Tongren, nine in the third placeHexagram 13, line 3 · Tongren (Fellowship) · changing to 25
The line
In plain wordsYou hide your troops in the undergrowth and climb the high slope to look out, and for three years you dare not move. What you want is not rightfully yours, and you fear being dealt with, so all you can do is wear the time away.
The Image commentary on this line
伏戎于莽，敵剛也。三歲不興，安行也。
"He hides troops in the thicket": the opponent is firm. "For three years he does not rise": how could he act?
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
慎Proceed with care. The text gives no verdict, but the picture holds an obstacle and a warning. Slow down and watch the point it warns about.
How to read good fortune, misfortune, regret, humiliation and no blame →
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- You have your eye on a position or project that is not rightfully yours, laying plans in secret and watching from a distance, yet never daring to act, just wearing yourself out. It is not yours; stop scheming, and bring your mind back to your own work.
- Love
- You are quietly longing for someone who is not yours to have, watching in secret and waiting for a chance, yet afraid of being seen through, so all you can do is keep waiting it out. Dragging on like this only hurts you; take your heart back sooner rather than later.
- Money
- You covet money that was never meant to be yours and scheme in secret about how to get it, but the other side is stronger and you are not in the right, so all you can do is wait. Stop thinking about money like that; the longer you wait, the more it drains you.
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 Tongren.
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 Tongren (Fellowship); when this line changes it becomes Wuwang (Innocence): hexagram 13 changing to 25.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Wuwang (Innocence)
Honestly do what ought to be done. Don't count on luck, and don't make rash moves.