Hexagram 33, line 3
九三Line 3 of Withdrawal
Nine in the third place · 遯 dùn
爻辭 The line text
係遯，有疾厲，畜臣妾吉。The third line, undivided, shows one retiring but bound,—to his distress and peril. (If he were to deal with his binders as in) nourishing a servant or concubine, it would be fortunate for him.
係遯之厲，有疾憊也。畜臣妾吉，不可大事也。'The peril connected with the case of one retiring, though bound,' is due to the (consequent) distress and exhaustion. 'If he were (to deal as in) nourishing a servant or concubine, it would be fortunate for him:'—but a great affair cannot be dealt with in this way.
In plain words
A retreat that is tied down. Line three is yang at the top of Gen, the mountain, and it sits directly on the two yin lines below; it wants to withdraw with the other yang lines but is held by its attachments. The text says this brings sickness and danger, and the small Image explains: the peril is distress and exhaustion (有疾憊). The second half offers the one thing such a position is good for — 'nourishing servants and concubines', keeping a household in order, small domestic affairs. 'No great undertaking can be managed this way' (不可大事), the Image adds.
If this line is changing
If you cannot leave cleanly because people depend on you, attend to them well and set aside any large ambition for now; a retreat dragged out by obligations wears you down.
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 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
- 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
遯 Withdrawal becomes ䷋ 12 否 Blockage
Heaven and earth pulling apart: nothing communicates. The great departs, the small arrives; the unworthy prosper while the worthy keep still.
What it becomes12 · 否 BlockagepǐThe six lines of 遯 Withdrawal
- 初六Six at the beginningthe tail · too late to run · stay still
- 六二Six in the second placeyellow ox hide · holding fast · unbreakable bond
- 九三Nine in the third placeentangled retreat · exhaustion · small matters only
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeretreat from what one loves · the superior person · letting go
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeadmirable retreat · right timing · correct purpose
- 上九Nine at the topample retreat · nothing holds you · no doubts
Read 遯 Withdrawal for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the third place of hexagram 33, Withdrawal, mean?
- A retreat that is tied down. Line three is yang at the top of Gen, the mountain, and it sits directly on the two yin lines below; it wants to withdraw with the other yang lines but is held by its attachments. The text says this brings sickness and danger, and the small Image explains: the peril is distress and exhaustion (有疾憊). The second half offers the one thing such a position is good for — 'nourishing servants and concubines', keeping a household in order, small domestic affairs. 'No great undertaking can be managed this way' (不可大事), the Image adds.
- What does hexagram 33 become when line 3 changes?
- Withdrawal becomes hexagram 12, 否 Blockage: Heaven and earth pulling apart: nothing communicates. The great departs, the small arrives; the unworthy prosper while the worthy keep still.
- Is line 3 of Withdrawal 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).