Hexagram 58, line 1
初九Line 1 of Pleasure (Lake)
Nine at the beginning · 兌 duì
爻辭 The line text
和兌，吉。The first line, undivided, shows the pleasure of (inward) harmony. There will be good fortune.
和兌之吉，行未疑也。'The good fortune attached to the pleasure of (inward) harmony' arises from there being nothing in the conduct (of the subject of the line) to awaken doubt.
In plain words
The lowest line of Dui is a strong line in a strong place, and its joy is 'harmonious' (和兌): it has no partner above to pull on (line four is also yang, so there is no correspondence) and no yin line beside it to flatter, so its pleasure is its own and asks nothing of anyone. The text says good fortune without conditions. The small Image explains why: its conduct has 'not yet been doubted' (行未疑), there is nothing in the way it behaves that could make anyone suspicious of its motives. At the beginning of the hexagram of pleasure, this is joy before it has learned to want anything.
If this line is changing
Enjoy what is in front of you without angling for anything from anyone; joy that needs no return is the kind no one can take from you.
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 belongs to the lower trigram 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 4: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
兌 Pleasure (Lake) becomes ䷮ 47 困 Confinement
A lake with no water in it: exhaustion. Success is still possible for the great person who stays correct — words are not believed now, so prove yourself by steadiness.
What it becomes47 · 困 ConfinementkùnThe six lines of 兌 Pleasure (Lake)
- 初九Nine at the beginningharmonious joy · nothing to doubt · self-contained
- 九二Nine in the second placesincere joy · trust · regret vanishes
- 六三Six in the third placeseeking pleasure · flattery · wrong place
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeweighing pleasures · unsettled · keeping away from harm
- 九五Nine in the fifth placetrusting the wrong one · danger · correct place
- 上六Six at the topdrawing others in · pleasure as lure · not yet bright
Read 兌 Pleasure (Lake) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 58, Pleasure (Lake), mean?
- The lowest line of Dui is a strong line in a strong place, and its joy is 'harmonious' (和兌): it has no partner above to pull on (line four is also yang, so there is no correspondence) and no yin line beside it to flatter, so its pleasure is its own and asks nothing of anyone. The text says good fortune without conditions. The small Image explains why: its conduct has 'not yet been doubted' (行未疑), there is nothing in the way it behaves that could make anyone suspicious of its motives. At the beginning of the hexagram of pleasure, this is joy before it has learned to want anything.
- What does hexagram 58 become when line 1 changes?
- Pleasure (Lake) becomes hexagram 47, 困 Confinement: A lake with no water in it: exhaustion. Success is still possible for the great person who stays correct — words are not believed now, so prove yourself by steadiness.
- Is line 1 of Pleasure (Lake) 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).