Hexagram 51, line 4
九四Line 4 of Shock (Thunder)
Nine in the fourth place · 震 zhèn
爻辭 The line text
震遂泥。The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject, amid the startling movements, supinely sinking (deeper) in the mud.
震遂泥，未光也。'Amid the startling movements, he sinks supinely in the mud:'—the light in him has not yet been brilliantly developed.
In plain words
'The shock — and then mud.' Line four is the second yang line, the ruler of the upper thunder, and it should be the second great clap; instead it is yang in a yin place, sunk between four yin lines, and its thunder dies in the mire. 遂 means to go on and end up: the movement continues but only downward. The small Image: 未光也, the light in it is not yet bright. This is the shock that does not become awakening — the strong line that has the force to move but no footing to move from. Wang Bi: it has lost its position and cannot hold to its substance.
If this line is changing
The energy of the shock is being swallowed by the ground you are standing on; before trying to move again, get out of what is holding you, or the next effort sinks too.
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 belongs to the upper trigram 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 1: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
震 Shock (Thunder) becomes ䷗ 24 復 Returning
Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
What it becomes24 · 復 ReturningfùThe six lines of 震 Shock (Thunder)
- 初九Nine at the beginningfirst shock · fear then laughter · rules found
- 六二Six in the second placedanger · let it go · seven days
- 六三Six in the third placeunnerved · wrong place · move anyway
- 九四Nine in the fourth placestuck in mud · momentum lost · light not yet shining
- 六五Six in the fifth placegoing and coming · danger in the centre · nothing lost
- 上六Six at the toptrembling · neighbour's warning · hold back
Read 震 Shock (Thunder) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 51, Shock (Thunder), mean?
- 'The shock — and then mud.' Line four is the second yang line, the ruler of the upper thunder, and it should be the second great clap; instead it is yang in a yin place, sunk between four yin lines, and its thunder dies in the mire. 遂 means to go on and end up: the movement continues but only downward. The small Image: 未光也, the light in it is not yet bright. This is the shock that does not become awakening — the strong line that has the force to move but no footing to move from. Wang Bi: it has lost its position and cannot hold to its substance.
- What does hexagram 51 become when line 4 changes?
- Shock (Thunder) becomes hexagram 24, 復 Returning: Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
- Is line 4 of Shock (Thunder) 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).