Hexagram 5, line 4
六四Line 4 of Attending
Six in the fourth place · 需 xū
爻辭 The line text
需于血，出自穴。The fourth line, divided, shows its subject waiting in (the place of) blood. But he will get out of the cavern.
需于血，順以聽也。'He is waiting in (the place of) blood:'—he accommodates himself (to the circumstances of the time), and hearkens to (its requirements).
In plain words
'Waiting in blood: one gets out of the pit.' Line four is the first line of Kan, inside the water now, in the place of wounds — blood is where the danger has actually struck. But line four is yin in a yin place, correct and yielding, and it does not struggle: it comes out of the hole. The small Image says the escape comes from being compliant and listening (順以聽也). In the story of the hexagram, the strong lower trigram has been waiting outside the danger; the first soft line inside it survives by the opposite virtue, by not contending. Cheng Yi stresses that a yielding line in a hard place can only wait for the moment to pass, and that this is itself a kind of skill.
If this line is changing
You are inside the difficulty now and have taken a hit; do not fight it — yield, listen to what the situation is telling you, and you will come out of it.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin 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 upper trigram 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- 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
需 Attending becomes ䷪ 43 夬 Decisiveness
The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
What it becomes43 · 夬 DecisivenessguàiThe six lines of 需 Attending
- 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
Read 需 Attending for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the fourth place of hexagram 5, Attending, mean?
- 'Waiting in blood: one gets out of the pit.' Line four is the first line of Kan, inside the water now, in the place of wounds — blood is where the danger has actually struck. But line four is yin in a yin place, correct and yielding, and it does not struggle: it comes out of the hole. The small Image says the escape comes from being compliant and listening (順以聽也). In the story of the hexagram, the strong lower trigram has been waiting outside the danger; the first soft line inside it survives by the opposite virtue, by not contending. Cheng Yi stresses that a yielding line in a hard place can only wait for the moment to pass, and that this is itself a kind of skill.
- What does hexagram 5 become when line 4 changes?
- Attending becomes hexagram 43, 夬 Decisiveness: The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
- Is line 4 of Attending 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).