君子以虛受人，男下女而求合
先看圖像，再讀文字。Read the image before the words.
山上有澤，咸
(The trigram representing) a mountain and above it that for (the waters of) a marsh form Xian.
君子以虛受人。
The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps his mind free from preoccupation, and open to receive (the influences of) others.
山上有澤——咸之象。君子由此體會：以虛心容受他人。
(The trigram representing) a mountain and above it that for (the waters of) a marsh form Xian. The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps his mind free from preoccupation, and open to receive (the influences of) others.
先讀經文，再讀《彖傳》如何解釋卦辭。The received text, then the Tuan commentary on it.
咸：亨，利貞，取女吉。
咸卦——亨通。利於守正，娶女子吉。男在下女在上、男主動下求女，是真誠相感之象。
Xian indicates that, (on the fulfilment of the conditions implied in it), there will be free course and success. Its advantageousness will depend on being firm and correct, (as) in marrying a young lady. There will be good fortune.
咸，感也。柔上而剛下，二氣感應以相與，止而說，男下女，是以亨利貞，取女吉也。天地感而萬物化生，聖人感人心而天下和平。觀其所感，而天地萬物之情可見矣。
咸即感。柔在上而剛在下，二氣相感而相與，內止而外悅，男爻屈下於女爻——所以亨、利貞、娶女吉。天地相感而萬物化生，聖人感動人心而天下和平。觀其所感，可見天地萬物之情。
Xian indicates a mutual influence. The weak (trigram) above, the strong below; their two influences moving and responding to each other, and thereby forming a union; (the lower) restrained, and (the upper) rejoicing — Heaven and Earth exert their influences, and there ensue the transformation and production of all things. The sages influence the minds of men, and the result is harmony and peace under the sky.
六條線各有一句判斷。閱讀次序初→上；卦象由下而上，看左側的卦。One statement per line, read from the first line to the top. The figure is drawn bottom-up — watch the rail.
咸其拇。
感於足拇——感應剛起步，僅在腳趾。剛動未顯。
The first SIX shows one moving his great toes.
咸其拇，志在外也。
感於足拇，志已向外。
咸其腓，凶，居吉。
感於小腿——盲動則凶；安居則吉。柔在中位須守。
The second SIX shows one moving the calves of his leg. There will be evil. If he abides quiet in his place, there will be good fortune.
雖凶居吉，順不害也。
雖有凶但安居則吉，是順而無害。
咸其股，執其隨，往吝。
感於大腿——隨人而動而失主，前往則吝。
The third NINE shows one moving his thighs, and grasping closely what he follows. Going forward (in this way) will cause regret.
咸其股，亦不處也。志在隨人，所執下也。
感於大腿不能安處，志在跟隨他人，所執之事下流。
貞吉，悔亡。憧憧往來，朋從爾思。
守正則吉，悔消失。心中憧憧（紛亂）思量往來——只有真正的朋友會跟隨你的真誠之思。心動是咸卦之中心。
The fourth NINE shows that firm correctness which will lead to good fortune, and prevent all occasion for repentance. If its subject be unsettled in his movements, (only) his friends will follow his purpose.
貞吉悔亡，未感害也。憧憧往來，未光大也。
貞吉悔亡，是還未受感應之害。憧憧往來，是德未廣大。
咸其脢，無悔。
感於背脊——感於不見之處（背），故無悔。最深的感是無心之感。
The fifth NINE shows one moving the flesh along the spine above the heart. There will be no occasion for repentance.
咸其脢，志末也。
感於背脊，是志在末梢。
咸其輔頰舌。
感於兩頰、口、舌——只在言語表面，未及心之深處。光說不做之象。
The topmost SIX shows one moving his jaws and tongue.
咸其輔頰舌，滕口說也。
感於口舌，只是空談而已。
把象套到你的情境，取一個可行的下一步。Apply the image to your situation; take one practical step.
感·虛·真誠相應
Mutual feeling · emptiness · sincere resonance
咸卦最大的應用：「真誠相感」與「虛心容受」。九四「憧憧往來，朋從爾思」是核心——你心思真誠，真朋友自然來。最高境是九五「咸其脢」（無心而感）。最忌的是上六「咸其輔頰舌」（只在嘴上感人）。
Xian's deepest applications: sincere mutual feeling and empty receptivity. Line 4 is the core — sincere thoughts attract sincere friends. The peak is line 5: moving without intention. The trap is line 6: feeling only at the mouth.
上六「咸其輔頰舌」是現代社交媒體時代最深的失——口能感動千萬人，行動卻接不上。讀此爻自警：相感的本質是行為，不是言語。
Line 6 'feeling at the cheeks and tongue' — the modern social media failure. Mouth moves millions, action follows none. Real influence is action, not speech.
王弼以為咸卦的核心在「無心之感」——九五「咸其脢」是最高境界，因為「脢」是身體中無法自感之處，喻無心而感即為真感。讀此卦最該記住大象「君子以虛受人」六字——能虛則能受。
Wang Bi holds that the heart of Xian is 'influence without intent' (wuxin zhi gan 無心之感) — line 5's 'influence in the flesh of the back' is the highest state, because the back is the one place the body cannot feel of itself: to move others without meaning to is true influence. What most deserves remembering is the Da Xiang's six characters, 'the superior man receives others with an empty mind' — only one who can be empty can receive.
程子強調咸卦六爻自下而上，依次為拇、腓、股、心（隱於九四）、脢、輔——身體各部位的感應是漸進的。最深的感應在心（九四），心動則百體俱動；最高的感應卻是無心（九五脢）。
Cheng Yi stresses that the six lines ascend through the body from below — big toe, calf, thigh, the heart (implicit in line 4), the flesh of the back, the jaws: the body's responsiveness is gradual, part by part. The deepest response is at the heart (line 4), for when the heart moves, all the hundred members move with it; yet the highest response is the heart-less one (line 5, the back).
朱子直言：咸者，感也，下經之首卦。彖傳「天地感而萬物化生，聖人感人心而天下和平」是中國感應思想的源頭。學者觀此知：宇宙的根本動力是「感」。
Zhu Xi puts it plainly: Xian means feeling (gan 感), and it opens the Lower Canon. The Tuan's 'heaven and earth feel one another and the ten thousand things take form; the sage moves the hearts of men and the world is at peace' is the fountainhead of Chinese resonance (ganying) thought. The student learns from this that the root dynamic of the cosmos is feeling-response.
咸講感應怎麼發生。全卦最要緊的兩句，一句是大象的「虛受人」——受感應要虛，心裡塞滿了，什麼也進不來；一句是九四的「憧憧往來，朋從爾思」——心思往來不定的時候，跟著你的只剩原來那幾個朋友。接進來的要虛，發出去的要真；兩頭做到了，未識之人也會被打動。最該避免的是上六「咸其輔頰舌」：感應只到嘴邊，心裡沒有。
Xian is about how influence happens. The two sentences that matter most: the Da Xiang's 'receive others with emptiness' — to be moved, you have to be empty; a mind stuffed full lets nothing in. And line 4's 'thoughts going restlessly to and fro — only friends follow your thinking': when your mind won't settle, the only ones still following you are the few friends you already had. What comes in needs emptiness; what goes out needs sincerity. Get both ends right, and even strangers will be moved. The thing to avoid most is line 6, 'influence in the jaws, cheeks, and tongue' — feeling that reaches only as far as the mouth, with nothing behind it.
Mutual influence, feeling-response — in the old script interchangeable with 感 (gan, 'to feel, to move').
The big toe of the foot.
The calf of the leg.
The thigh.
The flesh along the spine — the one part of the body you cannot see or feel of yourself.
The cheeks, the jaw.
Restless, to-and-fro — the look of an unsettled mind.
To pour forth, gush — here, empty talk streaming from the mouth.
易經 64 卦傳統分為上下兩經：上經 30 卦（乾坤至坎離），主天道；下經 34 卦（咸恆至既濟未濟），主人事。咸為下經之首，意義在「人事始於相感」。
The 64 hexagrams are traditionally divided into two canons: the Upper Canon's 30 hexagrams (Qian and Kun through Kan and Li), concerned with the way of heaven; and the Lower Canon's 34 (Xian and Heng through Ji Ji and Wei Ji), concerned with human affairs. Xian opens the Lower Canon, and the point is this: human affairs begin with mutual feeling.
第 31 咸（感）與第 32 恆（久）為一對綜卦。古人讀此二卦：先有感而後有恆——關係先要有相感的根，才能維持長久；沒有感的恆是空殼，沒有恆的感是浮露。
Hexagram 31 Xian (feeling) and Hexagram 32 Heng (duration) form an inverse pair. The ancients read them together: feeling first, then constancy — a relationship needs the root of mutual feeling before it can last. Constancy without feeling is an empty shell; feeling without constancy is surface dew.
卦象上兌（少女）下艮（少男），少男屈下於少女，是傳統婚禮中「男主動下求女」的理據。「取女吉」即建立在這個下對上的真誠相感之上。
The image places Dui (the youngest daughter) above and Gen (the youngest son) below — the young man bowing beneath the young woman. This is the classical warrant for the groom's actively seeking the bride in traditional marriage rites. 'Taking a wife is auspicious' rests on this sincere feeling offered from below to above.
大象「君子以虛受人」一句是儒家「致虛守靜」修養觀的源頭之一。能虛才能受——心若已滿，則感應的空間就沒有了。
The Da Xiang's 'the superior man receives others with an empty mind' is one source of the Confucian cultivation ideal of 'reaching emptiness, keeping stillness.' Only the empty can receive — a mind already full has no room left for response.
「咸」與「感」二字何以相通？「虛受人」三字的含義？
Why are 咸 (xian, the hexagram name) and 感 (gan, 'to feel/move') the same word? What does 'emptying oneself to receive others' mean?
為何九四爻沒有提到任何身體部位？這個沉默有何深意？
Why does line 4 mention no body part? What is the silence's meaning?
用九五「咸其脢」評論一個你見過「無意而感人」的場景。
Use line 5 to comment on a moment when someone moved you without trying.