需Xu · Waiting
In one sentence
The time has not come yet. Wait.
There is danger and obstruction ahead, and forcing your way now is not right. This waiting is not idle waiting; it is waiting that knows what it is doing. Keep your patience and your confidence. Eat when it is time to eat, drink when it is time to drink, and keep yourself in good shape. Move when the time is ripe, and you can get through even a big crossing.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- There is an obstacle ahead, and forcing your way now is not right; the opportunity is not ripe. This does not mean waiting idly. It means waiting while knowing what you are waiting for. Prepare what needs preparing, build up your health and your skills, do not fret, and do not make random moves. Act when the moment comes, and even the big crossing can be made.
- Love
- This is not yet the time to ask for an answer. Pressing the other person to declare themselves, or hurrying things forward, only pushes the matter into danger. If you are sincere, wait steadily, live your own days as usual, and eat and sleep well. Speak up and step forward when the time comes; only then will it go through.
- Money
- For now it does not suit you to commit a large sum; there is risk ahead and you cannot yet see it clearly. There is no shame in waiting. Live as usual, keep yourself and your household well fed, and keep enough on hand to live on. Move once the situation is clear, and do not take risks out of impatience.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsWith sincerity and trust in your heart, the way ahead is bright and things go through; stay true and there is good fortune. Wait patiently for the right moment, and you can get across even a great river.
The Tuan commentary
需，須也，險在前也；剛健而不陷，其義不困窮矣。需，有孚，光亨，貞吉，位乎天位，以正中也。利涉大川，往有功也。
Xu means waiting. Danger lies ahead. Firm and strong, it does not fall in; its meaning is that one is not driven to a dead end. "Xu. There is sincerity. Bright success. Staying true brings good fortune": it holds the place of heaven, and is correct and in the center. "It is favorable to cross the great river": going brings achievement.
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
雲上於天，需。君子以飲食宴樂。
Clouds rise up to heaven: Xu (Waiting). The noble one eats and drinks, feasts and takes his ease.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text需于郊，利用恆，无咎。Waiting on the outskirts. It is favorable to keep to the usual. No blame.In plain wordsWaiting out on the outskirts. Danger is still far away. Go on doing whatever you would normally do, don't hurry forward, and you will not go wrong. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text需于沙，小有言，終吉。Waiting on the sand. There is a little talk. Good fortune in the end.In plain wordsWaiting on the sandy shore. Danger is a little closer, and there will be some gossip, but it doesn't matter. Keep your composure and go on waiting; in the end there is good fortune. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text需于泥，致寇至。Waiting in the mud. This invites the robbers to come.In plain wordsWaiting in the mud. You are already about to sink into danger. If you keep pushing ahead this hard and recklessly, you are bringing disaster on yourself. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text需于血，出自穴。Waiting in blood. Getting out of the pit.In plain wordsWaiting in a pool of blood. You are already in a dangerous place where people get hurt; but if you keep your place and go no further, you will get out of the pit in the end. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text需于酒食，貞吉。Waiting with wine and food. Staying true brings good fortune.In plain wordsWine and food are laid out, and you wait calmly and securely. Your position is right and you are sure inside. Just hold to this: good fortune. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text入于穴，有不速之客三人來，敬之終吉。Entering the pit. Three uninvited guests arrive. Treat them with respect, and there is good fortune in the end.In plain wordsYou have fallen into the pit. Then three guests arrive whom you did not invite. Treat them with full respect, and in the end there is good fortune. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Xu belongs to the third pentad of Rain Water, “Plants begin to sprout” (March 1 to March 5, 2027) and the first pentad of Insects Awaken, “Peach trees blossom” (March 6 to March 10, 2027).