Hexagram 34, line 4
九四Line 4 of Great Vigor
Nine in the fourth place · 大壯 dà zhuàng
爻辭 The line text
貞吉悔亡，藩決不羸，壯于大輿之輹。The fourth line, undivided, shows (a case in which) firm correctness leads to good fortune, and occasion for repentance disappears. (We see) the fence opened without the horns being entangled. The strength is like that in the wheel-spokes of a large waggon.
藩決不羸，尚往也。'The fence is opened and the horns are not entangled:'—(the subject of the line) still advances.
In plain words
The fence opens and the horns are not caught; strength is like the axle-brace of a great cart. Line four is the topmost of the four yang lines and the first in the upper trigram Zhen, movement: the two yin lines above it are the fence, and they give way. Zhu Xi takes this line as the ruler of the hexagram, the point where great vigour actually moves. Because it is yang in a yin place the text makes the good fortune conditional — 'steadiness brings good fortune, regret vanishes' — but the small Image is encouraging: 'it still goes forward' (尚往). The axle-brace is strength in the service of carrying something, not of butting.
If this line is changing
This is the moment vigour is meant for: go forward, but go as a cart that carries a load rather than a ram that charges, and keep your course correct.
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 belongs to the upper trigram 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 1: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
大壯 Great Vigor becomes ䷊ 11 泰 Prosperity
Earth above and heaven below, their energies meeting and mingling. The small departs, the great arrives: open communication, prosperity, a flourishing time.
What it becomes11 · 泰 ProsperitytàiThe six lines of 大壯 Great Vigor
- 初九Nine at the beginningstrength in the toes · charging ahead · certain exhaustion
- 九二Nine in the second placecentred strength · steadiness · the mean
- 九三Nine in the third placethe ram and the fence · brute force · the net of restraint
- 九四Nine in the fourth placethe fence gives way · axle of the great cart · strength that carries
- 六五Six in the fifth placelosing the ram · letting hardness go · ease
- 上六Six at the topstuck on the fence · neither forward nor back · difficulty brings good
Read 大壯 Great Vigor for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 34, Great Vigor, mean?
- The fence opens and the horns are not caught; strength is like the axle-brace of a great cart. Line four is the topmost of the four yang lines and the first in the upper trigram Zhen, movement: the two yin lines above it are the fence, and they give way. Zhu Xi takes this line as the ruler of the hexagram, the point where great vigour actually moves. Because it is yang in a yin place the text makes the good fortune conditional — 'steadiness brings good fortune, regret vanishes' — but the small Image is encouraging: 'it still goes forward' (尚往). The axle-brace is strength in the service of carrying something, not of butting.
- What does hexagram 34 become when line 4 changes?
- Great Vigor becomes hexagram 11, 泰 Prosperity: Earth above and heaven below, their energies meeting and mingling. The small departs, the great arrives: open communication, prosperity, a flourishing time.
- Is line 4 of Great Vigor 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).