Six Doors · No. 9
第9卦 小畜 Xiǎo Chù · Small Taming
Essence: Dense clouds, no rain; small restraints, gentle gains.
I
Judgment
Dense clouds, no rain yet: you can feel the potential, but the decisive conditions are not assembled. For now, work through small restraints and gentle influence. Save the major move for when the rain actually falls.
II
Trigrams
Upper
巽 Wind
Lower
乾 Heaven
III
The lines
- Line 1Meeting resistance, return to your own proper path; that self-command is its own good fortune.
- Line 2Drawn back alongside others of like mind, you lose nothing by the retreat.
- Line 3Force the advance and the wheel sheds its spokes—the quarrel it breeds is at home, not on the road.
- Line 4Sincerity placed openly between the parties dissolves both the bloodshed and the dread.
- Line 5Loyalty binds you to your neighbors; prosper by making your wealth theirs too.
- Line 6The rain has come and the effort has ripened; push further past this fullness and you spoil it.
IV
All the doors
Every single-step transition available from where you stand.
- Line 157 巽 · The Gentle
Gentle persistence penetrates where force cannot.
- Line 237 家人 · The Family
Order begins at home, with each in a rightful place.
- Line 361 中孚 · Inner Truth
Truth from the center reaches even the unreachable.
- Line 41 乾 · The Creative
Creative power at full flow; act, and keep acting.
- Line 526 大畜 · Great Taming
Great power held in check; stored force deepens into skill.
- Line 65 需 · Waiting
The rain will come; wait nourished and unhurried.
V