Song, nine in the fifth placeHexagram 6, line 5 · Song (Conflict) · changing to 64
The line
In plain wordsGo and bring this case: great good fortune. You have met a fair judge; if you are in the right, you will certainly be vindicated.
The Image commentary on this line
訟，元吉，以中正也。
"Bringing the dispute. Supreme 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
- Put the disagreement on the table and find someone fair and respected to decide it. If you are in the right, lay out your case clearly; and when it falls to you to judge others, be perfectly even-handed.
- Love
- If you feel wronged, you can lay it all out and talk it through. With right on your side, explain it calmly and clearly. Stick to the facts and don't drag up the past; aim for fairness, not for overpowering the other person. Talking this way is good.
- Money
- A money dispute can be settled properly and in the open; if need be, ask a fair third party to decide. If you are in the right and have proof, go ahead and make your case without backing down.
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 Song.
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 Song (Conflict); when this line changes it becomes Weiji (Before Completion): hexagram 6 changing to 64.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Weiji (Before Completion)
Not done yet. One last step remains, and this is the step where mistakes come most easily.