What this change means
Water on the mountain: the third and fifth lines move, and the easy plain becomes a steep path. The fifth leads: act with reserve, letting your light shine from within. The third adds that steady work, done without showing off, will be appreciated. The resulting hexagram, 39 Held Back, says that every time you advance, something blocks you, and you have to halt, retreat a little, and find support among people who think as you do. That's how you get past the obstacles one by one. So the reserve the fifth line asks for is practical. Don't force your way up. When you're blocked, pause, turn back to yourself, and look for allies. Keep working quietly. The climb is slow, but with support and patience, the final step tends to arrive, and you'll have earned it.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 5 of 2 Passivity
Right now success depends on acting with reserve. Your light shines from within.
A yellow skirt. Great good fortune.
- 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.
- 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.
- The judgment of 39 Held Back
Every time you advance, something blocks you, forcing you to stop, step back, and look for help from like-minded people who give you their support. That way you'll get past the obstacles one by one until the final victory.
The southwest is favorable; the northeast is not. It is favorable to see the great person. Constancy brings good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
39 Held Back → 2 Passivitylines 3 and 5
Other transformations of Passivity
- 19Fleeting Successlines 1 and 2
- 36Darknesslines 1 and 3
- 46Going Uplines 2 and 3
- 51Shocklines 1 and 4
- 40Clearing Obstacleslines 2 and 4
- 62Success in Small Matterslines 3 and 4
- 3Initial Obstacleslines 1 and 5
- 29Waterlines 2 and 5
- 45Meetinglines 4 and 5
- 27Nourishmentlines 1 and 6
- 4Immaturitylines 2 and 6
- 52Abidinglines 3 and 6
- 35Advancelines 4 and 6
- 20Observinglines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.