Xiaoxu, nine in the third placeHexagram 9, line 3 · Xiaoxu (Small Restraint) · changing to 61
The line
In plain wordsThe spokes have come off the cart wheel, and husband and wife have fallen out. You are held back by someone you should not have attached yourself to; you cannot move, you cannot swallow your anger, and so a quarrel breaks out.
The Image commentary on this line
夫妻反目，不能正室也。
"Husband and wife glare at each other": he cannot make his household 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
止Hold back. 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.
How to read good fortune, misfortune, regret, humiliation and no blame →
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- You have attached yourself to a person or an arrangement you should not have, and now it holds you back so you cannot move; you are bottling up your anger, and the slightest thing sets off a quarrel. Don't keep butting heads, and don't expect this cart to carry you anywhere. Stop, and look for another way.
- Love
- You are held back by a relationship that was never really right. You cannot move forward, you cannot accept it, and every conversation turns into a fight. Stop the fighting first and stop forcing it; what should never have been tied together should not stay tied.
- Money
- Your money is tangled up with a partner you should not have joined and a business you should not have touched. You cannot move, and you keep quarreling over the accounts. Don't put any more in, and don't hang on just to win the argument; stop, and find a way to pull out first.
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 Xiaoxu.
Line position
A yang line in a yang place: it is in its proper place. Its partner is the top line, which is also yang, so there is no answer from it.
Third place: the top of the lower trigram, a place of risk. A moment of transition. Be on guard.
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 Xiaoxu (Small Restraint); when this line changes it becomes Zhongfu (Inner Truth): hexagram 9 changing to 61.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Zhongfu (Inner Truth)
Sincerity moves people. This matter rests on one word: trust.