Hexagram 26, line 2
九二Line 2 of Great Accumulation
Nine in the second place · 大畜 dà chù
爻辭 The line text
輿說輹。The second line, undivided, shows a carriage with the strap under it removed.
輿說輹，中无尤也。'(He is as) a carriage from which the strap under it has been removed:'—being in the central position, he will incur no blame.
In plain words
'The carriage loses the strap that holds its axle.' Line two wants to advance like line one, but here the vehicle itself is disabled: it is yang in a central place, restrained by its correspondent the ruler at line five, and it simply cannot go. The small Image turns the picture from a breakdown into a virtue: 'being central, there is no fault' (中無尤也). Cheng Yi explains that a strong line in the middle knows how to stop of its own accord, so what looks like being stranded is actually the carriage choosing not to drive against the mountain. There is no verdict of good or bad; the line is quietly in the right.
If this line is changing
If the means to go forward have been taken away, do not improvise a way around; accept the halt as the right timing and use it to prepare.
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 乾 Qian (the Creative) (heaven).
- 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
大畜 Great Accumulation becomes ䷕ 22 賁 Adornment
Fire at the foot of the mountain: beauty lighting the forms of things. Success in small matters through grace and style; ornament should serve substance, not replace it.
What it becomes22 · 賁 AdornmentbìThe six lines of 大畜 Great Accumulation
- 初九Nine at the beginningdanger ahead · stop · held back
- 九二Nine in the second placeaxle strap off · cannot move · no blame
- 九三Nine in the third placegood horses · daily practice · like-minded above
- 六四Six in the fourth placeyoung bull · check it early · great good fortune
- 六五Six in the fifth placegelded boar · remove the root · good fortune
- 上九Nine at the topheaven's road · accumulation complete · wide open
Read 大畜 Great Accumulation for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the second place of hexagram 26, Great Accumulation, mean?
- 'The carriage loses the strap that holds its axle.' Line two wants to advance like line one, but here the vehicle itself is disabled: it is yang in a central place, restrained by its correspondent the ruler at line five, and it simply cannot go. The small Image turns the picture from a breakdown into a virtue: 'being central, there is no fault' (中無尤也). Cheng Yi explains that a strong line in the middle knows how to stop of its own accord, so what looks like being stranded is actually the carriage choosing not to drive against the mountain. There is no verdict of good or bad; the line is quietly in the right.
- What does hexagram 26 become when line 2 changes?
- Great Accumulation becomes hexagram 22, 賁 Adornment: Fire at the foot of the mountain: beauty lighting the forms of things. Success in small matters through grace and style; ornament should serve substance, not replace it.
- Is line 2 of Great Accumulation 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).