 above, Zhen 震 below. Fire above, Thunder below. Thunder moves and fire is bright, like lightning and thunder, so it can light up right and wrong, put a hand to biting. It is not Thunder over Fire, Feng 豐. Feng is Zhen above, Li below, thunder on fire: abundance. Shi He is fire on thunder: clear punishment, biting through, getting the stuck thing out. Reverse above and below and you misread “should decide” as “should celebrate.”

After it can be contemplated, why there is closing

The Xugua says: 「可觀而後有所合，故受之以噬嗑。嗑者，合也。」 After it can be contemplated, then there is closing; therefore Shi He follows. He is closing. Before it is Guan 觀. See clearly, then you can close. Close without looking: a careless close, and the next hexagram Bi (Grace) 賁 will come to decorate. This gate of Shi He first says: before closing, bite the obstruction through.

He is closing. Closing is not the soft kind of making up. It is lining up. Teeth lined up, then you can bite. In people: a contract lined up, evidence lined up, names lined up, then you can close. Old accounts stuck in the middle, an unreasonable person stuck, a sentence never judged stuck: closing is fake.

The judgment: 「噬嗑，亨。利用獄。」 It opens: bite, then it opens. Beneficial to use jail: beneficial for this matter of punishment and jail. Today not everyone goes to court, but the direction is clear: suited to walking a formal process. Mediation, a lawyer, a contract, arbitration, a hospital’s knife, a company’s discipline: all modern versions of jail. Enduring privately, muddling through: does not fit this hexagram.

The Tuan says: 「頤中有物，曰噬嗑。」 Something in the jaws, called Shi He. The jaws are the cheeks, the mouth. Something in the mouth: you have to bite. 「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。」 Below moving, above bright, thunder and lightning together: right and wrong become manifest. Draw Shi He and still want to dissolve the obstruction with feeling: the Tuan does not support that. It supports moving, brightness, jail.

The Xiang says: 「雷電，噬嗑。先王以明罰敕法。」 Thunder and lightning, Shi He. The former kings made punishment clear and ordered the law. Punishment should be clear; law should be put in order. Clear punishment is not heavy punishment. It is punishment people can see and understand. Ordering the law is putting the law in order clearly. Small punishment, great warning: the first line is doing this. Come in covering the ear: that is the upper nine, unlucky.

Career and wealth: if there is an obstruction, bite; after biting, money can come in

Ask about career and draw Shi He: overall not a hexagram of harmony making wealth. It is a hexagram of taking the stuck thing out. Good for handling bad debts, putting a long-dragged contract to the books or clearing it, opening discipline, taking out a link that does no work, reform like surgery. Not good then for saying “everyone be a little harmonious, do business first, old accounts later.” Old accounts are something in the jaws. Do not bite, and business will not close either.

For wealth, Shi He often appears in chasing, pursuing, demanding, judging. Money may be in someone else’s mouth, in a judgment not executed, in a contract written muddy. Beneficial to use jail: walking process is more beneficial; walking feeling is less. Nine in the fourth, bite dried meat with bone, get a golden arrow, beneficial to keep correct in hardship, luck. What you bite is dried meat with bone, hard, but bite through and you get a golden arrow. A golden arrow is firm and straight, evidence, a shot that can hit. Draw nine in the fourth: the matter is hard, money hard to demand, but worth keeping correct in hardship. Loosen the mouth, take a red envelope, spit the bone back: the golden arrow is gone.

Initial nine, wearing the cangue, covering the toes, no blame. Fetters on the feet, covering the toes, no blame. Small punishment, early punishment, punishment before they can walk. At work it looks like: a warning, a small mark, a small compensation, timely stopping a wrong move. No blame, because the punishment was early. Drag to the upper nine, carrying the cangue, covering the ear: cannot hear, unlucky. The same law, used early is warning; used late is disaster.

Six in the third, bite preserved meat, meet poison, small cause for regret, no blame. Bite hard preserved meat, hit poison. A little not smooth, no great excess. Draw six in the third: the matter you are handling is itself old, hard, and may have hidden harm: a trap in an old contract, a dark account in the family, a partner’s hidden illness. Know there is poison, still bite; only do not expect one bite to be fragrant. Small cause for regret, accept it; no blame, because you did not take preserved meat as fresh meat and believe in it.

Love and people: the stuck sentence matters more than new love talk

Ask about love and draw Shi He: there is an obstruction in the relationship. A third person, old accounts, family opposition, a matter never apologized for, money not cleared. Cannot close: not because the connection is not sweet enough. Something is in the mouth. Travel more, give more gifts then: stuffing sweets into a mouth with an obstruction. It will not hold.

Good for talking clearly, finding a third party to mediate, separating names that should be separated, writing down conditions for being together. Beneficial to use jail: in love it can also be concrete — an agreement, a boundary, law when needed. Not draw Shi He and immediately divorce. The part that should be decided, decide. After deciding, then talk of closing. He is closing; closing is after biting.

If you are single and draw Shi He, first see whether you have something in the mouth: an ex not cut, a family taboo, an old hate toward people. Take an obstruction to meet people and a new connection, once in the mouth, sticks. It can also be that this connection itself has to pass a gate: family opposition, a gap in status, a right-and-wrong that must be spoken clearly. Pass this gate, then there is closing.

Workplace people and Shi He: most to avoid is muddling. Make punishment clear, order the law: toward the matter, toward the rule. Six in the second, bite skin, covering the nose, no blame. Bite something as soft as skin, the nose even goes in, because it is too easy. Draw six in the second: the object of punishment is weak, the matter shallow; the hand has to have measure, still no blame, because it should be bitten. Do not hit heavy because they look easy to bully, and do not not bite because they look pitiful. Skin is soft; you still have to bite.

Lines: the hardness of biting differs

Shi He’s six lines, from toes to ears: punishment heavier as it goes up. In class I always separate the first and the upper. Small punishment and great penalty are not the same thing.

Initial nine: 履校滅趾，無咎. Put on the fetters, covering the toes, no blame. Draw the initial nine: the problem is still at the start; punishment should be small, fast. A warning letter, three days’ suspension, taking the wrong step back. Covering the toes is letting them walk slowly for a while, not maiming. Do this early and later you need not cover the ear.

Six in the second: 噬膚滅鼻，無咎. Bite something as soft as skin, the nose even in, no blame. Draw six in the second: the case is easy, the other party weak, evidence clear. Still bite; only remember this is skin, not dried meat with bone. Too much force looks like bullying; do not bite, and the obstruction is still there. No blame is given for “should do,” not “can do it cruel.”

Six in the third: 噬腊肉，遇毒，小吝，無咎. Bite old preserved meat, meet poison. Small regret, no great excess. Draw six in the third: the matter old, the person hard, dirt inside. Law, family, an old company: most common. Prepare to meet poison: being bitten back, old accounts turned, being told you are unfilial, unjust. Small cause for regret does not matter. Spit the poison, bite the meat through, still no blame.

Nine in the fourth: 噬乾胏，得金矢，利艱貞，吉. Bite dried meat with bone, get a golden arrow; beneficial to keep correct in hardship, luck. This is Shi He’s hardest and most meritorious line. Draw nine in the fourth: a lawsuit, collecting a debt, reform: all will be hard. Hard, so it is worth it. Get a golden arrow: you will get something that can settle a share — evidence, a judgment, a ruler that can aim. Hardship and correctness: the process is bitter, still be correct. Want a shortcut, and the golden arrow does not come.

Upper nine: 何校滅耳，凶. Carry the cangue, even the ear gone in, unlucky. Punishment until you cannot hear advice. Draw the upper nine: dragged too long, punishment too heavy, yourself also deaf. At work, a noise that cannot be taken in; in love, both people cannot take in one sentence. This line is not telling you to add more penalty. It is telling you to look: the ear is already covered; biting further is not jail. It is injury. Stop if you can stop; hand it to the system if you can. Do not use private punishment to seal the ear completely.

Six in the fifth, bite dried meat, get yellow gold, correct yet dangerous, no blame: I also add a sentence. A little softer than nine in the fourth; still keep correct, still in danger, then no blame. Gold is the center, measure. Jail should use the center, not anger.

In class, how to bite so it is called clear punishment

Draw Shi He and I have students first name that “something in the jaws.” Cannot name that thing, do not open the mouth to bite; you will bite your own tongue. Can name it, then choose a tool: a contract, a lawyer, a doctor, discipline, spreading the accounts face to face once. The tool should be clear. Not anonymous, not spreading talk.

Then split large and small. An initial-nine matter uses initial-nine punishment. An upper-nine situation, do not use private hate to cover the ear. Small punishment, great warning: this hexagram’s technique. Warning first, penalty later. Penalty without having warned, and people will feel you are violent; warned and still not biting, and the obstruction will take root.

Third, after biting, close. He is closing. Bite for the sake of biting, bite and keep splitting: only used shi, not he. Sign what should be signed, return to work what should return, line up names that should be lined up. After Guan is Shi He; after Shi He is Bi (Grace). After closing you can decorate; before decorating you must close.

Compare: I Ching Guan Meaning | Hexagram 20 How to Read: Contemplation, Seeing and Being Seen. See clearly, then close. After closing, how to decorate, how not to let packaging cover the substance: I Ching Bi (Grace) Meaning | Hexagram 22 How to Read: Grace, Ornament and Returning to Plain. A sudden shock: first hold the vessel in the hand. Zhen 震 can be compared: I Ching Zhen Meaning | Hexagram 51 How to Read.

I Ching Shi He FAQ

Does drawing Shi He mean I will definitely go to court?

Not necessarily court; there is definitely an obstruction to handle. Beneficial to use jail means walking a formal, clear process is more beneficial. Settling privately is also fine, but write it down, make punishment clear, do not muddle orally again.

I asked about health and drew Shi He. How do I read it?

Something in the mouth: commonly teeth, throat, stomach, the piece that should be operated, the one that should be pulled. Not scaring yourself into surgery. What should be checked, check; what should be cleared, clear. Drag to covering the ear: a small illness dragged until you cannot hear advice.

Collecting a debt, chasing money, I drew Shi He. Is there hope?

The direction has it. Nine in the fourth’s dried meat with bone: hard, but lucky. Evidence has to be hard; the process keep correct in hardship. Hoping the other party suddenly grows a conscience does not fit the hexagram. What the hexagram gives is biting, not begging.

Shi He and Bi (Grace) both speak of closing. What is the difference?

Shi He is something in the middle, bite first then close; what closes is right and wrong, law. Bi (Grace) is after closing you decorate; what you decorate is culture, ritual. Original Shi He, changing Bi (Grace): often after a lawsuit or conflict you start talking face, ritual. First bite the obstruction through, then talk of how to dress.

For an online hexagram, try free love divination and match both birthdays with this reading.