I Ching 易經
The 64 Hexagrams / 21
Hexagram 21 · ䷔

Biting Through

噬嗑 · Shì Kè
Upper Fire 離Lower Thunder 震

The Judgment · 卦辭

亨。利用獄。
Shih Ho indicates successful progress (in the condition of things which it supposes). It will be advantageous to use legal constraints.

The Image · 大象

雷電噬嗑;先王以明罰敕法。
(The trigrams representing) thunder and lightning form Shih Ho. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, framed their penalties with intelligence, and promulgated their laws.
Plain-English Meaning

Biting through. An obstacle must be dealt with firmly and fairly to restore flow.

The Judgment

Biting through succeeds; it is time for clear, just decisions.

The Image

Like thunder and lightning, make your standards clear and enforce them fairly.
Editorial summary written for this site; not a translation.
The Lines · 爻辭
English: James Legge (1882), public domain · Text · Image (Appendix II), sacred-texts.com.
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