Hexagram 30, line 1
初九Line 1 of Brightness (Fire)
Nine at the beginning · 離 lí
爻辭 The line text
履錯然，敬之无咎。The first line, undivided, shows one ready to move with confused steps. But he treads at the same time reverently, and there will be no mistake.
履錯之敬，以辟咎也。'The reverent attention directed to his confused steps' is the way by which error is avoided.
In plain words
'Treading with steps that cross and tangle; be reverent, and there is no blame.' The first line is the dawn of the hexagram: fire has just caught, the light is new, and a yang line at the bottom of Li wants to move at once. 錯然 pictures feet going every way — the eagerness of someone who can finally see but has not yet learned where to put their weight. The text does not forbid moving; it asks for 敬, the respectful care that steadies the step. The small Image: 'reverence toward the tangled steps is how blame is avoided' (以闢咎也). Clarity at the start of Li is real but untried.
If this line is changing
You can see what to do now and you are in a hurry to do it; slow the first steps down and take them with respect for what you do not yet know.
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 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 4: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
離 Brightness (Fire) becomes ䷷ 56 旅 Traveling
Fire on the mountain: the wanderer who does not stay long. Small success; perseverance brings good fortune to the traveller — be modest, correct, and careful with your resources and companions.
What it becomes56 · 旅 TravelinglǚThe six lines of 離 Brightness (Fire)
- 初九Nine at the beginningconfused steps · reverence · early light
- 六二Six in the second placeyellow light · the mean · great good fortune
- 九三Nine in the third placesetting sun · sing or lament · nothing lasts
- 九四Nine in the fourth placesudden arrival · burning out · no one can bear it
- 六五Six in the fifth placetears in torrents · sorrow · the ruler's place
- 上九Nine at the topthe king's expedition · strike the leaders · spare the followers
Read 離 Brightness (Fire) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 30, Brightness (Fire), mean?
- 'Treading with steps that cross and tangle; be reverent, and there is no blame.' The first line is the dawn of the hexagram: fire has just caught, the light is new, and a yang line at the bottom of Li wants to move at once. 錯然 pictures feet going every way — the eagerness of someone who can finally see but has not yet learned where to put their weight. The text does not forbid moving; it asks for 敬, the respectful care that steadies the step. The small Image: 'reverence toward the tangled steps is how blame is avoided' (以闢咎也). Clarity at the start of Li is real but untried.
- What does hexagram 30 become when line 1 changes?
- Brightness (Fire) becomes hexagram 56, 旅 Traveling: Fire on the mountain: the wanderer who does not stay long. Small success; perseverance brings good fortune to the traveller — be modest, correct, and careful with your resources and companions.
- Is line 1 of Brightness (Fire) 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).