Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Decline becomes Great Achievements
What this change means
Five lines move, all but the top, and Heaven is now held within the Mountain: Decline becomes 26 Great Achievements. The one line that keeps its place is the focus, and it's unusually clear. Everything is in your favor right now; success is assured, and help comes from heaven. The resulting hexagram adds that it's a good moment to leave your comfort zone and try new actions, beyond what you think you can do, because unusual actions are favored and you have the qualities needed. So the stagnation has almost entirely reversed. Take that seriously. The habits of hiding and waiting that protected you before can now hold you back. Step out, attempt what you'd usually avoid, and draw on what you've learned from the past, as the image suggests. Read this as an invitation to act, not as a promise that nothing can go wrong.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 6 of 26 Great Achievements, which stays still
Everything is in your favor right now; success is assured. You'll receive help from Heaven.
How wide the roads of heaven. Success.
- The judgment of 12 Decline
You're surrounded by adverse people and situations. Avoid getting involved with those people, no matter what they offer you. Circumstances aren't good for acting or making decisions; it's time to withdraw to a safe place and wait for conditions to change. It's time to keep a low profile.
Stagnation: these are not worthy people. The constancy of the noble person is not favorable. The great goes, the small comes.
- Line 1 of 12 Decline
If you recognize the decline and withdraw in time, warning others about it, you'll succeed later on.
The grass is pulled up, and its tangled roots come too, each with its clump. Constancy brings good fortune. Success.
- Line 2 of 12 Decline
Even when adverse people and situations surround you, keeping your strength inside helps you get through this moment.
Embracing and obeying. For the petty person, good fortune; for the great person, stagnation. Success.
- Line 3 of 12 Decline
Little by little things will improve; it's a matter of waiting patiently for justice to be done.
Embracing shame.
- Line 4 of 12 Decline
If you act genuinely and with inner integrity, you'll come out of any situation well and be rewarded.
There is a mandate. No fault. Companions share in the blessing.
- Line 5 of 12 Decline
The stagnation is ending, but you still need to act with caution until the situation is fully stable.
Stagnation comes to rest. For the great person, good fortune. “It may be lost, it may be lost”: tied to the leafy mulberry.
- The judgment of 26 Great Achievements
It's a good moment to leave your comfort zone and take on new actions, beyond what you think you can do. Heaven favors unusual actions that will lead you to success, because you have the qualities needed.
Constancy is favorable. Not eating at home brings good fortune. It is favorable to cross the great river.
The trigrams
The way back
26 Great Achievements → 12 Declinelines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Other transformations of Decline
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.