Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6
Treading Carefully becomes Held Back
What this change means
Water on the mountain: five lines move, and only the fifth keeps its form. In 39 Held Back, that still line says your strong conviction and clear aims keep you moving through the obstacles, and your inner strength will draw help to you. Almost all of Treading Carefully shifts here, and the careful walk becomes a steep one, where every advance meets a block and you have to stop, step back and seek support from like-minded people. Each obstacle passed brings you closer to the final victory. So hold on to your conviction. It's the one thing the change leaves untouched, and it's what attracts allies. Expect the stops; don't read them as failure. Ask for help when you need it, and keep your aim fixed as you work through each obstacle in turn.
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 39 Held Back, which stays still
You have great conviction and clear goals, which let you keep going despite the obstacles. Your inner strength will draw help to you.
Great hardship: friends arrive.
- The judgment of 10 Treading Carefully
You're facing a difficult situation. If you know how to conduct yourself properly, moving with awareness and gentleness, even people who could be rivals and stand in your way will give ground, and may even become your allies.
Stepping on the tiger's tail; it does not bite. Success.
- Line 1 of 10 Treading Carefully
You're in a position out of view that will let you focus on your projects.
A plain step. Going: no fault.
- Line 2 of 10 Treading Carefully
Staying on your own with your projects, for now, will lead you to success.
Treading a level, open road. For one who lives apart, constancy brings good fortune.
- Line 3 of 10 Treading Carefully
By overestimating your abilities, you may take on tasks you're not prepared for.
The one-eyed can see, the lame can walk. Stepping on the tiger's tail, and it bites. Misfortune. A warrior acts for the great prince.
- Line 4 of 10 Treading Carefully
You're getting involved in a risky venture, but your inner strength and firmness will help you succeed.
Stepping on the tiger's tail. Wary, wary; in the end, good fortune.
- Line 6 of 10 Treading Carefully
If you watch for the favorable signs to know when to act, and then act decisively, you'll succeed.
Looking back over the steps taken, examining the signs. If it turns back on itself: great 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 → 10 Treading Carefullylines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6
Other transformations of Treading Carefully
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.