What this change means
The top line moves and the upper Wind becomes Water: water drawn up over wood, the image of a well. This line is the center of the reading, and it's a warning. If you lose heart and drop your project because results haven't shown up yet, you lose what you've already gained. The old image is someone hiding beneath the bed who loses goods and axe, the means to work and to defend. The resulting hexagram, 48 Right Action, sharpens this: opportunities are on your side right now, but putting off decisions and actions wastes them. What's needed isn't something new but making use of what you have. Don't abandon the effort just before it can bear fruit. Draw from what's already in your hands, keep going, and act while the moment is with you.
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 57 Gentleness
If you lose heart and drop the project because you don't see results yet, you'll lose what you've gained.
Yielding beneath the bed. Loses goods and axe. Even with constancy, misfortune.
- The judgment of 57 Gentleness
It's a time when you'll gain and succeed through gentleness. This isn't the time for big actions, or for using pressure or force. It's a time to choose a path and stay on it steadily. Even if you don't see much progress, success will show itself through the build-up of small actions and through seeking the support of those above you.
Small success. It is favorable to have somewhere to go. It is favorable to see the great person.
- 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 → 57 Gentlenessline 6
Other transformations of Gentleness
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.