Hexagram 16, line 4
九四Line 4 of Delight
Nine in the fourth place · 豫 yù
爻辭 The line text
由豫，大有得。勿疑。朋盍簪。The fourth line, undivided, shows him from whom the harmony and satisfaction come. Great is the success which he obtains. Let him not allow suspicions to enter his mind, and thus friends will gather around him.
由豫，大有得；志大行也。'From him the harmony and satisfaction come; great is the success which he obtains:'—his aims take effect on a grand scale.
In plain words
Line four is the ruler of the hexagram, the one strong line that all five yin lines respond to, which the Tuan means by 'the strong is responded to and its will is carried out.' Its text: 'delight comes from him; great gains; do not doubt; friends gather like hair in a clasp.' 由豫 means the enthusiasm originates here, in a minister strong enough to move the whole and placed just below a weak sovereign. The one danger is hesitation — 勿疑 — because a line this trusted undoes itself by suspecting the trust. The small Image: 'the will is carried out on a great scale' (志大行也).
If this line is changing
You are the one everyone is responding to; act on it without second-guessing, because doubt is the only thing that can scatter the people now gathering around you.
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 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It corresponds (應) with line 1: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
豫 Delight becomes ䷁ 2 坤 Earth
Pure yin: the earth that carries everything. Strength through receptiveness, patience and service; success comes from following a good lead rather than forcing the front, like a mare steady on the open plain.
What it becomes2 · 坤 EarthkūnThe six lines of 豫 Delight
- 初六Six at the beginningcrowing delight · will exhausted · misfortune
- 六二Six in the second placefirm as rock · not waiting a day · seeing the seed
- 六三Six in the third placegazing upward · regret · too late
- 九四Nine in the fourth placesource of delight · do not doubt · friends gather
- 六五Six in the fifth placepersistent ailment · does not die · riding the strong
- 上六Six at the topdarkened delight · change even when complete · no blame
Read 豫 Delight for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 16, Delight, mean?
- Line four is the ruler of the hexagram, the one strong line that all five yin lines respond to, which the Tuan means by 'the strong is responded to and its will is carried out.' Its text: 'delight comes from him; great gains; do not doubt; friends gather like hair in a clasp.' 由豫 means the enthusiasm originates here, in a minister strong enough to move the whole and placed just below a weak sovereign. The one danger is hesitation — 勿疑 — because a line this trusted undoes itself by suspecting the trust. The small Image: 'the will is carried out on a great scale' (志大行也).
- What does hexagram 16 become when line 4 changes?
- Delight becomes hexagram 2, 坤 Earth: Pure yin: the earth that carries everything. Strength through receptiveness, patience and service; success comes from following a good lead rather than forcing the front, like a mare steady on the open plain.
- Is line 4 of Delight 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).