Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 35: Progress

Waiting
Water / Heaven
Progress
Fire / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

Line 1

初九 需于郊。利用恆。无咎。

waiting
on
jiāothe outskirts
worthwhile
yònguseful
héngwhat endures
no
jiùblame

Nine at the beginning means: Waiting in the meadow. It furthers one to abide in what endures. No blame.

Line 2

九二 需于沙。小有言。終吉。

waiting
on
shāthe sand
xiǎothe small
yǒuhave
yánthings to say
zhōngin the end
auspicious

Nine in the second place means: Waiting on the sand. There is some gossip. The end brings good fortune.

Line 3

九三 需于泥。致寇至。

waiting
in
the mud
zhìinviting
kòuthieves
zhìto approach

Nine in the third place means: Waiting in the mud Brings about the arrival of the enemy.

Line 4

六四 需于血。出自穴。

waiting
in
xuèblood
chūemerge
from
xuéthat

Six in the fourth place means: Waiting in blood. Get out of the pit.

Line 5

九五 需于酒食。貞吉。

waiting
amidst
jiǔwine
shífood
zhēnpersistence
promising

Nine in the fifth place means: Waiting at meat and drink. Perseverance brings good fortune.

Line 6

上六 入于穴。有不速之客三人來。敬之終吉。

entering
into
xuéa pit
yǒuwith
no
invitation
zhīextended to
visitors
sānthree
rénpeople
láiarrive
jìngto respect
zhīto them
zhōngwill end in
good fortune

Six at the top means: One falls into the pit. Three uninvited guests arrive. Honor them, and in the end there will be good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWater FireThe Deep → The Clinging
Lower TrigramHeaven EarthThe Creative → The Receptive

Yilin Verse

咸陽辰巳,長安戌亥。丘陵生止,非魚鰌市。不可辭阻,終無悔咎。

Xianyang at the chen-si hours; Chang’an at the xu-hai hours. Hills and mounds produce and stand; not a market for fish and eels. One need not refuse or resist; in the end, no regret or fault.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Clouds above heaven part as the sun rises above the earth in Progress. Xianyang at the chen-si hours, Chang'an at the xu-hai hours — two imperial capitals named with their astrological timings, mapping the rhythm of governance onto the cycle of the day. Hills and mounds produce stillness, not a market for fish and eels: the terrain yields what is proper to it, not what one might wish. One cannot refuse or resist this natural order, and in the end there is no regret or blame. From Waiting to Progress, patient nourishment unfolds as the steady advance of light over earth: each thing in its proper place and time, neither forced nor denied. Progress here is accepting the landscape's own logic rather than imposing one's desires upon it.

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