Transformation · lines 2, 3, and 4

Passivity becomes What Lasts

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Wind below, Thunder above: the middle three lines move, and the soft Earth gains a pulse and a direction. Both judgments are weighed evenly. 2 Passivity counsels against taking the lead; follow good guidance and give your projects time. The resulting hexagram, 32 What Lasts, asks for action rather than stillness, with clear goals and conduct that matches them, so achievements grow and hold. That seems like a contradiction until you look closer. The action asked for isn't initiative for its own sake; it's consistent, aligned effort over time. Know where you're heading. Let others guide the larger course if they're better placed to, and keep doing your part steadily. Don't change direction every time the wind shifts. Patience and purpose together tend to build things that last far longer than a single bold move.

What to read, in order

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

  1. 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.

  2. The judgment of 32 What Lasts

    This moment asks you for action, not stillness. It asks you to have clear goals to head toward and to act in line with them. That way you'll achieve things, and your achievements will keep growing and will last.

    Success. No fault. Constancy is favorable. It is favorable to have somewhere to go.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Line 4 of 2 Passivity

    Staying away from the noise, out of sight, is the best way to get what you want.

    A bag tied at the neck. No fault, no praise.

The trigrams

Below Earth Wind
Above Earth Thunder

The way back

32 What Lasts → 2 Passivity
lines 2, 3, and 4

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