Xu, nine in the fifth placeHexagram 5, line 5 · Xu (Waiting) · changing to 11
The line
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.
The Image commentary on this line
酒食，貞吉，以中正也。
"Wine and food. Staying true brings good fortune": because he is in the center and correct.
The small Image commentary is the earliest explanation of the line texts. It usually explains a line from its position: where it stands, whether it holds the center, and which line answers it.
Verdict
吉Favorable. This text describes a good outcome. Act the way it says and the matter can succeed. The promise has a condition: keep to the right course.
How to read good fortune, misfortune, regret, humiliation and no blame →
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- You have done what needed doing, and you are in the right place; now just wait with an easy mind. Carry on with your work as usual, and don't change course on a whim because the wait is long. Hold steady; that is the right way.
- Love
- You are sure inside, so there is no need to hurry the other person or keep testing them. Make your own days comfortable, share good meals and good times with the other person, and wait calmly and securely. That is good.
- Money
- Keep enough on hand to live on and enjoy the present with an easy mind; there is no need to rush after new ways to make quick money. Be able to hold on and to wait; that is best.
This is how to read it when this is the only changing line. With several changing lines, first see which text governs; for the hexagram as a whole, see Xu.
Line position
A yang line in a yang place: it is in its proper place; it holds the center of its trigram. Its partner is the second line, which is also yang, so there is no answer from it.
Fifth place: the center of the upper trigram, the ruler's seat, a place of achievement. This is where things are decided.
When you get this line
If this is the only changing line in your cast (three backs, old yang), this line is your answer. The primary hexagram is Xu (Waiting); when this line changes it becomes Tai (Peace): hexagram 5 changing to 11.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Tai (Peace)
A good time when above and below are in touch and everything runs smoothly.