Hexagram 63, line 1
初九Line 1 of Already Crossed
Nine at the beginning · 既濟 jì jì
爻辭 The line text
曳其輪，濡其尾，无咎。The first line, undivided, (shows its subject as a driver) who drags back his wheel, (or as a fox) which has wet his tail. There will be no error.
曳其輪，義无咎也。'He drags back his wheel:'—as we may rightly judge, there will be no mistake.
In plain words
The first line is strong in its correct place at the bottom of the fire, and like every line in Ji Ji it is where it should be — the hexagram in which all six positions are correctly filled. Yet its text is about holding back: it 'drags the wheel' so the carriage cannot run on, and 'wets its tail', the fox that has crossed the river but let the end of itself get wet. At the start of a completed order the temptation is to keep going, and the line brakes. The text says no blame, and the small Image agrees in principle (義無咎也): checking one's own momentum at the beginning is the right thing to do.
If this line is changing
The thing is done; resist the urge to push it one stage further right away, and accept a small, harmless setback as the price of stopping in time.
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 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It corresponds (應) with line 4: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
既濟 Already Crossed becomes ䷦ 39 蹇 Impasse
Water on the mountain: a hard pass. Favourable to the southwest, not the northeast; see the great man — obstruction is a time to turn back and cultivate yourself.
What it becomes39 · 蹇 ImpassejiǎnThe six lines of 既濟 Already Crossed
- 初九Nine at the beginningbraking the wheel · wet tail · restraint at the start
- 六二Six in the second placelost carriage screen · do not chase · seven days
- 九三Nine in the third placethe long campaign · three years · exhaustion
- 六四Six in the fourth placerags for the leak · all-day vigilance · doubt
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeeast and west neighbours · the lavish and the sincere · timing
- 上六Six at the tophead under water · peril · cannot last
Read 既濟 Already Crossed for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 63, Already Crossed, mean?
- The first line is strong in its correct place at the bottom of the fire, and like every line in Ji Ji it is where it should be — the hexagram in which all six positions are correctly filled. Yet its text is about holding back: it 'drags the wheel' so the carriage cannot run on, and 'wets its tail', the fox that has crossed the river but let the end of itself get wet. At the start of a completed order the temptation is to keep going, and the line brakes. The text says no blame, and the small Image agrees in principle (義無咎也): checking one's own momentum at the beginning is the right thing to do.
- What does hexagram 63 become when line 1 changes?
- Already Crossed becomes hexagram 39, 蹇 Impasse: Water on the mountain: a hard pass. Favourable to the southwest, not the northeast; see the great man — obstruction is a time to turn back and cultivate yourself.
- Is line 1 of Already Crossed 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).