01 / THE EARLY TEXT
The words themselves.
An interpretive English translation. Read the translation notes. Six and nine name line types; positions run from bottom to top.
歸妹：征凶，无攸利。
Gui Mei: Advancing is inauspicious. Nothing is favorable.
初九：歸妹以娣，跛能履，征吉。
Nine at the beginning: The maiden marries as a junior wife. The lame can walk. Advancing is auspicious.
九二：眇能視，利幽人之貞。
Nine in the second place: The one-eyed can see. Favorable for the secluded person's determination.
六三：歸妹以須，反歸以娣。
Six in the third place: The maiden marries in a lowly role, returning to marry as a junior wife.
九四：歸妹愆期，遲歸有時。
Nine in the fourth place: The maiden misses the appointed marriage date. A delayed marriage has its time.
六五：帝乙歸妹，其君之袂，不如其娣之袂良，月幾望，吉。
Six in the fifth place: Di Yi gives a maiden in marriage. The principal wife's sleeves are less fine than her junior companion's. The moon is nearly full. Auspicious.
上六：女承筐无實，士刲羊无血，无攸利。
Six at the top: The woman holds a basket with nothing in it; the man cuts a sheep with no blood. Nothing is favorable.
02 / A POSSIBLE CONTEXT
What might the question have been?
In what capacity will a woman marry, and are the date, accompanying attendants, and expected status appropriate?
A possible setting
The text refers to a junior wife or accompanying sister, a marriage associated with Di Yi, delay, an empty basket, and a bloodless offering. Rank and ritual provisions are unstable.
How the words respond
The general judgment is unfavorable to advancing. Individual lines allow limited success despite disadvantages, a delayed date, or modest clothing. The final rite fails for lack of actual contents. These are historical marriage arrangements, not guidance for modern relationships.
Marriage is embedded in rank, timing, gifts, and ritual completion. Several role-terms remain difficult to translate precisely.
This scenario adapts the Chinese edition's historical reading. It is a possible reconstruction, not an established single event or the only interpretation.