Hexagram 22: Adornment
Outer trigram (upper)
Cấn
Mountain · Earth
Inner trigram (lower)
Ly
Fire · Fire
Judgment
賁：亨，小利，有攸往.
Translation
Adornment: success, modest benefit, favorable to have somewhere to go.
Commentary
Li (Fire) is below, representing brightness; Gen (Mountain) is above, representing stillness. Fire glowing at the foot of a mountain lights up the rock and makes it beautiful. Outward adornment brings only modest benefit and cannot be relied on for great undertakings. Brilliance (Li) joined with knowing where to stop (Gen) is the proper way of adornment. Lines 2 and 4, being yin, represent the decorative element; Lines 1, 3, and 5, being yang, represent the underlying substance.
Line Readings
Line 1 (yang)
初九：賁其趾，舍車而徒.
Translation
Adorning the toes, giving up the carriage to walk on foot.
Commentary
Line 1, yang, sits at the very bottom. It refuses the offered carriage (Line 2, yin, approaching) and instead walks on its own adorned feet — relying on its own strength rather than depending on anyone else.
Line 2 (yin)
六二：賁其須.
Translation
Adorning the beard.
Commentary
Line 2, yin: the beard adorns the face, but it can only move as the face moves. In the same way, Line 2 can only adorn itself by following Line 3 (yang, the face). This describes someone who enhances another's beauty by following and supporting them.
Line 3 (yang)
九三：賁如濡如，永貞吉.
Translation
Richly and smoothly adorned — lasting good fortune comes from holding to what is right over time.
Commentary
Line 3, yang, is correctly placed and sits between two yin lines (2 and 4), receiving rich adornment from both sides. But this good fortune lasts only if it continues to hold to what is right over the long term.
Line 4 (yin)
六四：賁如皤如，白馬翰如，匪寇，婚媾.
Translation
Adorned in pure white, riding a swift white horse — not a bandit approaching, but a suitor coming to seek marriage.
Commentary
Line 4, yin, is correctly placed and sits near Line 5 (whose adornment is genuine). It sets aside false glitter — its white adornment reflects plainness and sincerity — and corresponds with Line 1, yang, below, who comes to seek marriage.
Line 5 (yin)
六五：賁于丘園，束帛戔戔，吝，終吉.
Translation
Adorned as simply as a garden on a hillside, with only a modest bolt of silk as gift — a little embarrassing at first, but good fortune in the end.
Commentary
Line 5, yin, occupies the position of honor and corresponds with Line 2. Its adornment is as plain and simple as a hillside garden, its gifts modest; though this may seem inadequate, its sincerity brings good fortune in the end.
Line 6 (yang)
上九：白賁，无咎.
Translation
Adorned in plain white — that is, unadorned — no fault.
Commentary
Line 6, yang, sits at the very top of the hexagram of Adornment. When adornment reaches its furthest extreme, it circles back to plain, unadorned simplicity. Needing no ornament at all is itself the highest form of adornment.