Hexagram 40, line 4
九四Line 4 of Release
Nine in the fourth place · 解 xiè
爻辭 The line text
解而拇，朋至斯孚。(To the subject of) the fourth line, undivided, (it is said), 'Remove your toes. Friends will (then) come, between you and whom there will be mutual confidence.'
解而拇，未當位也。'Remove your toes:'—the places (of this line and of the third and first) are all inappropriate to them.
In plain words
Release your big toe, and friends will come whom you can trust. Line four is yang in a yin place, the first line of Zhen, thunder, and the small Image says bluntly that it is 'not in its proper place' (未當位). The toe is the first line, its correspondent — a weak yin line at the bottom to which it is attached — and the adjacent third line clings to it as well. These small attachments are what must be released; only then does the other yang line, two, come as a friend, and 'then there is trust' (斯孚). The line's task in the hexagram of release is a specific one: to let go of the wrong people so the right ones can approach.
If this line is changing
Cut loose the small, clinging attachments that are below your purpose; the people worth trusting will not come close until you do.
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 corresponds (應) with line 1: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
解 Release becomes ䷆ 7 師 Troops
Water held within the earth: an army, a disciplined multitude. Success needs a seasoned, upright leader and strict order; force is justified only for a right cause.
What it becomes7 · 師 TroopsshīThe six lines of 解 Release
- 初六Six at the beginningno fault · where hard meets soft · simply rest
- 九二Nine in the second placethree foxes · the yellow arrow · the straight middle way
- 六三Six in the third placea porter in a carriage · inviting robbers · self-inflicted
- 九四Nine in the fourth placerelease your toe · letting go of the unworthy · friends come
- 六五Six in the fifth placethe superior person unties · small people withdraw · trust shown
- 上六Six at the topshooting the hawk · the high wall · removing the last rebel
Read 解 Release for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 40, Release, mean?
- Release your big toe, and friends will come whom you can trust. Line four is yang in a yin place, the first line of Zhen, thunder, and the small Image says bluntly that it is 'not in its proper place' (未當位). The toe is the first line, its correspondent — a weak yin line at the bottom to which it is attached — and the adjacent third line clings to it as well. These small attachments are what must be released; only then does the other yang line, two, come as a friend, and 'then there is trust' (斯孚). The line's task in the hexagram of release is a specific one: to let go of the wrong people so the right ones can approach.
- What does hexagram 40 become when line 4 changes?
- Release becomes hexagram 7, 師 Troops: Water held within the earth: an army, a disciplined multitude. Success needs a seasoned, upright leader and strict order; force is justified only for a right cause.
- Is line 4 of Release 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).