Hexagram 29, line 5
九五Line 5 of The Pit (Water)
Nine in the fifth place · 坎 kǎn
爻辭 The line text
坎不盈，祗既平，无咎。The fifth line, undivided, shows the water of the defile not yet full, (so that it might flow away); but order will (soon) be brought about. There will be no error.
坎不盈，中未大也。'The water in the defile is not full (so as to flow away):'—(the virtue indicated by) the central situation is not yet (sufficiently) great.
In plain words
'The pit is not filled to overflowing; it has only reached level: no blame.' The ruler of the hexagram is yang in the central and correct place of the upper Kan, the second of the two strong lines that the Tuan says keep the heart clear. Water in a hollow rises until it is level with the rim and then flows on; this line has got the water to the brim but not yet beyond it. The danger has been neutralised, not overcome. The small Image is candid about the limit: 'the centre is not yet great' (中未大也). Wang Bi reads the line as the ruler who has stabilised the situation and must be content with that for now.
If this line is changing
You have brought things to level and that is genuinely enough for now; do not mistake stability for victory or push for more than the moment allows.
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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 2: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
坎 The Pit (Water) becomes ䷆ 7 師 Troops
Water held within the earth: an army, a disciplined multitude. Success needs a seasoned, upright leader and strict order; force is justified only for a right cause.
What it becomes7 · 師 TroopsshīThe six lines of 坎 The Pit (Water)
- 初六Six at the beginningpit within the pit · lost the way · sinking deeper
- 九二Nine in the second placesmall gains · still inside · strong at the centre
- 六三Six in the third placepits before and behind · unrest · do not act
- 六四Six in the fourth placeplain offering · through the window · sincerity reaches
- 九五Nine in the fifth placewater not overflowing · level reached · not yet great
- 上六Six at the topbound with cords · thorn thicket · three years
Read 坎 The Pit (Water) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fifth place of hexagram 29, The Pit (Water), mean?
- 'The pit is not filled to overflowing; it has only reached level: no blame.' The ruler of the hexagram is yang in the central and correct place of the upper Kan, the second of the two strong lines that the Tuan says keep the heart clear. Water in a hollow rises until it is level with the rim and then flows on; this line has got the water to the brim but not yet beyond it. The danger has been neutralised, not overcome. The small Image is candid about the limit: 'the centre is not yet great' (中未大也). Wang Bi reads the line as the ruler who has stabilised the situation and must be content with that for now.
- What does hexagram 29 become when line 5 changes?
- The Pit (Water) becomes hexagram 7, 師 Troops: Water held within the earth: an army, a disciplined multitude. Success needs a seasoned, upright leader and strict order; force is justified only for a right cause.
- Is line 5 of The Pit (Water) 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. 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).