Transformation · lines 1, 3, and 5

Right Action becomes Fleeting Success

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Earth draws close above a lake as the first, third and fifth lines move. Here both judgments are balanced. 48 Right Action tells you that the moment favors you, but that delay turns opportunity into loss; use what's already in your hands. The resulting hexagram, 19 Fleeting Success, announces a spell of luck and well-being, and is clear that it's limited in time: conditions will change afterward. Read together, the urgency is sharper. A window is open, and it won't stay open forever. Act now, with the resources you have, rather than waiting for a perfect moment. Use part of the good time to notice the signs of change and take precautions, so that when the shift arrives its effects are softer. Teaching and caring for others while things go well is part of using this time wisely.

What to read, in order

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

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Line 1 of 48 Right Action

    Your mood is low, so everything looks bleak to you: you don't see the opportunities and you don't draw help.

    A muddy well: no one drinks. No birds come to the old well.

  4. Line 3 of 48 Right Action

    You aren't using all your talents, and you have many, so the opportunities are there but you don't take them.

    The well is cleaned, and no one drinks: my heart aches. Water could be drawn. If the king were clear-sighted, all would share in the blessing.

  5. Line 5 of 48 Right Action

    You recognize the opportunities around you and feel motivated and determined to act, which will bring success.

    The well is clear: the cold spring is drunk.

The trigrams

Below Wind Lake
Above Water Earth

The way back

19 Fleeting Success → 48 Right Action
lines 1, 3, and 5

Other transformations of Right Action

Make your own cast

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

Toss the coins