Zhongfu concerns inner truthfulness and mutual response. A crane calling and its young answering, or good wine willingly shared, are warm images. Yet the same hexagram includes alternating tears and song, and a voice rising toward heaven without lasting power. Sincerity is more than a strong feeling: its connection with conduct and relationships matters too.
中孚 is hexagram 61 in the traditional King Wen sequence, with the symbol ䷼. Its lower trigram is 兑☱ and its upper trigram is 巽☴, traditionally associated with lake and wind respectively. Count the lines from the bottom: 初九, 九二, 六三, 六四, 九五, 上九. A solid line is yang; a broken line is yin. Nine and six identify yang and yin in the line labels; they do not add extra lines.
Line structure (bottom to top): 1 1 0 0 1 1
Six-line figure, displayed top to bottom; line numbering starts at the bottom.
━━━━━━━━━ 上九
━━━━━━━━━ 九五
━━━━ ━━━━ 六四
━━━━ ━━━━ 六三
━━━━━━━━━ 九二
━━━━━━━━━ 初九
The judgment
中孚：豚魚吉，利涉大川，利貞。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Inner trust: pigs and fish, favorable. Crossing the great river is beneficial; constancy is beneficial.
Legge interprets Zhongfu as sincerity of heart and follows the Commentary on the Judgment in understanding sincerity as reaching even pigs and fish. This is a traditional interpretation of moral influence, not a scientific argument that human intention can affect animals or control nature.
For modern study, ask whether trust has the support of real action and whether people remain willing to state their limits honestly when facing difficulty together. Crossing the great river is an ancient expression for a major undertaking; it does not guarantee successful travel, risk-taking, or investment.
Sources: zhouyi-61, legge1882-61
Interpretation in the Ten Wings
The Commentary on the Judgment and the Commentary on the Images belong to the Yi Zhuan, the commentaries usually called the “Ten Wings.” Here their explanations are kept distinct from the judgment and line texts, before turning to modern applications for study.
The Commentary on the Judgment explains Zhongfu through yielding lines within and firm lines attaining central positions, and also discusses joy joined with gentle penetration. The Commentary on the Images depicts wind above a lake and proposes deliberation over trials and delaying executions. That calls for caution in ancient criminal justice, not a personal right to judge others.
This article’s ordinary application is to check more facts before making important judgments about others and leave room for explanation and correction. Believing oneself sincere does not guarantee correct judgment or entitle one to demand exemption from verification.
初九 · Steadiness begins with a clear basis of your own
虞吉，有它不燕。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Inward readiness or repose is favorable. Turning to something else leaves one uneasy.
The reading of 虞 is debated. Legge interprets the line through inward steadiness, connecting “something else” with turning elsewhere to seek security. This is not a proposal never to listen to outside views.
First clarify what you can promise and why you are choosing it, then listen to feedback. If every evaluation completely rewrites your principles, others will find it hard to understand your actual position.
Sources: zhouyi-61, legge1882-61
九二 · A genuine response does not always need a loud display
鳴鶴在陰，其子和之，我有好爵，吾與爾靡之。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: A crane calls in the shade; its young answers. I have a fine cup of wine; I will share it with you.
A crane calls from a shaded place and its young responds; then comes a voice offering to share a fine cup. Legge reads sincerity eliciting response and wholehearted sharing.
Begin a modern exchange with something you genuinely care about and give the other person freedom to respond. Resonance cannot be forced, and claims of an intuitive bond do not remove the need for specific explanation.
Sources: zhouyi-61, legge1882-61
六三 · Handing all emotion to outside responses undermines steadiness
得敵，或鼓或罷，或泣或歌。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Finding a counterpart: now drumming, now stopping; now weeping, now singing.
Legge reads 敵 here as a counterpart or match, not necessarily an enemy. Drumming, stopping, crying, and singing present obvious fluctuation.
If one person’s praise or silence wholly determines your assessment of the day, reconsider the degree of dependence. This is everyday reflection, not a diagnosis of anyone’s emotions or mental health.
Sources: zhouyi-61, legge1882-61
六四 · Moving toward a common purpose can change an earlier pairing
月幾望，馬匹亡，无咎。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: The moon is nearly full; the paired horse is lost. No blame.
The nearly full moon appears beside the loss of a paired horse. In relation to the lines, Legge interprets this as leaving an old correspondence for a new connection. This is symbolic commentary.
For a modern reflection, consider whether appropriate responsibility requires adjusting old habits or fixed pairings. The line cannot demand that someone cut off friendships or predict a partner’s departure or an actual lost horse.
Sources: zhouyi-61, legge1882-61
九五 · Strong connections need consistently trustworthy action
有孚攣如，无咎。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: There is trust, binding closely together. No blame.
攣如 depicts connection or binding. Legge interprets it as sincerity forming close ties between people.
In shared work, timely updates, kept agreements, and acknowledgment of unfinished parts all support trust. Closeness is not control: reliable connections still need independent judgment and reasonable room to leave.
Sources: zhouyi-61, legge1882-61
上九 · A high voice does not establish substantial worth
翰音登于天，貞凶。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: The fowl’s cry rises toward heaven. Even with right constancy, the outcome is unfavorable.
Legge identifies 翰音 as a fowl and uses its attempt to fly high into the heavens to illustrate the futility of exceeding its abilities.
Do not treat ever grander promises as an increase in sincerity. One small action you can accomplish is more likely to build testable trust than repeated declarations of “forever,” “everything,” or “we cannot fail.”
Sources: zhouyi-61, legge1882-61
Explaining a delay to a collaborator
Original modern scenario
An editor finds that verifying materials is taking longer than expected. He promptly explains which parts are complete, which remain unconfirmed, and the next step he can take. He does not maintain an unrealistic date merely to appear dependable.
When his collaborator raises concerns, he first listens to the impact and they adjust the delivery sequence together. They leave clear markers on unresolved parts rather than substituting “please trust me” for concrete arrangements.
Trust does not immediately return to its highest level after one honest explanation; later action is still needed. Learning from Zhongfu means bringing expression and responsibility gradually into alignment, not demanding belief in an inner feeling that cannot be checked.
Avoiding misreadings
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Zhongfu does not establish supernatural communication or identify who is lying or who is a destined partner.
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Sincerity does not guarantee results, and trust cannot cancel evidence, boundaries, or the correction of mistakes.
Three exercises
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Examine a current promise, separating what you can definitely do, what needs conditions, and what you cannot guarantee.
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Choose one concrete action that demonstrates reliability, and either fulfill it as agreed or promptly explain a change.
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When hearing a different opinion, first restate what the other person actually worries about before explaining your judgment.
Related reading
Dui — Joy (hexagram-58): Dui emphasizes honesty in enjoyable exchange; Zhongfu goes further into how trust develops through consistency between inner intention and outward action. A pleasant atmosphere can support connection, while sustained action gives that connection dependable substance.
When reading Zhongfu, ask: through which specific actions can others recognize my sincerity without merely hearing me explain it repeatedly?
Textual note
The fourth line uses 幾望, a variant explicitly listed by the base text and consistent with Legge’s reading of a nearly full moon. The page’s main text reads 既望.
Sources
Source: zh · hexagram-61 · SHA256 575dd441e5aecf8704d8e88ba22130ca844f652b92d693937c9cada594aed0b2
Translation status: complete_translation_pending_review; independent editorial review: pending_translation_review; human native-speaker/expert review: not performed; unpublished.