Hexagram 3 as yes or no
Hexagram 3 Sprouting as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a yes-or-no question Zhun says: not yet, but not never. The judgment holds both halves — 'great success' and 'do not set out on a venture'. What you are asking about is a genuine beginning with genuine potential, and the hexagram's objection is to the timing and the lack of structure, not to the thing itself. Its positive instruction is to set up helpers first.
A changing line in the lower trigram keeps the answer at 'wait': the first line says stay and gather support, the second says the nearest option is not the right one and the right one is far off, the third says abandon this particular chase. In the upper trigram the lines diverge: the fourth is the hexagram's yes, go toward what you are truly matched with; the fifth says yes to a small version and no to a large one; the top line is a no that has already become obvious.
The hexagram in brief
Thunder under water: a sprout pushing through hard ground. Beginnings are chaotic and effortful; the growth is real, but it needs order and helpers.
Don't rush ahead: set up structure, gather help, and persevere through the first tangle.
The judgment
屯：元亨，利貞，勿用有攸往，利建侯。Kun (indicates that in the case which it presupposes) there will be great progress and success, and the advantage will come from being correct and firm. (But) any movement in advance should not be (lightly) undertaken. There will be advantage in appointing feudal princes.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 屯 Sprouting has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginninghesitating · staying put · winning the people
- 六二Six in the second placehorses turning back · not a robber · ten years
- 六三Six in the third placehunting without a guide · lost in the forest · better to give up
- 六四Six in the fourth placehorses turning back · seeking union · going is good
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeblocked generosity · small is fine · great is dangerous
- 上六Six at the tophorses turning back · weeping blood · cannot last
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 3, Sprouting, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a yes-or-no question Zhun says: not yet, but not never. The judgment holds both halves — 'great success' and 'do not set out on a venture'. What you are asking about is a genuine beginning with genuine potential, and the hexagram's objection is to the timing and the lack of structure, not to the thing itself. Its positive instruction is to set up helpers first.
- What does Hexagram 3, 屯 Sprouting, mean?
- Thunder under water: a sprout pushing through hard ground. Beginnings are chaotic and effortful; the growth is real, but it needs order and helpers.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).