I Ching Zhong Fu Meaning: Hexagram 61

Zhong Fu 中孚, split, is easy: in the middle there is fu 孚. Fu is trust, something like an egg, inside and outside one, that can hatch. Draw this hexagram: do not jump first to mysterious influence. It first asks you: that middle layer, is it real?

The picture: Wind over Lake, Xun above Dui. Lake below — the mouth, joy; wind above — entering, a command. The middle two lines are yin, the outer four yang: empty in the center, solid outside. A boat is like that, so the Tuan says riding wood, an empty boat, beneficial to cross a great stream. Empty correctly, it can carry. Empty as a fake: only sound.

It is not Xian 咸. Xian is Lake over Mountain, Gen below Dui: bodily influence, youngest son and youngest daughter. Zhong Fu’s influence walks more toward “how far can trust go”: you are not face to face, and the other can still answer. It is also not Sun 損. Sun is Mountain over Lake: decrease. Zhong Fu does not rely on decrease. It relies on that point of true in the center.

The Xu Gua says: 「節而信之，故受之以中孚。」 Limited, then trusted, so Zhong Fu follows. Before it is Jie 節. There is measure, then trust can stand. Trust without Jie is an empty check. Only Jie, no trust: cold rules. Read the two together, and you will not teach sincerity as a mood, or a system as distrust.

Zhong Fu: even pigs and fishes, fortunate — trust must walk to the smallest place

The Tuan says: 「中孚，柔在內而剛得中。說而巽，孚乃化邦也。」 Zhong Fu: the yielding inside, the firm obtaining the center. Joy and Xun: sincerity then transforms a state. The yielding inside is not rotten. Inside does not hard-top. The firm obtaining the center: two and five are both yang, bone in the middle. Joy below, Xun above: glad and able to enter, trust can transform a state. A state is large. In divination you need not truly govern. Meaning: trust can change a group of people, not only atmosphere.

The judgment: 「豚魚吉。利涉大川。利貞。」 Pigs and fishes, fortunate. Beneficial to cross a great stream. Beneficial to persist. Pigs and fishes are the smallest, least noticed. If trust reaches even pigs and fishes, then it is called fortunate. Keeping trust with a large person is not hard. With a small client, a small matter casually promised, books no one sees: keep it, and this hexagram recognizes it. Beneficial to cross a great stream: empty in the center, it can carry. Beneficial to persist: trust must also be correct. Incorrect trust is keeping a secret for a bad matter. Not Zhong Fu.

The Xiang says: 「澤上有風，中孚。君子以議獄緩死。」 Wind on a lake, Zhong Fu. The superior person discusses lawsuits and delays death. Even a jail must be discussed again, even a death sentence delayed. Trust and brightness have not walked to the end: you cannot use the fastest knife. Draw Zhong Fu: it suits checking a judgment once more, speaking words complete. It does not suit closing a case in a temper.

In class people often ask about pregnancy. Zhong Fu solid outside, empty inside, like something being fed inside: of old some took this image. It can be an image. Do not make it mystical. Ask about pregnancy and still look at medicine, a cycle, whether that is what you asked. Treat Zhong Fu as “there must be joy”: treating the hexagram as a test strip. Influence, contracts, trust: this hexagram’s proper work.

Career relies on trust; wealth relies on what can be checked

Ask about career and draw Zhong Fu: a partnership can walk farther, because there is trust in the middle. It suits signing, remote work, sending words to a place you cannot see. A crane calls in the shade, the young crane answers: you need not share a table. A remote team, work across places, a system that still runs when you are not there: all very Zhong Fu.

What Zhong Fu in career fears most is the upper nine: 「翰音登于天」— a cock’s cry climbing Heaven. Han yin 翰音 is a cock’s crow. A cock’s voice can be very large. It cannot fly that high. Only sound left, no substance: persistence unfortunate. A deck that moves people, a brand good at stories, promises stacked to Heaven, the site cannot deliver: a cock’s cry. Draw the upper nine: turn the volume down, bring substance out. Still shouting: misfortune.

In wealth, Zhong Fu leans toward money that comes because of trust: returning customers, prepayment, being introduced. The condition is you truly have fu. Even pigs and fishes, fortunate: small money, a small client, a small last payment: all must be clear. Trust in front of a large client, tricks in small places: the hexagram can see it. Nine in the fifth: 「有孚攣如，無咎」— there is sincerity, bound together; no blame. Trust linked in a chain, as if bound: no blame. In finance: papers, contract, delivery, one ring locking the next. Do not rely on feeling.

The initial nine: 「虞吉，有它不燕。」 Watchful, fortunate; having an “it,” not at ease. Yu 虞 is measuring, guarding, at rest in what you trust. Fortunate. Having an it: another attachment, then not at ease. Draw the initial nine: be single-minded. Two partnerships at once, two sets of speech: there is no ease. A backup before signing is allowed. Signed, and still putting an “it” in the middle: Zhong Fu is broken.

Six in the third: 「得敵，或鼓或罷，或泣或歌。」 Obtaining an enemy; now drumming, now stopping; now weeping, now singing. Meeting an opponent: one moment drums, one moment stops, one moment weeps, one moment sings. The middle two yin most easily fight themselves. Draw six in the third: decisions will shake. First state clearly who the enemy is: a true opponent, or your own going back and forth. While shaking, do not issue a large promise outward.

Zhong Fu in love: far and still answering is a blessing; only sound left is misfortune

Ask about love and draw Zhong Fu: the point is not sweet. It is whether trust can get through. Long distance often draws this hexagram, because a crane calls in the shade, its young answers: cannot see, still can answer. I have a good goblet; I share it with you. Something good, willing to share. Draw nine in the second: there is resonance in the relationship, worth treasuring, worth truly bringing the good part out to share — not only calling in the heart.

If you are single and draw Zhong Fu, the match is often not the loudest one. It is the one that can match frequency. It can start from one message, one sentence said right. Still persist. Treat all influence as Heaven’s will, and you read a stranger’s politeness as fate. Zhong Fu’s influence must have conduct underneath: do you keep trust, do you do what you said. Do not, and influence is illusion.

If you are already together, Zhong Fu encourages emptying the middle for the other: hide less, have less of an “it.” Having an it, not at ease: an it outside the marriage, in an account, in a phone — all make a house not at ease. Six in the fourth: 「月幾望，馬匹亡，無咎。」 The moon almost full; a matched horse lost; no blame. The moon almost round: let the matched horse go. Near fullness, drop the horse that runs beside, be single-minded: no blame. In love this line is very concrete: a title almost complete, end the other options. Not cruelty. Letting fu stand.

If pregnancy is asked and Zhong Fu appears, my wording is: in the image there can be “something being fed inside.” Still go to a doctor. Do not use line text in place of a checkup. Mystical teachers love to make Zhong Fu “must be pregnant,” make not pregnant “you are not sincere enough.” That is injury, not the Changes. Trust used in care, rest, cooperating with a doctor: that looks like Zhong Fu.

These lines: the quality of trust is not the same

Initial nine: 虞吉，有它不燕. At rest in what you trust: fortunate. Another attachment: not at ease. Draw the initial nine: list the “it,” put it away. Not that you have no plans. The middle should not clip private goods.

Nine in the second: 鳴鶴在陰，其子和之。我有好爵，吾與爾靡之. This hexagram’s famous sentence. In the shade, still answering. Something good: bring it out to share. Draw nine in the second: speak the true heart out, divide the benefit out. Far is not an obstacle. Not answering is.

Six in the third: 得敵，或鼓或罷，或泣或歌. The center pulled apart by an enemy; the rhythm of mood all disordered. Draw six in the third: first stop outward promises, take rest and the power to decide back. Trust in this line most easily becomes mood.

Six in the fourth: 月幾望，馬匹亡，無咎. Almost full moon: let the matched horse go. Near completing, be single-minded. Draw six in the fourth: it suits settling a case, ending a double line. Able to let that horse go: then no blame.

Nine in the fifth: 有孚攣如，無咎. In position. Trust linked to trust. Draw nine in the fifth: it suits being the person who strings everyone’s trust together. First bind yourself: first connect to the words you have said.

Upper nine: 翰音登于天，貞凶. Only sound, no substance, flying to a height it should not. However correct, unfortunate. Draw the upper nine: stop announcing, start delivering. A cock blown as a phoenix will fall from Heaven.

In class I test people with one sentence: is there anything in your middle

There is: this hexagram is a helper. There is not: this hexagram will uncover you. The way of uncovering: at a distance, in a contract, in a place others cannot hear, showing sound larger than substance.

Trust, contracts, influence: three topics can all ask Zhong Fu. The asking differs, the use is the same: empty the middle for substance that can be checked. A contract written clear is fu. Influence coming and still checking is also fu. Treating influence as a privilege not to check: already walking toward a cock’s cry.

Limited, then trusted. No Jie, and trust overflows. Trust walked, you must go a little beyond to act: the next hexagram is Xiao Guo 小過. Related: I Ching Jie Meaning | Hexagram 60 How to Read: Limitation, Measure Without Bitter Restraint, I Ching Xiao Guo Meaning | Hexagram 62 How to Read: Preponderance of the Small, Small Matters Yes, Great Matters No. If influence is asked nearer the body and feeling: I Ching Xian Meaning | Hexagram 31 How to Read: Influence, How to Read Feeling.

I Ching Zhong Fu FAQ

Is Zhong Fu a telepathy hexagram — drawing it means the other person is also thinking of me?

It can have answering at a distance: a crane calling, the young answering. Whether it answers still looks at the matter you asked, the line you are on, and whether you have substance. The other person read and did not reply, and you treat Zhong Fu as “he actually loves me”: that is a cock’s cry, not fu. First do the work, first speak clearly. Then answering has a place to land.

If I draw Zhong Fu, can I sign a contract?

In direction it suits talking trust, cooperating even far. You still look whether there is an “it,” drumming and stopping, weeping and singing, only sound left. Nine in the fifth, nine in the second: more able to sign. The upper nine: patch substance first. A contract itself is writing fu into something that can be checked. It goes with this hexagram’s qi.

Why do people take Zhong Fu for pregnancy, and you tell me not to make it mystical?

Because the picture is empty in the center, solid outside, like something being fed. This is taking an image, not a pregnancy test. The same hexagram can be an empty boat, empty trust, an empty mouth. If the question is not pregnancy, do not add a play yourself. If the question is pregnancy, still match bodily fact. The Changes help you see qi. They do not draw your blood.

The “it” of having an it, not at ease: what is it?

Another choice, another speech, another account, another person. Whatever makes your middle unable to be single-minded is an it. In career, two sets of promises; in love, two lines; toward yourself, two sets of morals: all count. Yan 燕 is ease. Having an it, you cannot be at ease. Not that life should have only one matter. This matter’s center should not carry extras.

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