Hexagram 56, line 4
九四Line 4 of Traveling
Nine in the fourth place · 旅 lǚ
爻辭 The line text
旅于處，得其資斧，我心不快。The fourth line, undivided, shows the traveller in a resting-place, having (also) the means of livelihood and the axe, (but still saying), 'I am not at ease in my mind.'
旅于處，未得位也。得其資斧，心未快也。'The stranger is in a resting-place:'—but he has not got his proper position. 'He has the means of livelihood, and the axe:'—but his mind is not at ease.
In plain words
'The wanderer has a shelter, gets his goods and an axe; my heart is not glad.' Line four is yang in a yin place, the first line of Li, the fire that must move on from the mountain. It has done better than three: 處 is a place to stay, if not a proper 次; the 資斧 are means and a tool to defend them with. But it is not home, and the line knows it. The small Image: 未得位也, it has not got its proper position, and 心未快也, the heart is not yet glad. Zhu Xi reads this as the worthy person abroad who has what is needed to get by and none of what is needed to settle — safe, and not content.
If this line is changing
You are safe and provided for, and the unease you feel is accurate, because this is a stopping place and not a position; use the shelter without mistaking it for arrival.
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 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It corresponds (應) with line 1: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
旅 Traveling becomes ䷳ 52 艮 Stillness (Mountain)
Mountain upon mountain: keeping still. Still the back so the self is not felt, walk in the courtyard without seeing the people — rest at the right time, move at the right time.
What it becomes52 · 艮 Stillness (Mountain)gènThe 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 Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 56, Traveling, mean?
- 'The wanderer has a shelter, gets his goods and an axe; my heart is not glad.' Line four is yang in a yin place, the first line of Li, the fire that must move on from the mountain. It has done better than three: 處 is a place to stay, if not a proper 次; the 資斧 are means and a tool to defend them with. But it is not home, and the line knows it. The small Image: 未得位也, it has not got its proper position, and 心未快也, the heart is not yet glad. Zhu Xi reads this as the worthy person abroad who has what is needed to get by and none of what is needed to settle — safe, and not content.
- What does hexagram 56 become when line 4 changes?
- Traveling becomes hexagram 52, 艮 Stillness (Mountain): Mountain upon mountain: keeping still. Still the back so the self is not felt, walk in the courtyard without seeing the people — rest at the right time, move at the right time.
- Is line 4 of Traveling 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).