Hexagram 19, line 2
九二Line 2 of Overseeing
Nine in the second place · 臨 lín
爻辭 The line text
咸臨，吉无不利。The second line, undivided, shows its subject advancing in company (with the subject of the first line). There will be good fortune; (advancing) will be in every way advantageous.
咸臨，吉无不利；未順命也。'The good fortune and every possible advantage attending the advance (of the subject of the second line), in company (with the subject of the first),' arises from the fact that those (to whom the advance is made) are not yet obedient to the ordinances (of Heaven).
In plain words
Line two repeats 'approaching together' and raises the verdict to 'good fortune, nothing that is not favourable.' It is the stronger of the two rising lines, central in the lower trigram, and it corresponds to the ruler at five, so its growth is both felt and welcomed: the Tuan's 'strong, central and responded to' (剛中而應) points here. The small Image adds a puzzling phrase, 'not yet obedient to command' (未順命也). 程頤 reads it as a tribute: this line advances by its own sincerity, not because it was told to; others read it as the yin lines above not yet having submitted, so that the approach is still needed. Either way the line's strength is its own.
If this line is changing
Advance on the strength of your own conviction and the welcome you are given; you do not need an instruction to do what the moment plainly calls for.
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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
- It corresponds (應) with line 5: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
臨 Overseeing becomes ䷗ 24 復 Returning
Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
What it becomes24 · 復 ReturningfùThe six lines of 臨 Overseeing
- 初九Nine at the beginningapproach together · steadiness · a right will
- 九二Nine in the second placecentral strength · every advantage · not merely obeying
- 六三Six in the third placesweet approach · no advantage · worry saves it
- 六四Six in the fourth placedirect approach · right place · receiving the strong
- 六五Six in the fifth placewise approach · the great ruler · the middle way
- 上六Six at the topgenerous approach · the top turns inward · good at the end
Read 臨 Overseeing for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the second place of hexagram 19, Overseeing, mean?
- Line two repeats 'approaching together' and raises the verdict to 'good fortune, nothing that is not favourable.' It is the stronger of the two rising lines, central in the lower trigram, and it corresponds to the ruler at five, so its growth is both felt and welcomed: the Tuan's 'strong, central and responded to' (剛中而應) points here. The small Image adds a puzzling phrase, 'not yet obedient to command' (未順命也). 程頤 reads it as a tribute: this line advances by its own sincerity, not because it was told to; others read it as the yin lines above not yet having submitted, so that the approach is still needed. Either way the line's strength is its own.
- What does hexagram 19 become when line 2 changes?
- Overseeing becomes hexagram 24, 復 Returning: Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
- Is line 2 of Overseeing 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).