Hexagram 14, line 1
初九Line 1 of Great Holdings
Nine at the beginning · 大有 dà yǒu
爻辭 The line text
无交害，匪咎，艱則无咎。In the first line, undivided, there is no approach to what is injurious, and there is no error. Let there be a realisation of the difficulty (and danger of the position), and there will be no error (to the end).
大有初九，无交害也。This first line, undivided, of Tâ Yû shows no approach to what is injurious.
In plain words
The first line has 'no contact with harm; not a fault; if mindful of difficulty, no blame.' At the bottom of a hexagram of abundance, a strong line in a strong place that has not yet come into contact with anything — four above is also yang, so there is no correspondent and nothing pulling it into entanglement. The small Image simply repeats 無交害也: it has not yet touched what could hurt it. The condition on its blamelessness is 艱, keeping the difficulty in mind: at the start of plenty the danger is forgetting that plenty is hard to keep.
If this line is changing
You are at the start of something plentiful and have not yet been tested by it; keep the difficulty in view now, while nothing has gone wrong, and nothing will.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 乾 Qian (the Creative) (heaven).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 4: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
大有 Great Holdings becomes ䷱ 50 鼎 Cauldron
Fire over wood: the cauldron that cooks the offering. Supreme success — the vessel that turns raw into cooked, nourishing the wise and settling the new order after a revolution.
What it becomes50 · 鼎 CauldrondǐngThe six lines of 大有 Great Holdings
- 初九Nine at the beginningno harmful contact · remember the difficulty · beginning of plenty
- 九二Nine in the second placegreat wagon · bearing the load · accumulated strength
- 九三Nine in the third placeoffering to the king · noble service · small man cannot
- 九四Nine in the fourth placenot swelling · restraint near the ruler · clear discernment
- 六五Six in the fifth placesincerity exchanged · dignity · ruler of the hexagram
- 上九Nine at the tophelp from heaven · nothing not favourable · yielding above the ruler
Read 大有 Great Holdings for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 14, Great Holdings, mean?
- The first line has 'no contact with harm; not a fault; if mindful of difficulty, no blame.' At the bottom of a hexagram of abundance, a strong line in a strong place that has not yet come into contact with anything — four above is also yang, so there is no correspondent and nothing pulling it into entanglement. The small Image simply repeats 無交害也: it has not yet touched what could hurt it. The condition on its blamelessness is 艱, keeping the difficulty in mind: at the start of plenty the danger is forgetting that plenty is hard to keep.
- What does hexagram 14 become when line 1 changes?
- Great Holdings becomes hexagram 50, 鼎 Cauldron: Fire over wood: the cauldron that cooks the offering. Supreme success — the vessel that turns raw into cooked, nourishing the wise and settling the new order after a revolution.
- Is line 1 of Great Holdings in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).