Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, and 6

Passivity becomes Great Achievements

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Heaven within the mountain: four lines move, and the yielding Earth gathers great stored strength. The reading's weight falls on the two lines that don't move in the resulting hexagram, 26 Great Achievements. Its fourth says success comes from reading circumstances, seeing obstacles before they form, and getting ready to meet them. Its fifth says that facing the people and situations trying to stop you, not head-on but cleverly, ensures your success. So something unusual is possible, and it depends on foresight and finesse rather than force. Look ahead. Anticipate the snags and prepare quietly. When resistance appears, find the angle around it instead of charging. Draw on what you've learned and stored up. A great achievement here tends to come from patience and intelligence working together.

What to read, in order

Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.

  1. Line 4 of 26 Great Achievements, which stays still

    If you watch the circumstances and spot obstacles before they arise, preparing to overcome them when the time comes, you'll succeed.

    The board on the calf's horns. Great good fortune.

  2. Line 5 of 26 Great Achievements, which stays still

    Facing the situations and people trying to stop you, not head-on but cleverly, ensures your success.

    The tusks of a gelded boar. Good fortune.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. Line 6 of 2 Passivity

    It's not the time to lead; it's the time to follow. Trying to take a leading position now will bring retaliation on you that affects everyone.

    Dragons fight in the open country. Their blood is dark and yellow.

  8. The judgment of 26 Great Achievements

    It's a good moment to leave your comfort zone and take on new actions, beyond what you think you can do. Heaven favors unusual actions that will lead you to success, because you have the qualities needed.

    Constancy is favorable. Not eating at home brings good fortune. It is favorable to cross the great river.

The trigrams

Below Earth Heaven
Above Earth Mountain

The way back

26 Great Achievements → 2 Passivity
lines 1, 2, 3, and 6

Other transformations of Passivity

Make your own cast

The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.

Toss the coins