Also known as The Marrying Maiden, Converting the Maiden, The Subordinate.
The characters 歸妹 mean a younger sister going to be married. In ancient China a younger sister sometimes joined a household as a secondary wife, with no authority of her own. Hexagram 54 uses that old custom as an image for any situation you enter from a junior position, where you have to act with tact and can't make demands.
The figure
Thunder over Lake. Thunder stirs the lake below it, as feeling stirs a person to follow. It is the reverse of hexagram 53, the proper, step-by-step marriage.
The judgment
Setting out goes badly. Nothing here pays.
Pushing forward from a weak position goes wrong. Nothing is gained by forcing it; be reserved and patient.
The image
Thunder over the marsh, stirring what it sits on. See it through to the end, and know where it wears out.
Relationships that start in passion need a view of where they're headed if they're going to last.
The six lines
Counted from the bottom, the way the figure is built when you cast it.
- Line 1, at the bottom. Joining in a minor role. Like a lame person who can still walk, you can get things done quietly. Going forward goes well.
- Line 2. Like a person with one eye who can still see. Stay loyal and patient, even when alone.
- Line 3. You wait in a lowly position, then accept a lesser place to get in at all. Wanting too much leads to settling for too little.
- Line 4. Holding back beyond the usual age to wed. The match arrives after delay, and it turns out well.
- Line 5. The ruler marries off a daughter whose clothes are plainer than her bridesmaid's. Modesty in a high position. The moon is almost full. It goes well.
- Line 6, at the top. The basket holds no fruit, and the sacrifice brings no blood. The form is kept but nothing is in it. Nothing goes well.
Reading it for a question
Hexagram 54 says your position is weaker than you'd like. Act with tact and modesty, don't push and keep the long view. Make sure what you're entering is real, not just its outward form.