21. Biting Through

Judgment

噬嗑：亨。利用狱。

Success. It furthers one to administer justice. Something blocks the jaws; bite through it and they close—remove obstacles, judge clearly.

Image

雷电，噬嗑；先王以明罚敕法。

Thunder and lightning: the image of biting through. The ancient kings made firm the laws through clearly defined penalties.

Lines

1. Line 1, yang (nine)

   初九：屦校灭趾，无咎。

   His feet are fastened in the stocks, so that his toes disappear: no blame. Small faults, small and early correction.

2. Line 2, yin (six)

   六二：噬肤灭鼻，无咎。

   Bites through tender meat so that his nose disappears: no blame. A bit of excess force, no serious harm.

3. Line 3, yin (six)

   六三：噬腊肉，遇毒；小吝，无咎。

   Bites on old dried meat and strikes on something poisonous: slight humiliation, no blame. Tackling old abuses brings backlash—still necessary.

4. Line 4, yang (nine)

   九四：噬干胏，得金矢，利艰贞，吉。

   Bites on dried gristly meat, receives metal arrows. It furthers to be mindful of difficulties and persevere: good fortune. Hard problems need firmness.

5. Line 5, yin (six)

   六五：噬干肉，得黄金，贞厉，无咎。

   Bites on dried lean meat, receives yellow gold. Persevering, aware of danger: no blame. The judge must be central and fair.

6. Line 6, yang (nine)

   上九：何校灭耳，凶。

   His neck is fastened in the wooden cangue so that his ears disappear: misfortune. Ignoring repeated warnings ends in disaster.

In the enterprise

The hexagram of compliance, disciplinary action and removing obstacles: internal control and anti-fraud, misconduct cases, breaking deadlocks in negotiation, process bottlenecks. 'Clearly defined penalties': clear rules, consistent enforcement.

Psychological lens

Resonates with criminological evidence that certainty of sanction matters more than severity; the top line describes defensive avoidance of feedback.

Related hexagrams

Situations in the library that use this hexagram

• Due diligence uncovers a hidden problem Enterprise, Line 3, yin (six)
• Chronically low productivity Enterprise, Judgment
• The bottleneck process Enterprise, Line 4, yang (nine)
• Human-rights and environmental due diligence Enterprise, Line 3, yin (six)
• A supplier who repeatedly breaches Enterprise, Line 6, yang (nine)
• Front-line rule violations Enterprise, Line 1, yang (nine)
• Overdue receivables Enterprise, Line 5, yin (six)
• Conflicts of interest in governance Enterprise, Line 5, yin (six)
• Retail location and footfall Enterprise, Judgment

Situation readings are a reflective framework for discussion—not predictions and not a substitute for professional advice.