What this change means
The fifth and top lines move, and a mountain rises over the lower Water: a spring breaking out at its foot, fresh but still unformed. The top line leads, and it's a warning: trying to escape the obstacles by doing things the wrong way and joining the wrong people only binds you more. The fifth line offers a better route: like water that rises only as high as the rim, go where the ground gives way most easily, and move gradually. The resulting hexagram, 4 Immaturity, adds humility. You may not yet have the maturity you need in this area. Ask for guidance, seek good counsel, and put what you learn into practice. So stop flailing for a quick exit. Admit what you don't know, choose your advisers carefully, and take patient steps along the easiest path. Learning, not struggling, is what gets you free.
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 29 Water
Trying to escape the obstacles, you get more tangled if you keep doing things the wrong way and side with the wrong people.
Bound with braided cords, set among thorn thickets; three years and no way out. Misfortune.
- Line 5 of 29 Water
You'll get out of the obstacles now if you follow the path of least resistance and, step by step, head toward your goal.
The pit does not overflow; it fills just to the level. No fault.
- The judgment of 29 Water
Just as a stream moves through obstacles and gets past them, following its course without stagnating, you're at a time when obstacles will come one after another, but you'll get past them if you can keep moving. Letting fear paralyze you will only leave you stuck.
There is sincere trust. Only the heart gets through. Going earns esteem.
- The judgment of 4 Immaturity
Be aware that you don't yet have the maturity you need to reach what you're after in the area of your question. Act with humility: ask for guidance, seek advice and counsel, and put what you're told into practice.
Success. I do not go looking for the ignorant youth; the ignorant youth comes looking for me. The first time the oracle is asked, I answer. A second and a third asking is an offense, and an offense gets no answer. Constancy is favorable.
The trigrams
The way back
4 Immaturity → 29 Waterlines 5 and 6
Other transformations of Water
- 3Initial Obstacleslines 1 and 2
- 5Inactionlines 1 and 3
- 39Held Backlines 2 and 3
- 58Inner Peacelines 1 and 4
- 45Meetinglines 2 and 4
- 28Excesseslines 3 and 4
- 19Fleeting Successlines 1 and 5
- 2Passivitylines 2 and 5
- 46Going Uplines 3 and 5
- 40Clearing Obstacleslines 4 and 5
- 61Inner Integritylines 1 and 6
- 20Observinglines 2 and 6
- 57Gentlenesslines 3 and 6
- 6Conflictlines 4 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.