Hexagram 57, line 5
九五Line 5 of Yielding (Wind)
Nine in the fifth place · 巽 xùn
爻辭 The line text
貞吉悔亡，无不利。无初有終，先庚三日，後庚三日，吉。The fifth line, undivided, shows that with firm correctness there will be good fortune (to its subject). All occasion for repentance will disappear, and all his movements will be advantageous. There may have been no (good) beginning, but there will be a (good) end. Three days before making any changes, (let him give notice of them); and three days after, (let him reconsider them). There will (thus) be good fortune.
九五之吉，位正中也。'The good fortune of (the subject of) the fifth line, undivided,' is owing to its correct position and its being in the centre.
In plain words
Line five is the ruler of the hexagram, yang in the central and correct place of the upper trigram, the strong line that the Judgment says has 'penetrated to the centre' so that its will is carried out. Its text is the fullest in the hexagram: steadiness brings good fortune, regret disappears, nothing is unfavourable, and though there was 'no beginning, there is an end'. Then the famous formula 'three days before geng, three days after geng': geng is the day-sign that means change (更), and the ruler who wants a change to penetrate announces it in advance, then checks and repeats it afterwards — the Great Image's 'reiterating commands'. The small Image credits all of this to the line's correct and central position.
If this line is changing
A change you want to stick needs announcing before and following up after; take the lead from the centre, patiently, and a rough beginning will still have a good end.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang 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 upper trigram 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 2: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
巽 Yielding (Wind) becomes ䷑ 18 蠱 Corruption
Wind below the mountain: stagnation that has bred corruption, like a bowl of worms. Great success for the one who steps in to repair what earlier generations spoiled.
What it becomes18 · 蠱 CorruptiongǔThe six lines of 巽 Yielding (Wind)
- 初六Six at the beginningwavering · advance and retreat · soldier's resolve
- 九二Nine in the second placebeneath the bed · humble sincerity · centred
- 九三Nine in the third placeforced compliance · repeated yielding · exhausted will
- 六四Six in the fourth placeregret vanishes · threefold catch · merit
- 九五Nine in the fifth placethe ruler's command · three days before and after · good end
- 上九Nine at the topyielding exhausted · lost axe · no decision left
Read 巽 Yielding (Wind) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the fifth place of hexagram 57, Yielding (Wind), mean?
- Line five is the ruler of the hexagram, yang in the central and correct place of the upper trigram, the strong line that the Judgment says has 'penetrated to the centre' so that its will is carried out. Its text is the fullest in the hexagram: steadiness brings good fortune, regret disappears, nothing is unfavourable, and though there was 'no beginning, there is an end'. Then the famous formula 'three days before geng, three days after geng': geng is the day-sign that means change (更), and the ruler who wants a change to penetrate announces it in advance, then checks and repeats it afterwards — the Great Image's 'reiterating commands'. The small Image credits all of this to the line's correct and central position.
- What does hexagram 57 become when line 5 changes?
- Yielding (Wind) becomes hexagram 18, 蠱 Corruption: Wind below the mountain: stagnation that has bred corruption, like a bowl of worms. Great success for the one who steps in to repair what earlier generations spoiled.
- Is line 5 of Yielding (Wind) 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).