I Ching reading: Song (Conflict) changing to Kun (Exhaustion)
Song: Nine at the top
Perhaps a belt of honor is bestowed on him. Before the morning is over it is stripped from him three times.
或錫之鞶帶，終朝三褫之。
止Hold back
Reading
Not now.There is a dispute, but fighting it to the end will do you no good.
Governing text · Song: Nine at the top
In plain wordsYou may win and be given a reward for it, but within a single morning it is taken back three times. What is gained by fighting cannot be kept in the end.
- Now
- You are in the middle of a disagreement, a dispute or a contest of wills. You may well be in the right, but this hexagram says: settling partway is good fortune, fighting to the very end is misfortune.
- The key
- Only one line is changing: Nine at the top. The answer is in that line. The text gives no verdict, but the picture is a bad one. Carry on as you are and you will lose by it. Stop, step aside, or change your approach.
- Where it is heading
- Things are moving toward Kun (Exhaustion): You are trapped, and right now no one believes anything you say.
- What to do
- Quit while you are ahead, and find a fair third party to judge. Don't take big risks at this stage. In the future, when you start something, make the rules clear at the outset.
Read more closely
Which text applies
One changing line: read that line of the primary hexagram.
Your six throws, bottom to top: 1: 8 yin · 2: 7 yang · 3: 8 yin · 4: 7 yang · 5: 7 yang · 6: 9 yang (changing)
Line position
Not in its proper place · answered by the third line
Top place: the end of the matter. What reaches its limit turns. Know when to stop.
Nuclear hexagram · Jiaren (The Family)
First put the affairs of the household (your own inner circle) in order.
The nuclear hexagram is formed from the four inner lines. It shows what is going on inside the situation.
Full texts
One who truly knows the Changes does not need to divine. The text is for reflection; what you do is up to you.