TOJEONG BIGYEOL · 653
Tojeong Bigyeol Hexagram 653
The sign of one who achieved great merit departing, leaving earlier merit to be regretted
At a glance
- Hexagram
- 653
- Upper · middle · lower
- 6 · 5 · 3
- The year overall
- An even year
- Brighter months
- lunar month 9
- Months to take care
- lunar months 2, 10, 11 and 12
Luna Alley's Tojeong readings are for fun and reflection. Read even a difficult hexagram as a guide to how you carry yourself through the year.
The original verse and its meaning
- 成功者去 前功可惜
The one who achieved merit departs, and the merit built before seems a waste. - 茱靑細雨 牛尾作害
A fine rain falls on the dogwood's green leaves, and an ox's swishing tail does harm. - 雖有吉事 有名無實
Even when good things happen, there is a name but no substance. - 移植東樓 可待功名
Transplant it to the eastern pavilion and you can wait for fame and honor.
The verses follow the public-domain Tojeong Bigyeol held by the National Library of Korea; the meanings are Luna Alley's own retelling.
The year ahead
This is a year when protecting what you've achieved matters more. Even when good things happen, they can easily be all name and no substance. Change your position, as if transplanting to the eastern pavilion, and you can hope for fame, so pay no mind to petty spite.
This is a year when protecting what you've already achieved matters more than gaining something new. The first line, the one who achieved merit departing and the earlier merit going to waste, warns that someone who accomplished things with you may leave, or that you may let go of a finished task and see the credit blur. Do your wrap-ups and handovers thoroughly and keep records of your achievements. An ox's tail doing harm in fine rain means not a big disaster but small hindrances and nagging that grate on your nerves, so don't take it too much to heart. The line about having a name but no substance even when good things happen is advice to weigh what actually stays in your hands over appearances or titles. As in the last line, transplanting to the eastern pavilion to await fame, if your current place doesn't suit you, changing your environment and putting down roots again can be the way. Your energy is brightest in the ninth lunar month, and at year's end, if you look after your health and home and live quietly, you'll get through smoothly.
A word from Master Tojeong
“Merit is harder to keep than to achieve, so finish your work firmly. Laugh off a swishing ox tail. If the tree has taken the wrong place, it need only be transplanted.”
Month by month (summary)
Only a short note and the original verse for each month. Dates are the 2027 lunar months.
- Lunar month 1Feb 7 – Mar 7Even
Good chances appear in the northeast or through connections there this month. But if you overextend yourself to grant a close person's request, hurt feelings can easily arise later.
東北兩方 必有吉利 莫信親人 恩反爲仇 · There may be auspicious benefit in the two directions of east and north. Don't trust those close to you too much; kindness turns to enmity.
- Lunar month 2Mar 8 – Apr 6Care
Your energy dips for a while this month. Even if your confidence drops, it's only a passing shadow, so don't shrink too much.
鳳凰垂翼 出明入暗 莫近東方 事有虛荒 · The phoenix droops its wings, going out of the light into darkness. Don't get close to the east; matters there are empty.
- Lunar month 3Apr 7 – May 5Even
Many things don't go as you intended this month. Accept that the world simply works that way and your heart will feel much lighter.
黑雲滿空 不見日月 不如意者 十常八九 · Dark clouds cover the sky so the sun and moon can't be seen. Eight or nine in ten things don't go as you wish.
- Lunar month 4May 6 – Jun 4Even
It's a wistful month, as if good times pass too quickly. Look after your spouse's and children's feelings and health more carefully than usual.
花開花落 春色不留 妻宮膝下 俱爲不美 · The flowers bloom and fall, so the spring light doesn't linger. Things on the side of your spouse and children are both not good.
- Lunar month 5Jun 5 – Jul 3Even
If you don't go against the flow, it's worth starting something new this month. Don't overdo it; follow the natural order.
天理順從 新事可從 火姓可親 我事和順 · Following heaven's order, new ventures are worth pursuing. Befriend a Fire (火) surname and your affairs go smoothly.
- Lunar month 6Jul 4 – Aug 1Even
It's easy to feel hurt by people close to you this month. Even if your feelings are hurt, don't make big decisions in a fit of anger.
六親無德 恩反爲仇 勿爲退職 反有其害 · Relatives bring no benefit, so kindness comes back as enmity. Don't step down from your job; it would only do harm.
- Lunar month 7Aug 2 – Aug 31Even
This is a month to conserve your energy. Rather than chasing high goals by force, focus on what you can do now.
老龍無力 登天無益 杜門不出 無事得謗 · The old dragon has no strength, so rising to heaven brings no benefit. Even if you shut your door and don't go out, you hear slander for no reason.
- Lunar month 8Sep 1 – Sep 29Even
It's stifling as if blocked on all sides, then a thread comes loose this month. If you don't give up and hold on, the flow turns for the better.
睢水秋風 其圍三西 今當吉運 凶變爲吉 · In the autumn wind of the sorghum fields, it feels as if surrounded three layers deep. But now you meet good fortune, and bad turns to good.
- Lunar month 9Sep 30 – Oct 28Bright
This is the brightest month of the year. Even without going far, good things come from close by.
在家則吉 偶然得財 時來運到 自然亨通 · Staying home is auspicious and you happen upon wealth. The time comes and fortune arrives, so things flow on their own.
- Lunar month 10Oct 29 – Nov 27Care
This is a month to trust that skills not yet revealed will shine someday. Don't rush to be recognized; quietly polish them.
石中之玉 世出有日 土姓不利 吉變爲凶 · Even jade within stone has its day to come into the world. An Earth (土) surname is unfavorable, so good turns into bad.
- Lunar month 11Nov 28 – Dec 27Care
Both your body and household are weary this month. Cut back your schedule and take good care with sleep and meals.
困窮疾苦 連綿不絶 祈禱天神 可免此厄 · Hardship and the suffering of illness continue without end. Pray to heaven with devotion and you can escape this trouble.
- Lunar month 12Dec 28 – Jan 26, 2028Care
Quietly holding steady is best at the end of the year this month. Push new work or big moves to the new year.
若無疾病 膝下有厄 守舊安靜 妄動有厄 · If there's no illness, there's trouble for your children. Keep to the old ways and live quietly; rash moves bring trouble.
The nine readings by area (money, love, work, health and more) and the long monthly readings open in the Tojeong Bigyeol app once you find your own hexagram.
Who gets this hexagram?
The hexagram depends on your lunar birth date and the year being read. The upper number comes from your Korean age that year plus the year's taese number, the middle from the length and month number of your birth month that year, and the lower from your birth day plus the day number. So the same person gets a different hexagram each year.
For example, someone born on lunar 2/4/1985 receives this hexagram in 2027.
Find my hexagram
Frequently asked questions
Is Tojeong hexagram 653 a good one?
Hexagram 653 is read as an even year, with good and hard months mixed. This is a year when protecting what you've achieved matters more. Even when good things happen, they can easily be all name and no substance.
Which months need care in hexagram 653?
In hexagram 653, the lower months are lunar months 2, 10, 11 and 12. Avoid rushing big decisions then, and go easy on your body and your words.
How do I find my own Tojeong hexagram?
Enter your birth date in the Luna Alley Tojeong Bigyeol page and it converts solar to lunar and works out the hexagram for you. To do it by hand, the 2027 guide shows the formula with an example.