Hexagram 56, line 2
六二Line 2 of Traveling
Six in the second place · 旅 lǚ
爻辭 The line text
旅即次，懷其資，得童僕貞。The second line, divided, shows the stranger, occupying his lodging-house, carrying with him his means of livelihood, and provided with good and trusty servants.
得童僕貞，終无尤也。'He is provided with good and trusty servants:'—he will in the end have nothing of which to complain.
In plain words
'The wanderer reaches a lodging, carries his means with him, and gains a young servant who is loyal.' Line two is yin, central and in its correct place, the best position a traveller can have: it has somewhere to stay, something to live on, and someone it can trust. 次 is the inn, the stopping place; 資 the money and goods carried; the 童僕 is the one attendant. None of this is home, but all of it is enough. The small Image singles out the servant: 得童僕貞，終無尤也, with a loyal helper there is nothing in the end to complain of. Cheng Yi stresses that two earns this by being gentle and central — the traveller who gets lodging is the one who behaves well in it.
If this line is changing
You have found a place to stop, enough to go on with, and one person you can rely on; that is what a good stretch of the road looks like, so be gracious in it and keep the loyalty you have been given.
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 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 艮 Gen (Keeping Still) (mountain).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 5: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
旅 Traveling becomes ䷱ 50 鼎 Cauldron
Fire over wood: the cauldron that cooks the offering. Supreme success — the vessel that turns raw into cooked, nourishing the wise and settling the new order after a revolution.
What it becomes50 · 鼎 CauldrondǐngThe six lines of 旅 Traveling
- 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
Read 旅 Traveling for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the second place of hexagram 56, Traveling, mean?
- 'The wanderer reaches a lodging, carries his means with him, and gains a young servant who is loyal.' Line two is yin, central and in its correct place, the best position a traveller can have: it has somewhere to stay, something to live on, and someone it can trust. 次 is the inn, the stopping place; 資 the money and goods carried; the 童僕 is the one attendant. None of this is home, but all of it is enough. The small Image singles out the servant: 得童僕貞，終無尤也, with a loyal helper there is nothing in the end to complain of. Cheng Yi stresses that two earns this by being gentle and central — the traveller who gets lodging is the one who behaves well in it.
- What does hexagram 56 become when line 2 changes?
- Traveling becomes hexagram 50, 鼎 Cauldron: Fire over wood: the cauldron that cooks the offering. Supreme success — the vessel that turns raw into cooked, nourishing the wise and settling the new order after a revolution.
- Is line 2 of Traveling 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).