What this change means
Clouds rise up to the sky as four lines move, and Heaven appears beneath the Water. When this much shifts, look to what stays still in the resulting hexagram, 5 Inaction: its fourth and top lines. The fourth says any kind of action will only make things worse. The top says that at a moment when everything seems against you, help appears that resolves the situation. So this is a time of waiting, and a hopeful one. Don't push. Don't try to fix things by force or cleverness. Use the time to prepare for the active period that's coming, and look at conditions honestly. Stay calm and relaxed, eat and rest well, and keep watch. When help arrives from an unexpected direction, recognize it and accept it. Destiny tends to follow its own course.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 4 of 5 Inaction, which stays still
Any kind of action will only make things worse.
Waiting in blood. Coming out of the pit.
- Line 6 of 5 Inaction, which stays still
At a moment when everything seems to be against you, help appears that will resolve the situation.
Into the pit. Three guests come without being called; receiving them with respect brings good fortune at last.
- The judgment of 2 Passivity
This is not the time to take the initiative to achieve things. It's better to let others guide you and to keep at your projects with patience.
Great success. The constancy of a mare is favorable. The noble person has somewhere to go: going ahead, they lose the way; following behind, they find someone to guide them. It is favorable to find friends in the southwest and to lose them in the northeast. Calm constancy brings good fortune.
- Line 1 of 2 Passivity
Things can decline without anyone noticing. It's time to take precautions so the decline doesn't become total.
Frost underfoot. Firm ice is on its way.
- Line 2 of 2 Passivity
Quietly, without a lot of fuss, you can succeed.
Straight, square, great. Without learning it, nothing that is not favorable.
- Line 3 of 2 Passivity
What you do with perseverance and without showing off will be appreciated and recognized.
Holding its brightness within; it can stay constant. If it serves in the king's affairs, no achievement of its own, but a good end.
- Line 5 of 2 Passivity
Right now success depends on acting with reserve. Your light shines from within.
A yellow skirt. Great good fortune.
- The judgment of 5 Inaction
It's time to wait, not to act. Waiting doesn't mean standing still, though: it's a good time to prepare for the active period that's coming. A calm, relaxed attitude will lead you to success: look at the conditions without lying to yourself, and stay alert so you know when it's time to act. Destiny follows its own course.
There is sincere trust. Shining success. Constancy brings good fortune. It is favorable to cross the great river.
The trigrams
The way back
5 Inaction → 2 Passivitylines 1, 2, 3, and 5
Other transformations of Passivity
- 34Great Manifestationlines 1, 2, 3, and 4
- 58Inner Peacelines 1, 2, 4, and 5
- 49Renewallines 1, 3, 4, and 5
- 28Excesseslines 2, 3, 4, and 5
- 26Great Achievementslines 1, 2, 3, and 6
- 38Oppositeslines 1, 2, 4, and 6
- 30The Flamelines 1, 3, 4, and 6
- 50The Vessel of Nourishmentlines 2, 3, 4, and 6
- 61Inner Integritylines 1, 2, 5, and 6
- 37The Tribelines 1, 3, 5, and 6
- 57Gentlenesslines 2, 3, 5, and 6
- 25Innocencelines 1, 4, 5, and 6
- 6Conflictlines 2, 4, 5, and 6
- 33Leaving Behindlines 3, 4, 5, and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.