Transformation · lines 2 and 6
Gradual Progress becomes Right Action
What this change means
Water over Wind: the top and second lines move, the top leading, and the figure becomes a well. The top line tells of a successful advance toward your goal, with results that can inspire others. The second recalls an earlier, modest success that let you rest and gather strength. The resulting hexagram, 48 Right Action, asks what you'll do with all this. Opportunities are on your side, but they're useless if you keep postponing decisions and actions. The point isn't to look for something new; it's to draw on what you already have, the way people draw water from a well that's already there. So don't let success make you idle. Use your position, your resources and your lessons, and put them to work now. Otherwise the advantage of being in the right place can slip away quietly.
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 53 Gradual Progress
You're moving successfully toward your goal. You'll get what you want and may even inspire others.
The wild goose moves by degrees to the high plain. Its feathers can serve in the ritual dance. Good fortune.
- Line 2 of 53 Gradual Progress
You'll have a first success as you move forward. Nothing spectacular, but it will let you rest and recharge to keep going.
The wild goose moves by degrees to the boulder. It eats and drinks with joy. Good fortune.
- The judgment of 53 Gradual Progress
You'll make progress, and it will come step by step, gradually, through stages that make it lasting and stable. Trying to speed things up will bring delays and obstacles. Keep at it, one rung at a time.
The woman goes to be married: good fortune. Constancy is favorable.
- 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 → 53 Gradual Progresslines 2 and 6
Other transformations of Gradual Progress
- 9Small Thingslines 1 and 2
- 42Increaselines 1 and 3
- 59Release from Obstacleslines 2 and 3
- 13Gathering with Equalslines 1 and 4
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 2 and 4
- 12Declinelines 3 and 4
- 22Good Mannerslines 1 and 5
- 18Loss, Then Gainlines 2 and 5
- 23The Falllines 3 and 5
- 56The Travelerlines 4 and 5
- 63After the Endlines 1 and 6
- 8Unionlines 3 and 6
- 31Attractionlines 4 and 6
- 15Simplicitylines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.