Hexagram 9, line 3
九三Line 3 of Small Accumulation
Nine in the third place · 小畜 xiǎo chù
爻辭 The line text
輿說輻，夫妻反目。The third line, undivided, suggests the idea of a carriage, the strap beneath which has been removed, or of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes.
夫妻反目，不能正室也。'Husband and wife look on each other with averted eyes:'—(the subject of line three is like a husband who) cannot maintain correctly his relations with his wife.
In plain words
'The carriage loses its spokes; husband and wife turn their eyes away.' Line three is the top of Qian, strong in a strong place and sitting directly beneath the one yin at four. Unlike one and two it refuses to turn back; it tries to drive through the restraint and the cart comes apart under it. The image of the quarrelling couple is the strong line and the soft line next to it, neither yielding. The small Image says the fault lies with the husband, who 'cannot keep his house in order' (不能正室也): a hard line that cannot manage a gentle check loses even what was close to it.
If this line is changing
Stop trying to push through a small resistance by force; the harder you press now, the more the thing you are driving falls apart.
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 乾 Qian (the Creative) (heaven).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 6: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
小畜 Small Accumulation becomes ䷼ 61 中孚 Inner Sincerity
Wind over the lake: inner truth that moves even pigs and fishes. Good fortune, favourable to cross the great river — sincerity at the centre reaches what force cannot.
What it becomes61 · 中孚 Inner Sincerityzhōng fúThe six lines of 小畜 Small Accumulation
- 初九Nine at the beginningreturning · one's own path · no blame
- 九二Nine in the second placedrawn back · central · not losing oneself
- 九三Nine in the third placespokes fall out · averted eyes · forcing it
- 六四Six in the fourth placesincerity · ruler of the hexagram · fear departs
- 九五Nine in the fifth placebound together · shared wealth · neighbour
- 上九Nine at the toprain has fallen · moon nearly full · do not advance
Read 小畜 Small Accumulation for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the third place of hexagram 9, Small Accumulation, mean?
- 'The carriage loses its spokes; husband and wife turn their eyes away.' Line three is the top of Qian, strong in a strong place and sitting directly beneath the one yin at four. Unlike one and two it refuses to turn back; it tries to drive through the restraint and the cart comes apart under it. The image of the quarrelling couple is the strong line and the soft line next to it, neither yielding. The small Image says the fault lies with the husband, who 'cannot keep his house in order' (不能正室也): a hard line that cannot manage a gentle check loses even what was close to it.
- What does hexagram 9 become when line 3 changes?
- Small Accumulation becomes hexagram 61, 中孚 Inner Sincerity: Wind over the lake: inner truth that moves even pigs and fishes. Good fortune, favourable to cross the great river — sincerity at the centre reaches what force cannot.
- Is line 3 of Small Accumulation 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).