Hexagram 61
Inner TruthZhōng Fú 中孚
Also translated as Inner Confidence, Centered Sincerity, Trust at the Center.
Wind / Wood above Lake below
Wind stirs the surface of a lake, reaching into its depths. The hexagram has an open center, like an empty heart that can receive. Zhong Fu is inner truth, sincerity so genuine that it reaches even those hardest to reach, the "pigs and fishes". Trust built on this kind of openness can carry great undertakings and soften even judgment.
Judgment
中孚：豚魚吉，利涉大川，利貞。
Trust at the center. Even pigs and fishes: good fortune. Favorable to cross the great river. Steadfastness is favorable.
Image
澤上有風，中孚；君子以議獄緩死。
Wind over the lake: trust at the center. Taking this as a model, the noble one deliberates carefully over lawsuits and delays sentences of death.
- Sincerity and trust
- Openness of heart
- Influence through truth
- Understanding others
- Mercy
- sincerity
- trust
- openness
- truth
- empathy
- influence
- Genuine sincerity can reach even the hardest to reach.
- Empty yourself of prejudice to understand others.
- Trust built from within carries great undertakings.
The six lines
Lines are numbered from the bottom. In a reading, only the lines that are changing apply to your cast.
Line 1Nine at the beginning 初九
Line text
虞吉，有它不燕。
Watchful readiness: good fortune. With other attachments, there is no peace.
Inner steadiness depends on your own preparation and integrity. Looking for security in secret attachments elsewhere disturbs your peace.
- Inner readiness
- Steadiness
- Relying on hidden alliances
- Peace through self-reliance
Line 2Nine in the second place 九二
Line text
鳴鶴在陰，其子和之，我有好爵，吾與爾靡之。
A crane cries in the shadows and its young one answers. I have fine wine in my cup; let us drink it together.
Sincere feeling resonates naturally, even unseen and at a distance. True connection needs no display; like answers like.
- Natural resonance
- Shared joy
- Trying to force a response
- A bond that answers without words
Line 3Six in the third place 六三
Line text
得敵，或鼓或罷，或泣或歌。
Meeting one's match: one moment beating the drum, the next giving up; one moment in tears, the next in song.
When your sense of self depends on another person, your moods swing with theirs. Joy and sorrow alternate. Find your own center.
- Emotional dependence
- Swinging moods
- Letting another person set your state
- Finding steadiness within
Line 4Six in the fourth place 六四
Line text
月幾望，馬匹亡，无咎。
The moon nearly full. One of a pair of horses goes missing. No blame.
To keep your inner truth, you may have to part from a companion and turn toward something higher. The loss is not a fault.
- Parting for a higher aim
- Humility at the height
- Clinging to a pairing that limits you
- Turning toward what is higher
Line 5Nine in the fifth place 九五
Line text
有孚攣如，无咎。
Sincerity that binds others together: no blame.
A leader's genuine trustworthiness holds people together like a firm link. Influence rests on character.
- Trust that unites
- Character-based leadership
- Leading without sincerity
- A group bound by trust
Line 6Nine at the top 上九
Line text
翰音登于天，貞凶。
A rooster's call rising toward heaven. Persisting: misfortune.
Words that fly higher than their reality, promises or claims the rooster cannot back up, end badly. Keep your voice in line with your substance.
- Empty claims
- Overreaching words
- Promising more than is true
- Speaking with credibility
Related hexagrams
Have a question on your mind?
Cast a readingChinese text: Zhouyi 周易 (received classical text). English rendering and notes: Site rendering. About our sources
Commentary
The two broken lines in the middle form an open space, an empty heart, surrounded by strong lines. Zhong Fu means trust or sincerity at the center. The "pigs and fishes" of the judgment are the most unresponsive creatures; truth that can move them can move anyone. The reading may suggest that the key to your situation is authenticity: being truthful and trustworthy, and meeting others without preconceptions.
The image applies this to justice: with understanding of others' hearts, the noble one deliberates carefully and is slow to condemn. The lines explore how inner truth resonates: the crane calling and its young answering, partners who share wine. In relation to a question, Zhong Fu may emphasize honesty, empathy and building trust as a foundation.