Upper trigram
☷
Earth (Kun) above
Receptive yielding.
FamilyMother
ElementEarth
Hexagram 15 of 64
I Ching hexagram 15 ☷☶ Modesty
I Ching hexagram 15, Modesty, is earth above, mountain below. In brief: the mountain beneath the earth; strength kept low. Its one solid line stands in place 3, counting from the bottom; the other five are broken.
- Lines, bottom up
- ⚋⚋⚊⚋⚋⚋ 001000 · 1 = solid
- Trigrams
- Earth over Mountain Kun ☷ / Gen ☶
- Every line changed
- № 10 Treading
- In Legge, 1882
- p. 89 Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16
Legge, The Yî King, 1882.
Lower trigram
☶
Mountain (Gen) below
Stillness and limit.
FamilyYoungest son
ElementEarth
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What the text says, in plain terms
The Judgement and the Image of hexagram 15
The Judgement
Modesty that carries things through. The person who does not inflate their own merit is trusted, and their undertakings reach completion.
The Image
A mountain hidden within the earth. The lesson is to even things out — reducing what is excessive and adding to what is lacking.
A summary of meaning written for this site, not a translation — James Legge’s 1882 translation of the full text follows below. How the Judgement and the Image are read, and which translations to use →
Primary source
Hexagram 15 in James Legge’s translation
“Khien indicates progress and success. The superior man, (being humble as it implies), will have a (good) issue (to his undertakings).”
“(The trigram for) the earth and (that of) a mountain in the midst of it form Khien. The superior man, in accordance with this, diminishes what is excessive (in himself), and increases where there is any defect, bringing about an equality, according to the nature of the case, in his treatment (of himself and others).”
The lines
- Line 1 · bottom The first line, divided, shows us the superior man who adds humility to humility. (Even) the great stream may be crossed with this, and there will be good fortune.
- Line 2 The second line, divided, shows us humility that has made itself recognised. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
- Line 3 The third line, undivided, shows the superior man of (acknowledged) merit. He will maintain his success to the end, and have good fortune.
- Line 4 The fourth line, divided, shows one, whose action would be in every way advantageous, stirring up (the more) his humility.
- Line 5 The fifth line, divided, shows one who, without being rich, is able to employ his neighbours. He may advantageously use the force of arms. All his movements will be advantageous.
- Line 6 · top The sixth line, divided, shows us humility that has made itself recognised. The subject of it will with advantage put his hosts in motion; but (he will only) punish his own towns and state.
James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 89 — read the original text.
Words in parentheses are Legge’s own: in his preface he explains that they supply what the original writer left unsaid. “Undivided” and “divided” are his terms for yang and yin lines, counted from the bottom. The Image comes from the second appendix of the book, the Treatise on the Symbolism.
Modesty for a decision
Understate rather than overstate. Let results speak, balance competing interests fairly and avoid making the decision about your own status.
I Ching 15 in love and relationships
Humility and fairness make relationships durable. Giving credit and listening well are the strengths here.
Hexagram 15 at work
Quiet competence is rewarded. Avoid self-promotion and focus on fair distribution of effort and credit.
The six lines of hexagram 15
Read from the bottom up. This figure runs yin yin yang yin yin yin — what each position means.
One line is yang and five are yin. Four of the six stand in their proper place, and the pair 3–6 answers.
What the two trigrams do to each other
Inner and outer
Mountain below — stillness and limit — is the private, inner side of hexagram 15.
Earth above — receptive yielding — is the world that side meets.
The five-element relation
Both trigrams are Earth, so nothing in the figure pulls against anything else. That makes the reading unusually single-minded — and unusually short of internal correction.
Read as a family
The mother sits above and the youngest son below. A parent over a child, which the tradition reads as guidance, authority or constraint depending on the rest of the figure.
Calculated from the lines
Hexagrams connected to hexagram 15
Nuclear hexagram
40 · Deliverance
What is happening beneath the surface.
Lines 2–4 give Kan (Water) as the lower trigram, lines 3–5 give Zhen (Thunder) as the upper.
Opposite hexagram
10 · Treading
The situation turned inside out.
Change all six lines and Earth over Mountain becomes Heaven over Lake.
Inverse hexagram
16 · Enthusiasm
The situation seen from the other side.
Turn the figure upside down and Earth over Mountain becomes Thunder over Earth.
None of these are assigned by an author — each follows from the arrangement of lines.
The image
Earth above, Mountain below.
Earth over Mountain: receptive yielding meeting stillness and limit.
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “I Ching Hexagram 15: Modesty.” Accessed October 27, 2026. https://astrohot.com/i-ching/hexagram/15/
For Wikipedia
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