Transformation · lines 4 and 6

Opposites becomes Fleeting Success

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Earth settles over the lake as the fourth and sixth lines move: the upper Fire becomes Earth, giving 19 Fleeting Success. The top line leads. Isolation may confuse you about who your friends are, but the confusion clears, and joining with like-minded people brings success. The fourth supports it: keeping to yourself lets you meet a worthy companion, and mutual trust follows. The resulting hexagram describes a spell of good fortune and well-being that is limited in time; if you read the signs and take precautions, you can't prevent the turn, but you can soften it. So use this good period wisely. Reconnect with your true allies while things are easy. Build the trust that will support you later. Don't waste the moment on suspicion. Prepare quietly for the change that follows.

What to read, in order

Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.

  1. Line 6 of 38 Opposites

    Isolation leads you into a moment of confusion where you don't recognize friends or allies; you're even about to attack them. But little by little the confusion clears, and joining with like-minded people will bring you success.

    Alone in opposition: sees a pig covered in mud, a cart loaded with ghosts. First the bow is drawn; then it is set down. Not a raider: a wedding party. If on the way the rain comes, good fortune.

  2. Line 4 of 38 Opposites

    Keeping to yourself in this time of opposition will help you find people who are truly like you and achieve success.

    Alone in opposition, meets a worthy man; they trust each other. Danger. No fault.

  3. The judgment of 38 Opposites

    You're in a situation of opposition: the people around you are different from you, yet you need to share with them. This means that what you can achieve for now is small. Even so, don't give in. It matters that both you and they keep your own nature and contribute from there to a shared project.

    In small matters, good fortune.

  4. The judgment of 19 Fleeting Success

    A period of luck, fortune and well-being is coming. Make the most of it, because it will last only eight months; after that, conditions will change. If you can pay attention, read the signs and take care and precautions before the decline arrives, you won't avoid it, but you will lessen its effects while circumstances change.

    Great success. Constancy is favorable. When the eighth month comes, misfortune.

The trigrams

Below Lake stays
Above Fire Earth

The way back

19 Fleeting Success → 38 Opposites
lines 4 and 6

Other transformations of Opposites

Make your own cast

The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.

Toss the coins