Hexagram 5 as yes or no
Hexagram 5 Attending as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a yes-or-no question Xu says: yes, but not now. The judgment is confident — sincerity, light, success, good fortune, a favourable crossing — and all of it is conditional on waiting for the right moment rather than forcing one. The thing you are asking about is sound; the timing is what the hexagram is answering, and its answer is 'wait, and wait well'.
A changing line in the lower trigram says you are still outside the difficulty and the waiting is in your hands: lines one and two say keep steady and let the comments pass, line three says you have moved too early and must now be careful. A changing line in the upper trigram says the waiting has become involvement: line four says yield and come through, line five is the clearest yes in the hexagram, as long as you stay at ease, and line six says the matter will be settled by others arriving — answer them with respect, not with a plan of your own.
The hexagram in brief
Clouds rising to heaven: rain that will come in its time. Confident waiting — not idle, but nourishing yourself until the crossing is safe.
Hold to sincerity and wait for the right moment; the great river is crossed when the time is right, not when you are impatient.
The judgment
需：有孚，光亨，貞吉。利涉大川。Hsü intimates that, with the sincerity which is declared in it, there will be brilliant success. With firmness there will be good fortune; and it will be advantageous to cross the great stream.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 需 Attending has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningwaiting in the open country · constancy · far from danger
- 九二Nine in the second placewaiting on the sand · a little gossip · good in the end
- 九三Nine in the third placewaiting in the mud · inviting robbers · reverent care
- 六四Six in the fourth placewaiting in blood · out of the pit · yielding and listening
- 九五Nine in the fifth placewine and food · steadfast good fortune · central and correct
- 上六Six at the topinto the pit · three uninvited guests · honour them
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 5, Attending, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a yes-or-no question Xu says: yes, but not now. The judgment is confident — sincerity, light, success, good fortune, a favourable crossing — and all of it is conditional on waiting for the right moment rather than forcing one. The thing you are asking about is sound; the timing is what the hexagram is answering, and its answer is 'wait, and wait well'.
- What does Hexagram 5, 需 Attending, mean?
- Clouds rising to heaven: rain that will come in its time. Confident waiting — not idle, but nourishing yourself until the crossing is safe.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).