旅Lü · The Wanderer
In one sentence
You are away from home with no firm footing. Small matters are fine; do not seek anything big.
The hexagram of travel and living as a guest: nothing to lean on, and everything is temporary. Keep a low profile; be careful and follow the rules. Do not fuss over small things, do not put on airs, and do not linger too long in one place.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- Right now you are like a traveler passing through: a new environment, a temporary post, an assignment far from home, with no firm footing and no one to lean on. Small things can succeed; don't go after big ones yet. Keep a low profile, follow the house rules, don't fuss over small things, and don't show off your seniority. And don't linger too long in a place you are only passing through.
- Love
- This relationship has a temporary feel to it: long distance, someone met on the road, or two people who haven't settled down yet. You can treat each other well, but don't be in a hurry to demand a lasting commitment. Keep a guest's sense of measure: careful, no airs, no scenes over small things. If you're single and still drifting, don't count on making a home on the road either.
- Money
- When you're away from home, spend sparingly and keep your money safe. Do only small things you can see clearly; no big outlays, and don't stake everything you have in a place you don't know. Don't show your wealth, and don't fight people over small sums. Everything in your hands is temporary, so keep enough for the journey back.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsAway from home, things go through in a small way. The road, too, has a right way that belongs to it; hold to it and there is good fortune.
The Tuan commentary
旅，小亨，柔得中乎外，而順乎剛，止而麗乎明，是以小亨，旅貞吉也。旅之時義大矣哉！
Lü, "small success": the yielding holds the center on the outside and complies with the firm. Still, and clinging to brightness. That is why there is "small success. For the wanderer, staying true brings good fortune." Great indeed is the meaning of the time of Lü.
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
山上有火，旅。君子以明慎用刑而不留獄。
Fire on the mountain: Lü (The Wanderer). The noble one is clear and careful in applying punishments and does not let cases drag on.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text旅瑣瑣，斯其所取災。The wanderer is petty and fussy. This is how he brings calamity on himself.In plain wordsAway from home, haggling over every trifle and behaving in a small, mean way: this is a disaster you bring on yourself. More on this line →
Six in the second place
Text旅即次，懷其資，得童僕貞。The wanderer reaches a lodging, his money kept close. He gains a young servant who is true.In plain wordsOn the road you find a place to stay, you have money tucked in your robe, and you have a loyal, dependable servant. Away from home, it does not get better than this. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text旅焚其次，喪其童僕，貞厲。The wanderer's lodging burns down. He loses his young servant. Persisting is dangerous.In plain wordsThe inn you are staying in burns down, and your servant turns against you and leaves. You have lost not only his loyalty but the man himself. Danger. This is what comes of still being so hard and haughty when you are away from home. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text旅于處，得其資斧，我心不快。The wanderer finds a place to stay and obtains his funds and an axe. My heart is not glad.In plain wordsFor now you have a place to stay, and you have your travel money and an axe for protection, but your heart is not at ease. This is not a position that belongs to you, and there is nobody who can truly help you. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text射雉，一矢亡，終以譽命。Shooting a pheasant, one arrow is lost. In the end there is praise and an appointment.In plain wordsYou shoot at a pheasant and lose an arrow. A small loss, but in the end you win a good name and an appointment. More on this line →
Nine at the top
Text鳥焚其巢，旅人先笑後號咷。喪牛于易，凶。The bird's nest burns. The wanderer laughs at first, then wails and weeps. He loses his ox through carelessness. Misfortune.In plain wordsThe bird's nest is burned. The wanderer first laughs in self-satisfaction, then cries out loud. In a careless, arrogant moment he has lost the ox, that is, the virtue of gentle yielding. Misfortune. He is in a strange land and still sets himself above everyone. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Lü belongs to the third pentad of Grain Rain, “Hoopoes alight in the mulberries” (April 30 to May 5, 2027) and the first pentad of Start of Summer, “Mole crickets sing” (May 6 to May 10, 2027).