Hexagram 38 line 4: Opposition, yang in the fourth place

What changes when line 4 moves

Line 4 of Hexagram 38 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 41, Decrease: Less at the base to strengthen the top: a season of reduction that is fortunate when done with sincerity.

Read together, the reading moves from Opposition toward Decrease. Fire and lake pulling apart: estrangement, and the small gains still possible when opposites understand their difference. Lake below, mountain above: the lake at the foot of the mountain giving up its depth to the mountain's height. Decrease describes reduction: of resources, of expenditure, of passion, of what is below in order to serve what is above. The primary hexagram describes the situation; the changing line is the point of movement in it; the resulting hexagram is where that movement leads. Both hexagrams belong to the reading, and the changing line is the hinge between them.

Hexagram 38 changing to 41 →

Line 4 in context

Love & relationships

Find the one person you can trust and build on that good faith. In love and relationships, Hexagram 38 reads: You are at cross purposes and the pull is apart. Do not force closeness. Work on small things, let misunderstandings clear, and accept that difference is not the end of a bond. The lines end with suspicion dissolving and a reunion.

Career

Find the one person you can trust and build on that good faith. In career, Hexagram 38 reads: Colleagues or partners diverging, priorities in conflict. Large joint projects will not work now; small cooperative steps can. Keep your own position clear without hostility and let the misreadings correct themselves.

Money

Find the one person you can trust and build on that good faith. In money, Hexagram 38 reads: Disagreement about money or direction. Keep the stakes small until alignment returns. Do not let the difference become suspicion; that is what the hexagram warns turns an opposition into a rupture.

A decision

Find the one person you can trust and build on that good faith. In decisions, Hexagram 38 reads: Choose small, reversible steps rather than the big joint decision. The reading rules out large undertakings while the parties are opposed and supports modest progress on what can be agreed.