Xu, six at the topHexagram 5, line 6 · Xu (Waiting) · changing to 9
The line
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.
The Image commentary on this line
不速之客來，敬之終吉。雖不當位，未大失也。
"Uninvited guests arrive. Treat them with respect, and there is good fortune in the end": though not in its proper place, there is no great loss.
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
- Things are already hard, and now people turn up whom you neither invited nor expected. Don't shut them out. Treat them with courtesy and listen carefully to what they have to say; in the end, it turns out well.
- Love
- When the relationship is stuck in a hard place, people you didn't expect come to ask after it or get involved. Don't be annoyed, and don't turn a cold face; treat them courteously and sincerely, and it ends well.
- Money
- You have fallen into money trouble, and now someone turns up uninvited, coming to you of their own accord. Don't close the door on them or treat them lightly; talk things through with full respect, and the outcome is good.
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 yin line in a yin place: it is in its proper place. Its partner is the third line, which is its opposite, so the two answer each other.
Top place: the end of the matter. What reaches its limit turns. Know when to stop.
When you get this line
If this is the only changing line in your cast (three inscribed sides, old yin), this line is your answer. The primary hexagram is Xu (Waiting); when this line changes it becomes Xiaoxu (Small Restraint): hexagram 5 changing to 9.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Xiaoxu (Small Restraint)
One last push is still missing and it won't come off — the clouds are thick, but the rain hasn't fallen.