What this change means
Only the first line moves, and the Mountain hidden under the Earth turns to Fire: a light buried in the ground. In Simplicity, this line is the heart of the reading. It describes doing something large without pretension or pride, so no one feels the need to oppose you, and that quiet way of working is what can carry you across difficult water to a good end. The resulting hexagram, 36 Darkness, explains why this modesty matters so much now. It points to a dark stretch in which you may have to live alongside the wrong people, and where showing your talents openly could expose you. Here humility is more than good manners; it's protection. Keep your integrity, do your work without drawing attention, and let your light stay inside for a while. Hard times tend to pass, and a low profile can keep you safe until they do.
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 15 Simplicity
Doing great things without pretension or pride will let you bring what you want to a good end, because you'll have no opponents.
Humble in their humility, the noble person can cross the great river. Good fortune.
- The judgment of 15 Simplicity
This isn't the time to boast or show off. It's time to keep things simple and to make sure you act fairly; your qualities and talents will show on their own and be recognized.
Success. The noble person reaches the end.
- The judgment of 36 Darkness
It's a dark time: circumstances force you to live alongside the wrong people. If you know how to protect yourself, hold on to your integrity, and go unnoticed, without openly showing your light and your talents, you'll stay safe until better times come. However hard they seem, hard times pass too.
Constancy in hardship is favorable.
The trigrams
The way back
36 Darkness → 15 Simplicityline 1
Other transformations of Simplicity
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.