Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, and 6

Treading Carefully becomes Attraction

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

A lake on the mountain: four lines move, and the fourth and fifth lines of 31 Attraction stay still to guide you. The fourth says that grounding yourself in your heart and inner strength lets the right things reach you on their own. The fifth adds that stillness, without trying to steer people or events, brings achievement. From Treading Carefully this movement leads into openness and contact, a time when good results come to the degree you stay receptive and let supportive people come near. So stop maneuvering. The vigilance you needed to pass the tiger can relax into presence. Stay centered in what you feel and value, and let people approach you on their own. What's right tends to arrive when you aren't grasping for it, and the guard you kept up can finally come down.

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 31 Attraction, which stays still

    Centering yourself in your heart and your inner resources will let what is right for you find you naturally.

    Constancy brings good fortune. Regret vanishes. Restless, coming and going; friends follow your thoughts.

  2. Line 5 of 31 Attraction, which stays still

    An attitude of stillness, without trying to influence people or events, will bring you achievement.

    Contact at the back. No regret.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. The judgment of 31 Attraction

    You'll get good results to the extent that you stay open and receptive, which lets people come close who will support you and help you get there, generously and without self-interest.

    Success. Constancy is favorable. Taking a wife brings good fortune.

The trigrams

Below Lake Mountain
Above Heaven Lake

The way back

31 Attraction → 10 Treading Carefully
lines 1, 2, 3, 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.

Toss the coins