Six Doors · No. 21

第21卦噬嗑 Shì Kè · Biting Through

Essence: Bite through the obstruction; only then can the jaws close.

Judgment

Something is lodged in the middle, keeping the jaws from closing—and it will not dissolve on its own. Bite through decisively: this is the moment for rules, judgment, penalties that are swift, clear, and aimed at the act rather than the person. Only after the obstruction is gone can union resume.

Sixty-four hexagrams, six doors each

Trigrams

Upper

离 Fire

fire

Lower

震 Thunder

thunder

III

The lines

Line 1First offense, feet in the stocks: a small early penalty that stops the path to worse.
Line 2The correction bites deep into soft flesh—easier and harsher than intended—yet the offense was clear, so no blame sticks.
Line 3Reopening an old, hardened case is like biting cured meat and hitting poison—you meet resentment, but the duty itself was sound.
Line 4The toughest case of all, gristle and bone; work through it with arrow-straight persistence and it yields.
Line 5Judge like one biting into dried meat and finding gold: stay impartial as metal, stay aware of the danger, and remain beyond reproach.
Line 6The cangue has grown until it covers the ears: deaf to every warning, this one walks straight into ruin.

All the doors

Every single-step transition available from where you stand.

Inverse (綜) · Opposite (錯)

Inverse (綜)

Opposite (錯)

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Hexagram 21, Shì Kè (Biting Through): Meaning and the Six Lines

Hexagram 21, Shì Kè, explained: why the jaws stay open until the obstruction is bitten through, how its six lines grade a penalty, and how to read it when cast.

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