Hexagram 32, line 2
九二Line 2 of Constancy
Nine in the second place · 恆 héng
爻辭 The line text
悔亡。The second line, undivided, shows all occasion for repentance disappearing.
九二悔亡，能久中也。'All occasion for repentance on the part of the subject of the second line, undivided, disappears:'—he can abide long in the due mean.
In plain words
The whole text is two characters, 'regret disappears'. Line two is yang in a yin place, so by the rule of correct positions it ought to have something to regret; but it is central, and it corresponds to the yielding ruler at five. The small Image explains how the regret goes: 'it can abide long in the centre' (能久中也). This is the first line of Heng to show what duration actually is — not holding a position because it is correct but holding the middle course for a long time, so that whatever was wrong about the position stops mattering. Zhu Xi notes that constancy in the mean outweighs the formal fault.
If this line is changing
Your position is not perfect and need not be; keep to the middle course steadily and for long enough, and the flaw will cease to count.
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 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- 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
恆 Constancy becomes ䷽ 62 小過 Small Excess
Thunder on the mountain: the flying bird leaves its call behind. Success in small things, not great; better to come down than to go up — overdo the small virtues of respect, grief and thrift rather than attempt grand moves.
What it becomes62 · 小過 Small Excessxiǎo guòThe six lines of 恆 Constancy
- 初六Six at the beginningdigging too deep · too much too soon · the start
- 九二Nine in the second placeregret vanishes · long in the centre · steady despite the place
- 九三Nine in the third placeinconstant · shame follows · nowhere welcome
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeno game in the field · wrong place · persistence wasted
- 六五Six in the fifth placeconstant in virtue · to follow one · to decide for oneself
- 上六Six at the topagitated constancy · shaking at the top · no achievement
Read 恆 Constancy for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the second place of hexagram 32, Constancy, mean?
- The whole text is two characters, 'regret disappears'. Line two is yang in a yin place, so by the rule of correct positions it ought to have something to regret; but it is central, and it corresponds to the yielding ruler at five. The small Image explains how the regret goes: 'it can abide long in the centre' (能久中也). This is the first line of Heng to show what duration actually is — not holding a position because it is correct but holding the middle course for a long time, so that whatever was wrong about the position stops mattering. Zhu Xi notes that constancy in the mean outweighs the formal fault.
- What does hexagram 32 become when line 2 changes?
- Constancy becomes hexagram 62, 小過 Small Excess: Thunder on the mountain: the flying bird leaves its call behind. Success in small things, not great; better to come down than to go up — overdo the small virtues of respect, grief and thrift rather than attempt grand moves.
- Is line 2 of Constancy 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).