Transformation · line 2
Treading Carefully becomes Innocence
What this change means
The second line walks a level, open road, and it asks you to walk it alone for a while. Staying apart with your projects, for now, is what leads to success, and the line promises good fortune to the one who keeps that steady solitude. As it moves, the Lake below becomes Thunder, and Treading Carefully turns into 25 Innocence: thunder rolling under heaven, and nothing false in it. That resulting hexagram sets a condition. Act with a pure heart, without hidden motives and without leaving what's right, and the blessings of heaven can reach you; stray from it, and things get hard. So the solitude of this line isn't withdrawal for its own sake. It's a way of keeping your motives clean while you work. Stay with what you're building, away from the crowd's pressures, and let simplicity and honesty guide each step along the smooth road.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- 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.
- 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.
- The judgment of 25 Innocence
If you act with a pure heart, free of hidden motives and without straying from what is right, true to original human nature, you'll let the blessings of heaven reach you. Otherwise you'll meet obstacles and your affairs will become difficult.
Great success. Constancy is favorable. If it is not upright, there is calamity. It is not favorable to have somewhere to go.
The trigrams
The way back
25 Innocence → 10 Treading Carefullyline 2
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.