What this change means
Mountain upon mountain: with the second, fifth and top lines moving, everything settles into stillness. Both judgments count the same. 48 Right Action warns that delay wastes the opportunities in your favor and asks you to use what you have. The resulting hexagram, 52 Abiding, describes a time of stillness, staying centered and steady, waiting calmly for outer conditions to show you when to act. At first glance they clash, but stillness here isn't procrastination. It's a deliberate, centered pause. The difference lies in your attitude: drifting and avoiding decisions wastes the well, while stopping consciously, with confidence, keeps its water clean. Don't go beyond what's happening now. Keep your thoughts in place, take stock of your resources, and be ready to move the moment conditions say so.
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 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 52 Abiding
It's a time of stillness, of staying centered and steady: that's the best way forward in your present situation. Sometimes you need to stop, calm and confident, and wait for outer conditions to show you it's time to act. Don't go beyond what's happening now. There's no action, only a harmonious stillness, and staying that way brings success.
Still at the back; the body is not reached. Walking in the courtyard; its people are not seen. No fault.
- 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.
- 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.
- Line 6 of 48 Right Action
You have all the talents and abilities to act and seize the moment, and you also want to contribute to those around you: there will be success.
Water is drawn from the well: do not cover it. There is sincere trust. Great good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
52 Abiding → 48 Right Actionlines 2, 5, and 6
Other transformations of Right Action
- 3Initial Obstacleslines 1, 2, and 3
- 49Renewallines 1, 2, and 4
- 58Inner Peacelines 1, 3, and 4
- 45Meetinglines 2, 3, and 4
- 36Darknesslines 1, 2, and 5
- 19Fleeting Successlines 1, 3, and 5
- 2Passivitylines 2, 3, and 5
- 34Great Manifestationlines 1, 4, and 5
- 62Success in Small Matterslines 2, 4, and 5
- 40Clearing Obstacleslines 3, 4, and 5
- 37The Tribelines 1, 2, and 6
- 61Inner Integritylines 1, 3, and 6
- 20Observinglines 2, 3, and 6
- 1Activitylines 1, 4, and 6
- 33Leaving Behindlines 2, 4, and 6
- 6Conflictlines 3, 4, and 6
- 26Great Achievementslines 1, 5, and 6
- 4Immaturitylines 3, 5, and 6
- 50The Vessel of Nourishmentlines 4, 5, and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.