What this change means
Water over wood, the old image of a well: with the fourth and fifth lines moving, the Thunder above becomes Water. The fifth line leads. Your achievements depend on being bold and on opening yourself to new paths. The fourth line explains why: drive alone isn't enough when the field is empty, and you have to locate soil where your aims can flourish. The resulting hexagram, 48 Right Action, adds that opportunities are on your side, but putting off decisions wastes them; the point is to use what you already have, not to chase something new. So don't hunt in the same empty ground, and don't keep postponing either. Look at the resources and openings already within reach, choose the most fertile one, and draw from it with courage.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 5 of 32 What Lasts
Right now your achievements will depend on your ability to be bold and open yourself to new paths.
Making one's virtue last, with constancy. For the wife, good fortune; for the husband, misfortune.
- Line 4 of 32 What Lasts
Motivation and enthusiasm aren't all you need to achieve something; you also need to find the places where those dreams can flourish.
No game in the field.
- The judgment of 32 What Lasts
This moment asks you for action, not stillness. It asks you to have clear goals to head toward and to act in line with them. That way you'll achieve things, and your achievements will keep growing and will last.
Success. No fault. Constancy is favorable. It is favorable to have somewhere to go.
- The judgment of 48 Right Action
You're at a moment when opportunities are on your side. But if you don't know how to use them because you keep putting off decisions and actions, being in the right place at the right time won't do you any good. It's not about looking for new things but about making use of what you have, or there will be loss.
The town is changed, the well is not. Nothing lost, nothing gained. They come and go, and draw from the well. Nearly there, the rope does not yet reach the well; if the jar breaks, misfortune.
The trigrams
The way back
48 Right Action → 32 What Lastslines 4 and 5
Other transformations of What Lasts
- 55Abundancelines 1 and 2
- 54A Subordinate Rolelines 1 and 3
- 16Passionlines 2 and 3
- 11Well-Beinglines 1 and 4
- 15Simplicitylines 2 and 4
- 7The Armylines 3 and 4
- 43Overflowinglines 1 and 5
- 31Attractionlines 2 and 5
- 47Overwhelmedlines 3 and 5
- 14Wealthlines 1 and 6
- 56The Travelerlines 2 and 6
- 64Transitionlines 3 and 6
- 18Loss, Then Gainlines 4 and 6
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.