# Hexagram 15: Modesty

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/15
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Kun 坤](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kun), Earth, the receptive, yielding
- **Lower trigram:** [Gen 艮](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/gen), Mountain, keeping still
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 001000 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Modesty. A true quality of the inner person, not a posture for others. What is greatest works from below; the mountain beneath the earth is deeper than the one above it. Modesty here is not self-deprecation: it is the quiet confidence of those who do not need recognition to know their worth.

## Image

Mountain within the earth. The superior person reduces what is excessive and increases what is insufficient, weighing all things and making them equal.

## Counsel

Let your work speak. Decline the temptation to announce yourself, and decline equally the temptation to shrink from your own contribution. Serve where you can, retreat when your part is finished. This unforced balance draws others and draws the good to you.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> A modestly modest noble one
> may cross the great water. Good fortune!

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> Modesty that comes to expression. Perseverance brings good fortune.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> A meritorious and modest noble one brings to completion.
> Good fortune!

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> Nothing that would not further
> modesty in movement.

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> Do not rely on wealth before one's neighbor.
> It is favorable to attack with force.
> Nothing that would not further.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> Modesty that comes to expression.
> It is favorable to set armies marching
> to chastise one's own city and one's own country.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [40 Deliverance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/40)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [16 Enthusiasm](https://thefreeiching.com/library/16)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [10 Treading](https://thefreeiching.com/library/10)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [36 Darkening of the Light](https://thefreeiching.com/library/36) |
| Line 2 | [46 Pushing Upward](https://thefreeiching.com/library/46) |
| Line 3 | [2 The Receptive](https://thefreeiching.com/library/2) |
| Line 4 | [62 Small Preponderance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/62) |
| Line 5 | [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39) |
| Line 6 | [52 Keeping Still](https://thefreeiching.com/library/52) |

Previous: [14 Great Possession](https://thefreeiching.com/library/14). Next: [16 Enthusiasm](https://thefreeiching.com/library/16). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 15: Modesty." https://thefreeiching.com/library/15 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/15). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.