Hexagram 56 as yes or no
Hexagram 56 Traveling as a yes-or-no answer
Lü answers a yes-or-no question with 'small yes': the judgment promises small success and good fortune to the one who keeps correct while on the move. The matter you are asking about is one where you are not on your own ground, and the hexagram's counsel is to go ahead with the modesty of a guest — fire that passes over the mountain rather than trying to own it. Big ambitions and strong assertions are what the lines punish; correct conduct is what they reward.
The changing line sets the tone. In the lower trigram: one says the thing will go wrong if you approach it small-mindedly; two says yes, this is the good stretch, go ahead and keep your allies; three says no while you are being this hard. In the upper trigram: four says yes to the shelter, no to mistaking it for a position; five says yes, and spend the arrow; six says no, you are reaching for a height a traveller cannot keep.
The hexagram in brief
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.
Travel light, respect local ways, and keep your centre; a stranger's safety lies in good conduct.
The judgment
旅：小亨，旅貞吉。Lü intimates that (in the condition which it denotes) there may be some little attainment and progress. If the stranger or traveller be firm and correct as he ought to be, there will be good fortune.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 旅 Traveling has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginningpetty · small-minded · self-made trouble
- 六二Six in the second placea lodging · provisions · a loyal servant
- 九三Nine in the third placeburned lodging · servant lost · harsh to the lowly
- 九四Nine in the fourth placea shelter · axe in hand · heart not at ease
- 六五Six in the fifth placeshooting the pheasant · one arrow lost · praise and appointment
- 上九Nine at the topnest burned · laughing then wailing · ox lost too easily
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 56, Traveling, mean yes or no?
- Lü answers a yes-or-no question with 'small yes': the judgment promises small success and good fortune to the one who keeps correct while on the move. The matter you are asking about is one where you are not on your own ground, and the hexagram's counsel is to go ahead with the modesty of a guest — fire that passes over the mountain rather than trying to own it. Big ambitions and strong assertions are what the lines punish; correct conduct is what they reward.
- What does Hexagram 56, 旅 Traveling, mean?
- 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).