Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Innocence becomes Loss, Then Gain
What this change means
Only the top line holds still as Innocence becomes 18 Loss, Then Gain, wind below the mountain. Five lines move, so the guidance comes from that one still line of the resulting hexagram: high goals, reaching beyond purely personal interests, can drive you to succeed. The resulting hexagram itself speaks of mistakes that have led to decline, and says that admitting them and making the needed corrections leads back to success, if you take time to reflect and then give results time to arrive. Read against Innocence, the message is honest repair. Something got off true, perhaps through motives that weren't clean. Look at what caused the damage without excuses, correct it, and let a purpose larger than yourself steer the rebuilding. Don't rush the recovery; work steadily, and the gain that follows the loss can be real.
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 18 Loss, Then Gain, which stays still
If you have high goals, beyond purely personal interests, and let them drive you, you'll succeed.
Serving neither kings nor lords; holding one's own work high.
- 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.
- Line 1 of 25 Innocence
Follow the way of the heart: it will always know what is right at each moment. This will lead you to success.
Without falseness. Going brings good fortune.
- Line 2 of 25 Innocence
Doing your work without thinking about what you'll get from it is the way to succeed.
Not plowing with the harvest in mind, not clearing land with the ripe field in mind: then it is favorable to have somewhere to go.
- Line 3 of 25 Innocence
Watch and act at the right time, because a good deed done at the wrong moment turns out badly.
An undeserved calamity: someone tied up an ox; the traveler takes it, and the calamity falls on the villagers.
- Line 4 of 25 Innocence
No one can take from you what belongs to you, so keep doing the right thing at the right time, and you'll reap the fruits.
Constancy is possible. No fault.
- Line 5 of 25 Innocence
If adverse things happen to you that aren't caused by your own negligence, don't worry: little by little things will straighten out until they're back on course.
An undeserved illness. Take no medicine: there will be joy.
- The judgment of 18 Loss, Then Gain
You've made mistakes that have brought you into decline; still, admitting it and making the corrections needed will lead you back to success. Take time to reflect on what caused the loss and, once you've acted, give success time to arrive.
Great success. It is favorable to cross the great river. Three days before the first day, three days after the first day.
The trigrams
The way back
18 Loss, Then Gain → 25 Innocencelines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Other transformations of Innocence
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.