Hexagram 10, line 4
九四Line 4 of Stepping
Nine in the fourth place · 履 lǚ
爻辭 The line text
履虎尾，愬愬，終吉。The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject treading on the tail of a tiger. He becomes full of apprehensive caution, and in the end there will be good fortune.
愬愬終吉，志行也。'He becomes full of apprehensive caution, and in the end there will be good fortune:'—his aim takes effect,
In plain words
Line four also 'treads on the tiger's tail', but 'with fearful caution, and in the end good fortune.' It is a strong line in a soft place, standing directly below the resolute ruler at five — the tiger, in the received reading, is the Qian above and especially the sovereign one serves. Where three strode in blindly, four knows exactly what it is stepping near and shivers (愬愬). The small Image says 'the aim is carried out' (志行也): caution here is not timidity but the condition under which an ambitious person at court gets what they came for.
If this line is changing
You are close to real power and know it; let the fear sharpen your care rather than freeze you, and the outcome is good.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 乾 Qian (the Creative) (heaven).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 1: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
履 Stepping becomes ䷼ 61 中孚 Inner Sincerity
Wind over the lake: inner truth that moves even pigs and fishes. Good fortune, favourable to cross the great river — sincerity at the centre reaches what force cannot.
What it becomes61 · 中孚 Inner Sincerityzhōng fúThe six lines of 履 Stepping
- 初九Nine at the beginningplain treading · simplicity · going alone
- 九二Nine in the second placelevel road · the recluse · inner calm
- 六三Six in the third placeone-eyed, lame · bitten by the tiger · overreach
- 九四Nine in the fourth placetiger's tail · trembling caution · good end
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeresolute tread · peril in correctness · the ruler
- 上九Nine at the topreview the path · signs examined · great blessing
Read 履 Stepping for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 10, Stepping, mean?
- Line four also 'treads on the tiger's tail', but 'with fearful caution, and in the end good fortune.' It is a strong line in a soft place, standing directly below the resolute ruler at five — the tiger, in the received reading, is the Qian above and especially the sovereign one serves. Where three strode in blindly, four knows exactly what it is stepping near and shivers (愬愬). The small Image says 'the aim is carried out' (志行也): caution here is not timidity but the condition under which an ambitious person at court gets what they came for.
- What does hexagram 10 become when line 4 changes?
- Stepping becomes hexagram 61, 中孚 Inner Sincerity: Wind over the lake: inner truth that moves even pigs and fishes. Good fortune, favourable to cross the great river — sincerity at the centre reaches what force cannot.
- Is line 4 of Stepping in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).