Transformation · lines 2, 3, 4, and 6
A Subordinate Role becomes Good Manners
What this change means
Fire glows beneath the Mountain as lines two, three, four and six turn. The still lines of 22 Good Manners carry the counsel. Its first says success in everyday matters depends on using the resources that are yours, and no more. Its fifth says your genuine inner attitude, however small it seems to you, is welcomed in higher circles. In A Subordinate Role, this is gentle encouragement. You don't need more than you have; work with what's truly yours, and handle daily affairs with grace and courtesy. Don't inflate your offerings or borrow importance. Your sincerity, modest as it may feel, is noticed and valued by people above you. Small courtesies and honest effort carry real weight now. Humility here isn't self-erasure; it's an honest offering.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 1 of 22 Good Manners, which stays still
Success in everyday matters now depends on using the resources that are yours, and no more.
Adorning the feet; leaving the carriage and going on foot.
- Line 5 of 22 Good Manners, which stays still
Your genuine inner attitude, small as it may seem to you, is welcomed and accepted in higher circles.
Adornment on the hill and in the garden. The roll of silk is meager. Distress; in the end, good fortune.
- The judgment of 54 A Subordinate Role
You're in a situation where you have to take second place to others; any personal initiative will lead to failure. Recognizing the moment and acting in keeping with it is all you can do until things change and you're in a better position.
Setting out brings misfortune. Nothing is favorable.
- Line 2 of 54 A Subordinate Role
Even if the person you answer to ignores you, keep your position and your loyalty: this will show your greatness.
The one-eyed can see. The constancy of the one who lives apart is favorable.
- Line 3 of 54 A Subordinate Role
Given the present circumstances, it's better to stay in a subordinate position than to be alone.
The young woman marries as a servant; she comes back and marries as a second wife.
- Line 4 of 54 A Subordinate Role
If you know how to wait, you'll get what you want, and get it perfectly.
The young woman lets the time for her wedding pass. A late marriage has its hour.
- Line 6 of 54 A Subordinate Role
Holding a subordinate position with resentment or unease only makes you lose the rewards you'd find if you did it wholeheartedly.
The woman holds the basket, and there is nothing in it; the man cuts the sheep, and there is no blood. Nothing is favorable.
- The judgment of 22 Good Manners
It's a time to be kind and courteous and to use good manners with others if you want good results in what you undertake. What might seem superficial at another time leads you to success now. It's a time to handle everyday matters, not great undertakings.
Success. In small things, it is favorable to have somewhere to go.
The trigrams
The way back
22 Good Manners → 54 A Subordinate Rolelines 2, 3, 4, and 6
Other transformations of A Subordinate Role
- 15Simplicitylines 1, 2, 3, and 4
- 31Attractionlines 1, 2, 3, and 5
- 8Unionlines 1, 2, 4, and 5
- 48Right Actionlines 1, 3, 4, and 5
- 63After the Endlines 2, 3, 4, and 5
- 56The Travelerlines 1, 2, 3, and 6
- 23The Falllines 1, 2, 4, and 6
- 18Loss, Then Gainlines 1, 3, 4, and 6
- 12Declinelines 1, 2, 5, and 6
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 1, 3, 5, and 6
- 13Gathering with Equalslines 2, 3, 5, and 6
- 59Release from Obstacleslines 1, 4, 5, and 6
- 42Increaselines 2, 4, 5, and 6
- 9Small Thingslines 3, 4, 5, and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.