The Story

A calligrapher took three days to choose the paper for a single character. His student thought this extravagant. The master wrote the character — small, balanced, breath-steady — and hung it in his tea room. A visiting general, seeing it, bought every scroll in the shop and paid triple for the one in the tea room. But the master would not sell that one. "Grace is the surface of a discipline," he told his student, "and it only matters when the discipline is real. Learn the stroke first. Then the paper will know you."

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The Judgment

Success. In small matters it is favorable to undertake something.

The Image

Fire at the foot of the mountain: the image of grace. Thus does the superior person proceed when clearing up current affairs. But they do not dare to decide controversial issues in this way.

Interpretation

Beauty of form. The hexagram affirms the dignity of ornament, manner, ritual — the refined surfaces of life — while warning that appearance cannot substitute for substance in matters of real weight. Grace is appropriate to small matters; great decisions demand unadorned truth.

Trigrams

The Six Lines

1. First (Bottom) He lends grace to his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks. Refusal of empty display; going on foot with one's principles intact.
2. Second Lends grace to the beard on his chin. Ornament that is merely accessory — harmless, not essential.
3. Third Graceful and moist. Constant perseverance brings good fortune. Rich surface, sustained by inner substance.
4. Fourth Grace or simplicity? A white horse comes as if on wings. He is not a robber, he will woo at the right time. A moment of honest plainness; the sincere suitor comes openly.
5. Fifth Grace in hills and gardens. The bundle of silk is meager and small. Humiliation, but in the end good fortune. Unpretentious generosity — awkward to give, but rightly received.
6. Sixth (Top) Simple grace. No blame. Utter plainness at the summit; the ornament stripped, the form vindicated.