Is line 1 of Divergence 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.

Hexagram 38, line 1

初九Line 1 of Divergence

Nine at the beginning · 睽 kuí

the lost horse returnsdo not chasemeeting bad people

爻辭 The line text

悔亡，喪馬勿逐，自復；見惡人无咎。

The first line, undivided, shows that (to its subject) occasion for repentance will disappear. He has lost his horses, but let him not seek for them;—they will return of themselves. Should he meet with bad men, he will not err (in communicating with them).

Its symbolism

見惡人，以辟咎也。

'He meets with bad men (and communicates with them):'—(he does so), to avoid the evil of their condemnation.

In plain words

Regret disappears; the horse is lost, do not chase it, it will come back by itself; meeting bad people, no fault. Line one is yang in its correct place at the bottom of Dui, and it has no corresponding line — four is yang too — which is what opposition feels like at the start: the natural partner is missing. The text's first advice is not to pursue what has gone, because in a time of estrangement what belongs together drifts back on its own. The second is more surprising: do not refuse contact with those you dislike. The small Image explains: 'he sees bad people in order to avoid blame' (以闢咎) — cutting people off hardens the division that the hexagram is trying to heal.

If this line is changing

Let what has walked away come back on its own time, and keep civil contact even with those you would rather avoid; the first move in opposition is to stop widening it.

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 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
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

睽 Divergence becomes ䷿ 64 未濟 Not Yet Crossed

Fire over water, every line out of place: not yet across. Success is possible — but the little fox, nearly over, wets its tail; nothing is favourable yet. The Book ends with the crossing still ahead.

What it becomes64 · 未濟 Not Yet Crossedwèi jì

The six lines of 睽 Divergence

Read 睽 Divergence for a question about

Love and relationships Work and career A yes-or-no decision

Questions about this line

What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 38, Divergence, mean?: Regret disappears; the horse is lost, do not chase it, it will come back by itself; meeting bad people, no fault. Line one is yang in its correct place at the bottom of Dui, and it has no corresponding line — four is yang too — which is what opposition feels like at the start: the natural partner is missing. The text's first advice is not to pursue what has gone, because in a time of estrangement what belongs together drifts back on its own. The second is more surprising: do not refuse contact with those you dislike. The small Image explains: 'he sees bad people in order to avoid blame' (以闢咎) — cutting people off hardens the division that the hexagram is trying to heal.
What does hexagram 38 become when line 1 changes?: Divergence becomes hexagram 64, 未濟 Not Yet Crossed: Fire over water, every line out of place: not yet across. Success is possible — but the little fox, nearly over, wets its tail; nothing is favourable yet. The Book ends with the crossing still ahead.
Is line 1 of Divergence 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.

Cast a reading Hexagram 38 in full Changing lines explained

Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).