# Hexagram 50: The Cauldron

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/50
Last updated: 2026-10-07

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

- **Upper trigram:** [Li 離](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/li), Fire, the clinging, clarity
- **Lower trigram:** [Xun 巽](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/xun), Wind, the gentle, penetrating
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 011101 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

The cauldron. A vessel of transformation: what enters it is slowly, patiently transmuted into something more refined. The work required is as much inner as outer. Preparation, right heat, right timing: these are unglamorous virtues, but they are how real alchemy is done.

## Image

Fire beneath wood. The superior person keeps their position correct and makes their appointment firm.

## Counsel

Do not look for shortcuts here; the slow cooking cannot be skipped. Tend both the container and the fire: the structure of your life and the quality of your attention. What you are becoming through this process is more important than what you are producing from it. Patience.

## 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 caldron with overturned legs.
> Favorable to the removal of the stagnant.
> One takes a concubine for the sake of her son.
> No blame.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> In the caldron is nourishment.
> My comrades have envy,
> but they cannot do me any harm.
> Good fortune!

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> The handle of the caldron is changed.
> One is hindered in one's walk.
> The fat of the pheasant is not eaten.
> Once the rain falls, the remorse exhausts itself:
> in the end good fortune comes.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> The caldron breaks its legs.
> The meal of the prince is spilled,
> and his form is spotted.
> Misfortune!

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> The caldron has yellow handles, golden carrying rings.
> Perseverance furthers.

### Line 6

> A nine at the top means:
> The caldron has rings of jade. Great good fortune!
> Nothing that would not further.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [43 Breakthrough](https://thefreeiching.com/library/43)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [49 Revolution](https://thefreeiching.com/library/49)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [3 Difficulty at the Beginning](https://thefreeiching.com/library/3)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [14 Great Possession](https://thefreeiching.com/library/14) |
| Line 2 | [56 The Wanderer](https://thefreeiching.com/library/56) |
| Line 3 | [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64) |
| Line 4 | [18 Work on the Decayed](https://thefreeiching.com/library/18) |
| Line 5 | [44 Coming to Meet](https://thefreeiching.com/library/44) |
| Line 6 | [32 Duration](https://thefreeiching.com/library/32) |

Previous: [49 Revolution](https://thefreeiching.com/library/49). Next: [51 The Arousing](https://thefreeiching.com/library/51). [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 50: The Cauldron." https://thefreeiching.com/library/50 (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/50). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.