What this change means
Lines three and four move together, the fourth leading. Its message is about speed: in hard times, helping others matters, but the help needs to come fast to be any use. The third line names the trap to avoid, which is meeting obstacles with weakness and complaint, something that only sinks you deeper. Below, Water becomes Wind; above, Lake becomes Water, and the image becomes water drawn up over wood. The resulting hexagram, 48 Right Action, speaks of opportunities that are on your side right now, and warns that putting off decisions wastes them. It's not about searching for something new but about using what you already have. So the two lines and the result agree: stop lamenting, stop delaying, and put your existing resources to work, for yourself and for others. Being in the right place does little good if you don't act while you're there.
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 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.
- 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 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 → 47 Overwhelmedlines 3 and 4
Other transformations of Overwhelmed
- 17Adaptinglines 1 and 2
- 43Overflowinglines 1 and 3
- 31Attractionlines 2 and 3
- 60Thriftlines 1 and 4
- 8Unionlines 2 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.