What this change means
The three yielding lines all turn firm, and the figure becomes heaven over heaven, pure strength in motion. The two judgments share the weight equally. In 47 Overwhelmed, you're cornered and unheard, with nothing but your inner light to draw on. The resulting hexagram, 1 Activity, speaks of the creative principle: new beginnings, flourishing, and the qualities you need to carry any project through. It's a remarkable reversal. The very weaknesses that made the pressure so hard, at the bottom, in the middle and at the top, become strength. That doesn't happen by luck. It happens by keeping your will steady through the hard times, as the image of 47 asks. Now you can act. Begin what you've been holding back, keep going without letting up, and grow stronger through the work itself.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- The judgment of 47 Overwhelmed
Things are very much against you: the wrong people surround you, no one believes what you say, and obstacles hem you in. All you can do is accept it and wait for better conditions to come. Your only resource is the inner light that lives in you; turn to that strength to hold you up right now.
Success. For the great person, constancy brings good fortune. No fault. They speak and are not believed.
- The judgment of 1 Activity
The creative principle. Activity. New beginnings, flourishing, and the qualities you need to carry any undertaking or project through to success.
Great success. Constancy is favorable.
- Line 1 of 47 Overwhelmed
In these hard times, above all, keep your inner strength: it will be your support.
Buttocks caught on a tree stump. Goes into a dark valley; for three years, not seen.
- Line 3 of 47 Overwhelmed
Facing obstacles with weakness and complaints won't move you forward; on the contrary, it will sink you deeper.
Hard pressed by stone, leaning on thorns. Enters the house and does not see the wife. Misfortune.
- Line 6 of 47 Overwhelmed
The pressure is nearing its end, and the obstacles will be easy to overcome. If your inner strength is with you as well, success will come much more easily.
Hard pressed among creeping vines, on what totters. It is said: moving brings regret. If there is regret, setting out brings good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
1 Activity → 47 Overwhelmedlines 1, 3, and 6
Other transformations of Overwhelmed
- 49Renewallines 1, 2, and 3
- 3Initial Obstacleslines 1, 2, and 4
- 5Inactionlines 1, 3, and 4
- 39Held Backlines 2, 3, and 4
- 51Shocklines 1, 2, and 5
- 34Great Manifestationlines 1, 3, and 5
- 62Success in Small Matterslines 2, 3, and 5
- 19Fleeting Successlines 1, 4, and 5
- 2Passivitylines 2, 4, and 5
- 46Going Uplines 3, 4, and 5
- 25Innocencelines 1, 2, and 6
- 33Leaving Behindlines 2, 3, and 6
- 61Inner Integritylines 1, 4, and 6
- 20Observinglines 2, 4, and 6
- 57Gentlenesslines 3, 4, and 6
- 38Oppositeslines 1, 5, and 6
- 35Advancelines 2, 5, and 6
- 50The Vessel of Nourishmentlines 3, 5, and 6
- 4Immaturitylines 4, 5, and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.