Hexagram 26, line 3
九三Line 3 of Great Accumulation
Nine in the third place · 大畜 dà chù
爻辭 The line text
良馬逐，利艱貞。曰閑輿衛，利有攸往。The third line, undivided, shows its subject urging his way with good horses. It will be advantageous for him to realise the difficulty (of his course), and to be firm and correct, exercising himself daily in his charioteering and methods of defence; then there will be advantage in whatever direction he may advance.
利有攸往，上合志也。'There will be advantage in whatever direction he may advance:'—(the subject of) the topmost line is of the same mind with him.
In plain words
At the top of Qian the restraint lifts: 'good horses give chase; it is favourable to be steady in difficulty.' Line three is yang in a yang place, and its correspondent is the top line, where heaven's road stands open — the small Image says the two 'share the same will' (上合志也). So this is the first line that may advance, but the text hedges it with discipline: 利艱貞, stay correct and expect it to be hard, and 閒輿衛, drill the chariot and the defences every day. Strength that has been accumulated through two lines of stopping is released here, on condition that it keeps training as it goes.
If this line is changing
The way is opening and the people above want what you want; go, but go as someone still in training, expecting difficulty and keeping your skills sharp.
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 6: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
大畜 Great Accumulation becomes ䷨ 41 損 Diminishing
The lake at the foot of the mountain giving up its moisture: decrease. Sincerity makes even decrease supremely fortunate — two bowls of simple food suffice for the offering.
What it becomes41 · 損 DiminishingsǔnThe 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 third place of hexagram 26, Great Accumulation, mean?
- At the top of Qian the restraint lifts: 'good horses give chase; it is favourable to be steady in difficulty.' Line three is yang in a yang place, and its correspondent is the top line, where heaven's road stands open — the small Image says the two 'share the same will' (上合志也). So this is the first line that may advance, but the text hedges it with discipline: 利艱貞, stay correct and expect it to be hard, and 閒輿衛, drill the chariot and the defences every day. Strength that has been accumulated through two lines of stopping is released here, on condition that it keeps training as it goes.
- What does hexagram 26 become when line 3 changes?
- Great Accumulation becomes hexagram 41, 損 Diminishing: The lake at the foot of the mountain giving up its moisture: decrease. Sincerity makes even decrease supremely fortunate — two bowls of simple food suffice for the offering.
- Is line 3 of Great Accumulation 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).