# Hexagram 61: Inner Truth

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/61
Last updated: 2026-10-07

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

- **Upper trigram:** [Xun 巽](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/xun), Wind, the gentle, penetrating
- **Lower trigram:** [Dui 兌](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/dui), Lake, the joyous, open
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 110011 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Inner truth. When what is inside you and what you express outwardly are aligned, you move others without effort. No argument is required; sincerity communicates what words alone cannot. Work on the inner; the outer will mirror it.

## Image

Wind above the lake. The superior person deliberates carefully on judgments and delays the execution of penalties.

## Counsel

Examine where your inner and outer are not aligned. You need not fix this by forcing outer change; often the work is quieter: admitting to yourself what you actually think, feel, and want. When you stop performing, something trustworthy replaces the performance. Others will feel it.

## The six lines

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

### Line 1

> A nine at the beginning means:
> Being ready brings good fortune.
> If there are ulterior motives, it is disturbing.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> A calling crane in the shade.
> Its young answers it.
> I have a good goblet. I want to share it with you.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> He finds a comrade;
> now he beats the drum, now he stops.
> Now he sobs, now he sings.

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> The moon that is almost full.
> The team-horse is lost.
> No blame.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> He possesses truth that links together.
> No blame.

### Line 6

> A nine at the top means:
> Cockcrow that reaches the sky.
> Perseverance brings misfortune.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [27 Nourishment](https://thefreeiching.com/library/27)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** itself
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [62 Small Preponderance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/62)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [59 Dispersion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/59) |
| Line 2 | [42 Increase](https://thefreeiching.com/library/42) |
| Line 3 | [9 Small Taming](https://thefreeiching.com/library/9) |
| Line 4 | [10 Treading](https://thefreeiching.com/library/10) |
| Line 5 | [41 Decrease](https://thefreeiching.com/library/41) |
| Line 6 | [60 Limitation](https://thefreeiching.com/library/60) |

Previous: [60 Limitation](https://thefreeiching.com/library/60). Next: [62 Small Preponderance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/62). [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 61: Inner Truth." https://thefreeiching.com/library/61 (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/61). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.