Hexagram 5, line 5
九五Line 5 of Attending
Nine in the fifth place · 需 xū
爻辭 The line text
需于酒食，貞吉。The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject waiting amidst the appliances of a feast. Through his firmness and correctness there will be good fortune.
酒食貞吉，以中正也。'The appliances of a feast, and the good fortune through being firm and correct,' are indicated by (the position in) the central and correct place.
In plain words
'Waiting with wine and food: steadfastness brings good fortune.' Line five is the ruler of Xu — yang in a yang place, central in Kan, correct and central together — and it is the line the judgment is describing when it says 'light and success, steadfastness brings good fortune'. In the middle of the water the strong ruler is at ease, eating and drinking, which is the Great Image's instruction for the whole hexagram: the superior person 'eats, drinks and is cheerful' while waiting. The small Image attributes the good fortune to being central and correct (以中正也). This is waiting as nourishment rather than suspense: the one who has what is needed and does not need to hurry.
If this line is changing
This waiting is the comfortable kind: you have what you need, so eat, rest and keep steady rather than filling the time with anxious motion.
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 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 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 2: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
需 Attending becomes ䷊ 11 泰 Prosperity
Earth above and heaven below, their energies meeting and mingling. The small departs, the great arrives: open communication, prosperity, a flourishing time.
What it becomes11 · 泰 ProsperitytàiThe 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 Nine in the fifth place of hexagram 5, Attending, mean?
- 'Waiting with wine and food: steadfastness brings good fortune.' Line five is the ruler of Xu — yang in a yang place, central in Kan, correct and central together — and it is the line the judgment is describing when it says 'light and success, steadfastness brings good fortune'. In the middle of the water the strong ruler is at ease, eating and drinking, which is the Great Image's instruction for the whole hexagram: the superior person 'eats, drinks and is cheerful' while waiting. The small Image attributes the good fortune to being central and correct (以中正也). This is waiting as nourishment rather than suspense: the one who has what is needed and does not need to hurry.
- What does hexagram 5 become when line 5 changes?
- Attending becomes hexagram 11, 泰 Prosperity: Earth above and heaven below, their energies meeting and mingling. The small departs, the great arrives: open communication, prosperity, a flourishing time.
- Is line 5 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).