Transformation · lines 2, 4, 5, and 6
Treading Carefully becomes Coming Back
What this change means
Thunder within the earth: four lines move, and the first and third lines of 24 Coming Back stay still. The first says success lies in doing things at the right time: read the signs and act on them. The third warns that acting with insecurity, going forward and back and repeating past mistakes, leads you away from the path and from right action. From Treading Carefully, the movement leads to a return after a darker stretch: help can come and projects can be favored again, as long as you remember the mistakes that led you astray. So act on the signs, and then commit. Don't waver back and forth out of fear. Learn from what went wrong before so you don't repeat it, and let your return be decisive rather than tentative.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 1 of 24 Coming Back, which stays still
Success lies in doing things at the perfect time: watch the signs and act on them.
Returning from not far, without coming to regret. Great good fortune.
- Line 3 of 24 Coming Back, which stays still
If you act with insecurity, going forward and back and repeating past mistakes, you'll stray from the path and from right action.
Returning again and again. Danger; no fault.
- 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 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 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 5 of 10 Treading Carefully
If you're aware of the danger in going ahead and you act with caution, you'll succeed.
A resolute step. Constancy is in danger.
- 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 24 Coming Back
After a period of adversity and darkness, the return comes. Still, be aware of the mistakes that led you into the dark, because if you repeat them you could fall again. People will come to help you, and your undertakings and projects will be favored.
Success. Going out and coming in without harm; friends arrive, no fault. Back and forth along its way: in seven days comes the return. It is favorable to have somewhere to go.
The trigrams
The way back
24 Coming Back → 10 Treading Carefullylines 2, 4, 5, and 6
Other transformations of Treading Carefully
- 53Gradual Progresslines 1, 2, 3, and 4
- 56The Travelerlines 1, 2, 3, and 5
- 23The Falllines 1, 2, 4, and 5
- 18Loss, Then Gainlines 1, 3, 4, and 5
- 22Good Mannerslines 2, 3, 4, and 5
- 31Attractionlines 1, 2, 3, and 6
- 8Unionlines 1, 2, 4, and 6
- 48Right Actionlines 1, 3, 4, and 6
- 63After the Endlines 2, 3, 4, and 6
- 16Passionlines 1, 2, 5, and 6
- 32What Lastslines 1, 3, 5, and 6
- 55Abundancelines 2, 3, 5, and 6
- 7The Armylines 1, 4, 5, and 6
- 11Well-Beinglines 3, 4, 5, and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.