Guai, nine in the fifth placeHexagram 43, line 5 · Guai (Resolution) · changing to 34
The line
In plain wordsLike pulling up purslane, make up your mind and make a clean break. You are too close to that bad thing; be decisive, yet not excessive. Keep to the middle way and there is no blame.
The Image commentary on this line
中行无咎，中未光也。
"Walking the middle way, no blame": the center has not yet come to light.
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
平Neutral. Neither good nor bad. Do your part, correct mistakes, and nothing will go wrong.
How to read good fortune, misfortune, regret, humiliation and no blame →
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- The problem is right beside you, perhaps even a person or a project you built up yourself. Make up your mind to cut it off, cleanly and decisively, but don't go to extremes; keep a sense of measure and you will not go wrong.
- Love
- The thing you have never been able to bring yourself to cut off, whether a tangled attachment or a bad habit, is too close to you. If it needs ending, end it, cleanly and without wounding anyone; don't drag it out, and don't be harsh.
- Money
- The expense or the partnership that is close to you yet keeps dragging you down: make up your mind to end it. Be decisive, but don't fall out and don't overdo it; settle the accounts clearly, keep your words polite, and you will not go wrong.
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 Guai.
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 Guai (Resolution); when this line changes it becomes Dazhuang (Great Strength): hexagram 43 changing to 34.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Dazhuang (Great Strength)
When your strength is great, the worst danger is using it in the wrong place.