Hexagram 44, line 3
九三Line 3 of Encounter
Nine in the third place · 姤 gòu
爻辭 The line text
臀无膚，其行次且，厲，无大咎。The third line, undivided, shows one from whose buttocks the skin has been stripped so that he walks with difficulty. The position is perilous, but there will be no great error.
其行次且，行未牽也。'He walks with difficulty:'—but his steps have not yet been drawn (into the course of the first line).
In plain words
Line three has 'no skin on the buttocks, walks haltingly — danger, but no great blame' (臀無膚，其行次且，厲，無大咎). It is the top of Xun, yang in a yang place, overly strong and with no correlate above (the top line is also yang) and no neighbour it can rest on: the first line is held by two, the fourth is a yang like itself. It cannot sit and cannot advance. Yet the small Image finds the saving grace: its steps 'have not been drawn in' (行未牽也) — unlike line two it has no hold on the yin, but for the same reason it is not entangled with it. Discomfort without compromise.
If this line is changing
You are uncomfortable and out of the loop, and the temptation is to go looking for the influence that others are handling; stay where you are — being awkward is better than being drawn in.
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 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- 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
姤 Encounter becomes ䷅ 6 訟 Dispute
Heaven above and water below, moving apart: contention. Sincerity is obstructed; a dispute may be won partway but ends badly if pushed to the finish.
What it becomes6 · 訟 DisputesòngThe six lines of 姤 Encounter
- 初六Six at the beginningmetal brake · the first yin · the lean pig
- 九二Nine in the second placefish in the wrapper · containment · not for the guests
- 九三Nine in the third placeno skin on the buttocks · halting · not yet drawn in
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeno fish in the wrapper · lost the people · trouble arises
- 九五Nine in the fifth placewillow sheltering the gourd · hidden brilliance · falls from heaven
- 上九Nine at the topmeeting with the horns · exhausted at the top · regret but no blame
Read 姤 Encounter for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the third place of hexagram 44, Encounter, mean?
- Line three has 'no skin on the buttocks, walks haltingly — danger, but no great blame' (臀無膚，其行次且，厲，無大咎). It is the top of Xun, yang in a yang place, overly strong and with no correlate above (the top line is also yang) and no neighbour it can rest on: the first line is held by two, the fourth is a yang like itself. It cannot sit and cannot advance. Yet the small Image finds the saving grace: its steps 'have not been drawn in' (行未牽也) — unlike line two it has no hold on the yin, but for the same reason it is not entangled with it. Discomfort without compromise.
- What does hexagram 44 become when line 3 changes?
- Encounter becomes hexagram 6, 訟 Dispute: Heaven above and water below, moving apart: contention. Sincerity is obstructed; a dispute may be won partway but ends badly if pushed to the finish.
- Is line 3 of Encounter 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).