Is line 5 of Immaturity 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.

Hexagram 4, line 5

六五Line 5 of Immaturity

Six in the fifth place · 蒙 méng

childlike opennessgood fortunedocile and humble

爻辭 The line text

童蒙，吉。

The fifth line, divided, shows its subject as a simple lad without experience. There will be good fortune.

Its symbolism

童蒙之吉，順以巽也。

'The good fortune belonging to the simple lad without experience' comes from his docility going on to humility.

In plain words

'Childlike ignorance: good fortune.' Line five is yin in the ruler's place, central in Gen, and it corresponds to the strong teacher at line two. It is the 'young ignorant one' of the judgment, the one who 'seeks me' — a person of high position who nevertheless comes to learn with a child's openness. The small Image credits the good fortune to being compliant and humble (順以巽也): compliant toward the teacher below, humble despite the rank. This is the hexagram's model student, and the tradition reads the pairing of five and two as the ruler who entrusts affairs to a capable minister. The folly here is not a defect but a willingness to not know yet.

If this line is changing

Ask the person who knows, plainly and once, and take the answer; your position does not oblige you to already understand.

Where the line stands

A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin 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 upper trigram 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
It corresponds (應) with line 2: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.

之卦 When this line moves

蒙 Immaturity becomes ䷺ 59 渙 Dispersing

Wind over water: dispersing. Success; the king approaches the temple; favourable to cross the great river — scattering rigidity, selfishness and division so that people regroup around something shared.

What it becomes59 · 渙 Dispersinghuàn

The six lines of 蒙 Immaturity

Read 蒙 Immaturity for a question about

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

Questions about this line

What does Six in the fifth place of hexagram 4, Immaturity, mean?: 'Childlike ignorance: good fortune.' Line five is yin in the ruler's place, central in Gen, and it corresponds to the strong teacher at line two. It is the 'young ignorant one' of the judgment, the one who 'seeks me' — a person of high position who nevertheless comes to learn with a child's openness. The small Image credits the good fortune to being compliant and humble (順以巽也): compliant toward the teacher below, humble despite the rank. This is the hexagram's model student, and the tradition reads the pairing of five and two as the ruler who entrusts affairs to a capable minister. The folly here is not a defect but a willingness to not know yet.
What does hexagram 4 become when line 5 changes?: Immaturity becomes hexagram 59, 渙 Dispersing: Wind over water: dispersing. Success; the king approaches the temple; favourable to cross the great river — scattering rigidity, selfishness and division so that people regroup around something shared.
Is line 5 of Immaturity 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.

Cast a reading Hexagram 4 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).