Is line 2 of Cauldron 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.

Hexagram 50, line 2

九二Line 2 of Cauldron

Nine in the second place · 鼎 dǐng

substance withinenvy at a distanceguard your steps

爻辭 The line text

鼎有實，我仇有疾，不我能即，吉。

The second line, undivided, shows the caldron with the things (to be cooked) in it. (If its subject can say), 'My enemy dislikes me, but he cannot approach me,' there will be good fortune.

Its symbolism

鼎有實，慎所之也。我仇有疾，終无尤也。

'There is the caldron with the things (to be cooked) in it:'—let (the subject of the line) be careful where he goes. 'My enemy dislikes me:'—but there will in the end be no fault (to which he can point).

In plain words

'The cauldron has something in it.' Line two is yang and central in the lower trigram: there is real substance here, the cauldron is doing its work. But substance attracts envy. 我仇有疾 — my counterpart has an ailment, is ill-disposed — and yet 'cannot get near me'. The counterpart is line five, the yin ruler that line two corresponds to, but commentators since Wang Bi have also read 仇 as line one, the empty neighbour that cannot reach what two holds. The small Image reads both halves: having substance means being careful where one goes (慎所之), and being resented ends in no fault (終無尤).

If this line is changing

You have something real to offer and that is exactly why someone resents it; keep to your own course and let the distance do its work, rather than answering the resentment.

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 is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
It belongs to the lower trigram 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
It corresponds (應) with line 5: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.

之卦 When this line moves

鼎 Cauldron becomes ䷷ 56 旅 Traveling

Fire on the mountain: the wanderer who does not stay long. Small success; perseverance brings good fortune to the traveller — be modest, correct, and careful with your resources and companions.

What it becomes56 · 旅 Travelinglǚ

The six lines of 鼎 Cauldron

Read 鼎 Cauldron for a question about

Love and relationships Work and career A yes-or-no decision

Questions about this line

What does Nine in the second place of hexagram 50, Cauldron, mean?: 'The cauldron has something in it.' Line two is yang and central in the lower trigram: there is real substance here, the cauldron is doing its work. But substance attracts envy. 我仇有疾 — my counterpart has an ailment, is ill-disposed — and yet 'cannot get near me'. The counterpart is line five, the yin ruler that line two corresponds to, but commentators since Wang Bi have also read 仇 as line one, the empty neighbour that cannot reach what two holds. The small Image reads both halves: having substance means being careful where one goes (慎所之), and being resented ends in no fault (終無尤).
What does hexagram 50 become when line 2 changes?: Cauldron becomes hexagram 56, 旅 Traveling: Fire on the mountain: the wanderer who does not stay long. Small success; perseverance brings good fortune to the traveller — be modest, correct, and careful with your resources and companions.
Is line 2 of Cauldron 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. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.

Cast a reading Hexagram 50 in full Changing lines explained

Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).