What this change means
Water lies on the mountain as the fifth and top lines move. The top line leads: a deep, settled calm lets you master what's around you, and good fortune comes from it. The fifth line adds silence: keep your words few and in order, since careless talk could put you at risk. The resulting hexagram, 39 Held Back, describes a road where every advance is blocked, forcing you to stop, step back and look for like-minded people who'll support you, so you get past the obstacles one by one. Your stillness is well suited to this. Don't force the blocked path or complain about it. Pause calmly, speak carefully, and gather allies; that's how the way opens. Each obstacle passed this way makes the next one smaller.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 6 of 52 Abiding
There's perfect stillness, an inner calm that lets you master what's outside. Success.
Deep stillness. Good fortune.
- Line 5 of 52 Abiding
You need not only to stay still and calm but also to keep quiet, because careless words could put you at risk.
Still the jaws; words come in order. Regret vanishes.
- 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.
- 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 → 52 Abidinglines 5 and 6
Other transformations of Abiding
- 26Great Achievementslines 1 and 2
- 27Nourishmentlines 1 and 3
- 4Immaturitylines 2 and 3
- 30The Flamelines 1 and 4
- 50The Vessel of Nourishmentlines 2 and 4
- 35Advancelines 3 and 4
- 37The Tribelines 1 and 5
- 57Gentlenesslines 2 and 5
- 20Observinglines 3 and 5
- 33Leaving Behindlines 4 and 5
- 36Darknesslines 1 and 6
- 46Going Uplines 2 and 6
- 2Passivitylines 3 and 6
- 62Success in Small Matterslines 4 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.