Hexagram 21: Biting Through
Outer trigram (upper)
Ly
Fire · Fire
Inner trigram (lower)
Chấn
Thunder · Wood
Judgment
噬嗑：亨，利用獄.
Translation
Biting Through (the jaws close as the teeth bite down): success; favorable to apply legal punishment.
Commentary
Li (Fire) is above, representing clarity; Zhen (Thunder) is below, representing movement. Acting with clear judgment — this is what makes it favorable for handling legal cases and punishments. The image is of an upper and lower jaw with something hard lodged between them (Line 4); only by biting through that obstacle can the jaws finally close. In the same way, where something obstructs the middle (a wrongdoer), the law must be used to remove it before order can be restored.
Line Readings
Line 1 (yang)
初九：履校滅趾，无咎.
Translation
Fitted with a wooden restraint on the foot that covers the toes — no fault.
Commentary
Line 1 sits at the very bottom, having committed only a minor offense. Being fitted with a wooden restraint on the foot — a light punishment — is enough to serve as a warning, so there is no serious fault.
Line 2 (yin)
六二：噬膚，滅鼻，无咎.
Translation
Biting into soft flesh, deep enough to cover the nose — no fault.
Commentary
Line 2, yin, holds the central position; judging the wrongdoer poses no great difficulty (soft flesh is easy to bite through), though it bites in so deeply that it covers even the nose. Because it holds to the center, there is still no fault.
Line 3 (yin)
六三：噬腊肉，遇毒，小吝，无咎.
Translation
Biting into dried meat and running into something poisonous — a little regret, but no fault.
Commentary
Line 3, yin, is neither centered nor correctly placed. Judging a stubborn wrongdoer (the dried meat) meets with resistance (the poison), bringing some difficulty, but no serious fault.
Line 4 (yang)
九四：噬乾胏，得金矢，利艱貞，吉.
Translation
Biting into dried meat still on the bone, and finding a bronze arrowhead within (hard and straight) — favorable to hold firm through hardship; good fortune.
Commentary
Line 4, yang, is neither centered nor correctly placed, and must judge the most obstinate wrongdoer of all (dried meat on the bone, hardest of all to bite through). What it finds is firm, straight fairness (the bronze arrowhead) — by holding to what is right through hardship, it achieves good fortune.
Line 5 (yin)
六五：噬乾肉，得黃金，貞厲，无咎.
Translation
Biting into dried meat and finding gold within (the virtue of centeredness) — remaining upright and cautious brings no fault.
Commentary
Line 5, yin, holds the central position of honor. In judging a wrongdoer, it draws on the virtue of centered rightness (the gold); though there is danger, holding to what is right keeps it free of fault.
Line 6 (yang)
上九：何校滅耳，凶.
Translation
Fitted with a wooden restraint that covers the ears — misfortune.
Commentary
Line 6, yang, sits at the very top, where wrongdoing has reached its extreme and meets the harshest punishment (the restraint covering the ears) — misfortune. Having refused to listen to warning (the ears covered), one has brought this outcome on oneself.