What this change means
Both trigrams flip: the Water below becomes Lake and the Lake above becomes Water, so the lake that had run dry now has water over it. The fourth line leads this change. It says helping others in hard times matters, but only if the help comes quickly; slow help brings distress, even if it reaches an end. The first line adds a foundation: whatever happens, guard the strength you carry within, the one support that doesn't fail when you're stuck. The resulting hexagram, 60 Thrift, asks you to conserve time, energy and resources so you're ready for what comes next. Together they describe a kind of wise economy. Don't scatter yourself, but don't hoard either. Spend your effort where it's urgent and useful, act promptly when someone needs you, and keep a reserve inside. That measure, kept with care, tends to make later challenges easier to meet.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 4 of 47 Overwhelmed
Helping others in times of hardship matters, but that help has to be quick to do its job.
Comes slowly, slowly, hard pressed in a metal carriage. Distress, but there is an end.
- 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.
- 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 60 Thrift
It's a time to conserve your time, energy and resources so you're ready for what lies ahead. If you do, when challenges arrive you'll be prepared and will overcome them easily.
Success. Bitter measure cannot be kept up with constancy.
The trigrams
The way back
60 Thrift → 47 Overwhelmedlines 1 and 4
Other transformations of Overwhelmed
- 17Adaptinglines 1 and 2
- 43Overflowinglines 1 and 3
- 31Attractionlines 2 and 3
- 8Unionlines 2 and 4
- 48Right Actionlines 3 and 4
- 54A Subordinate Rolelines 1 and 5
- 16Passionlines 2 and 5
- 32What Lastslines 3 and 5
- 7The Armylines 4 and 5
- 10Treading Carefullylines 1 and 6
- 12Declinelines 2 and 6
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 3 and 6
- 59Release from Obstacleslines 4 and 6
- 64Transitionlines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.