Hexagram 9 小畜 changing to hexagram 7 師
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 3, 5, 6.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 7 師, line 2
在師中吉，无咎；王三錫命。
The second line, undivided, shows (the leader) in the midst of the host. There will be good fortune and no error. The king has thrice conveyed to him the orders (of his favour).
Hexagram 7 師, line 4
師左次，无咎。
The fourth line, divided, shows the host in retreat. There is no error.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 9 小畜 — judgment
亨。密雲不雨，自我西郊。
Hsiâo Khû indicates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and success. (We see) dense clouds, but no rain coming from our borders in the west.
Hexagram 7 師 — judgment
貞丈人吉，无咎。
Sze indicates how, in the case which it supposes, with firmness and correctness, and (a leader of) age and experience, there will be good fortune and no error.
The changing lines of hexagram 9
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 復自道，何其咎，吉。 | The first line, undivided, shows its subject returning and pursuing his own course. What mistake should he fall into? There will be good fortune. |
| 3 | 車說輹，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. |
| 5 | 有孚攣如，富以其鄰。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity, and drawing others to unite with him. Rich in resources, he employs his neighbours (in the same cause with himself). |
| 6 | 既雨既處，尚得載，婦貞厲，月幾望，君子征凶。 | The topmost line, undivided, shows how the rain has fallen, and the (onward progress) is stayed;—(so) must we value the full accumulation of the virtue (represented by the upper trigram). But a wife (exercising restraint), however firm and correct she may be, is in a position of peril, (and like) the moon approaching to the full. If the superior man prosecute his measures (in such circumstances), there will be evil. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.