Kun, six in the third placeHexagram 47, line 3 · Kun (Exhaustion) · changing to 28
The line
In plain wordsBlocked by rock in front, and what you lean on behind you is thorns. You come home and cannot even find your wife. Misfortune. You pushed against what you should not have touched, and leaned on what you should not have relied on.
The Image commentary on this line
據于蒺藜，乘剛也。入于其宮，不見其妻，不祥也。
"Leaning on thorns": it rides on the firm. "One enters the house and does not see one's wife": this is ill-omened.
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. This text describes a bad outcome. Carry on as you are and you will lose by it. Stop, step aside or change your approach. Do not force it.
How to read good fortune, misfortune, regret, humiliation and no blame →
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- In front of you is rock you keep running into, what you lean on behind you is someone full of thorns, and when you turn back there is no one to meet you. This is not yours to push against or to rely on; stop at once, and don't hold on any longer.
- Love
- You are pushing against something that will not move, leaning on someone who only hurts you, and even at home there is no one to catch you. Stop holding on; let go, and leave the place that keeps pricking you.
- Money
- You are pushing against what will not move and relying on people and money that are unreliable and full of thorns, with no way back behind you. Pull out right now: don't borrow any more, don't stake any more, and walk away from this mess.
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 Kun.
Line position
A yin line in a yang place: it is not in its proper place. Its partner is the top line, which is also yin, 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 inscribed sides, old yin), this line is your answer. The primary hexagram is Kun (Exhaustion); when this line changes it becomes Daguo (Great Excess): hexagram 47 changing to 28.
Which text to read with several changing lines →
Resulting hexagram · Daguo (Great Excess)
The load is too heavy and the beam is already bent. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.