What this change means
Down in the well, someone is shooting at little fish, and the jar meant to carry water is cracked and leaking. The second line describes good qualities wasted on small aims. In plain terms, you have what it takes to succeed, but you've grown slack and stopped pushing yourself, and so whatever you gain slips away. With this line moving, Wind below becomes Mountain, and the image becomes water on a steep slope. The resulting hexagram, 39 Held Back, describes a path where each advance meets a block, with pauses and retreats along the way, and where support from like-minded people helps you get through. Put together, the slackness has consequences: obstacles pile up when effort lapses. Mend the jar before anything else. Recommit to the work, aim at something worth your abilities, and ask for help from people who share your outlook. The way clears obstacle by obstacle, not all at once.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 2 of 48 Right Action
You have good qualities for success, but you've grown slack and stopped pushing yourself; this makes it hard to hold on to what you achieve.
Down in the well, shooting at minnows. The jar is broken and leaks.
- 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 judgment of 39 Held Back
Every time you advance, something blocks you, forcing you to stop, step back, and look for help from like-minded people who give you their support. That way you'll get past the obstacles one by one until the final victory.
The southwest is favorable; the northeast is not. It is favorable to see the great person. Constancy brings good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
39 Held Back → 48 Right Actionline 2
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.