I Ching · King Wen 10
Hexagram 10: Treading
䷉ 履 Lǚ · also called Conduct, Stepping Carefully, Treading on the Tiger's Tail · The Creative above The Joyous
Careful conduct in a delicate situation: treading on the tiger's tail, and not being bitten.
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The meaning of Hexagram 10
Lake below, heaven above: the gentle and cheerful beneath the strong. Treading is about conduct, about how to move through a situation where a wrong step has real consequences. The tradition's image is of stepping on a tiger's tail without being bitten, and the way that is achieved is with courtesy, care and good humour rather than with force or fear. The reading says you are close to something powerful or dangerous and that your behaviour, moment to moment, decides whether it turns on you. Correct manners, plainly kept, carry you through.
The image. Heaven above, the lake below; the wise person distinguishes high and low and steadies the people's will.
- Advice
- Behave with care and courtesy, especially toward whatever is stronger than you.
- Warning
- Presumption near the tiger, or an overconfident step, gets bitten.
over
Structure: ☱ The Joyous (Lake) below, ☰ The Creative (Heaven) above. Nuclear hexagram 37, The Family. Every line reversed: 15, Modesty.
Hexagram 10 for love and relationships
A delicate situation with someone whose reaction you cannot predict. Tact matters more than truth-telling for its own sake. Be kind, be careful, and do not test the tiger to see if it bites.
Hexagram 10 for career
You are dealing with a powerful person or a dangerous situation. The reading favours impeccable conduct: polite, correct, unhurried, never presumptuous. Know your place in the order and act from it.
Hexagram 10 for money
Proceed with care in a situation where a misstep is costly. Read the terms. Do not provoke a stronger party. Modest, correct dealings get through where clever ones get bitten.
Hexagram 10 for decisions
Choose the option that lets you move carefully and correctly. If the decision requires you to step on the tiger, do it with full attention and good manners, not bravado.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Look at your conduct and weigh its signs. When the cycle is complete, great good fortune.
At the end, the whole journey is judged by its conduct. The line invites an honest review: how you behaved is how the outcome will be read. Where the conduct was correct, the fortune is great.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 58, The Joyous. Read line 6 →
Resolute conduct. Persistence, with awareness of danger.
In the position of authority, acting decisively while never forgetting the risk. The line is neither timid nor reckless. It describes command that keeps one eye on the tiger at all times.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 38, Opposition. Read line 5 →
Treading on the tiger's tail with caution and care. In the end, good fortune.
The dangerous step taken by someone who knows it is dangerous and moves with full attention. The tradition promises success to this combination of courage and care.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 61, Inner Truth. Read line 4 →
A one-eyed person sees, a lame person walks; they tread on the tiger's tail and are bitten. A warrior acting for a great prince.
Acting beyond your capacity, fooled by partial sight and confidence. The bite follows. The line allows one exception: a person who does this knowingly, in service of something greater than themselves.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 1, The Creative. Read line 3 →
Treading a smooth, level path. The lone traveller persists; good fortune.
Someone who is content with an unremarkable, honest way and does not get drawn into the struggle for position. Solitude here is chosen, not imposed, and it is fortunate.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 25, Innocence. Read line 2 →
Simple conduct. Going on brings no blame.
Plain, modest behaviour at the start of a journey, expecting nothing and demanding nothing. The line approves of it entirely; someone who proceeds simply is not a target and can go far.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 6, Conflict. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 10 mean?
- Careful conduct in a delicate situation: treading on the tiger's tail, and not being bitten. Lake below, heaven above: the gentle and cheerful beneath the strong. Treading is about conduct, about how to move through a situation where a wrong step has real consequences. The tradition's image is of stepping on a tiger's tail without being bitten, and the way that is achieved is with courtesy, care and good humour rather than with force or fear. The reading says you are close to something powerful or dangerous and that your behaviour, moment to moment, decides whether it turns on you. Correct manners, plainly kept, carry you through.
- What does Hexagram 10 mean for love?
- A delicate situation with someone whose reaction you cannot predict. Tact matters more than truth-telling for its own sake. Be kind, be careful, and do not test the tiger to see if it bites.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 10 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 6, Conflict; line 2 gives Hexagram 25, Innocence; line 3 gives Hexagram 1, The Creative; line 4 gives Hexagram 61, Inner Truth; line 5 gives Hexagram 38, Opposition; line 6 gives Hexagram 58, The Joyous. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 15, Modesty.