Hexagram 18, line 3
九三Line 3 of Corruption
Nine in the third place · 蠱 gǔ
爻辭 The line text
幹父之蠱，小有悔，无大咎。The third line, undivided, shows (a son) dealing with the troubles caused by his father. There may be some small occasion for repentance, but there will not be any great error.
幹父之蠱，終无咎也。'He deals with the troubles caused by his father:'—in the end there will be no error.
In plain words
Line three also deals with the father's decay, but as a yang line in a yang place at the top of Xun it is over-firm: it pushes the repair too hard. The text allows 'some small regret' and rules out 'great blame'. The small Image reads the outcome, not the manner: in the end there is no blame (終無咎也), because the error is on the side of doing too much, which in a hexagram about decay is forgivable. Compared with the fourth line's indulgence, zeal is the lesser fault.
If this line is changing
You may be correcting the problem more roughly than needed; expect some friction, but do not let that stop you — too much zeal here is forgivable, too little is not.
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 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 6: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
蠱 Corruption becomes ䷃ 4 蒙 Immaturity
A spring at the foot of a mountain: youthful ignorance that can be taught. Success comes to the learner who asks sincerely — the teacher does not chase the student.
What it becomes4 · 蒙 ImmaturityméngThe six lines of 蠱 Corruption
- 初六Six at the beginningthe father's decay · taking over · danger then good
- 九二Nine in the second placethe mother's decay · not too rigid · the middle way
- 九三Nine in the third placetoo forceful · small regret · no great blame
- 六四Six in the fourth placeindulgence · letting it slide · regret ahead
- 六五Six in the fifth placepraise · virtue and a helper · the ruler's repair
- 上九Nine at the topnot serving · higher business · a model aim
Read 蠱 Corruption for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the third place of hexagram 18, Corruption, mean?
- Line three also deals with the father's decay, but as a yang line in a yang place at the top of Xun it is over-firm: it pushes the repair too hard. The text allows 'some small regret' and rules out 'great blame'. The small Image reads the outcome, not the manner: in the end there is no blame (終無咎也), because the error is on the side of doing too much, which in a hexagram about decay is forgivable. Compared with the fourth line's indulgence, zeal is the lesser fault.
- What does hexagram 18 become when line 3 changes?
- Corruption becomes hexagram 4, 蒙 Immaturity: A spring at the foot of a mountain: youthful ignorance that can be taught. Success comes to the learner who asks sincerely — the teacher does not chase the student.
- Is line 3 of Corruption 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).