I Ching · Hexagram 47 Oppression
Hexagram 47 line 1: Oppression, yin in the first place
I Ching 47.1
One sits oppressed under a bare tree and strays into a gloomy valley. For three years one sees nothing.
Giving way to the oppression, sinking into gloom and losing the way for a long time. The line describes what happens when exhaustion becomes despair: the valley is dark because the person walked into it.
Advice. Do not let exhaustion become despair; the gloom deepens by your own steps.
What changes when line 1 moves
Line 1 of Hexagram 47 is yin, a broken line. When it is cast as old yin (a 6) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 58, The Joyous: Two lakes joined: joy that is firm within and gentle without, and shared with friends in open conversation.
Read together, the reading moves from Oppression toward The Joyous. A lake with no water: exhaustion, confinement, and the strength of character that carries a person through. Lake below, lake above: two lakes touching, each replenishing the other. The Joyous is the hexagram of gladness, and its structure explains the tradition's view of it: a firm line within, a yielding line without. 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.
Line 1 in context
- Love & relationships
- Do not let exhaustion become despair; the gloom deepens by your own steps. In love and relationships, Hexagram 47 reads: A drained, hemmed-in stretch, and a time when explaining yourself does not work because words are not believed. Do not argue. Hold your integrity and wait. The lines say oppression is survived by what a person is, not by what they say.
- Career
- Do not let exhaustion become despair; the gloom deepens by your own steps. In career, Hexagram 47 reads: Exhaustion and confinement: blocked, unheard, worn down. The reading advises against making your case now; it will not be heard. Keep your standards, conserve your strength, and let your conduct speak until words can again.
- Money
- Do not let exhaustion become despair; the gloom deepens by your own steps. In money, Hexagram 47 reads: Resources drained, options narrow. Endure without panic, avoid desperate moves, and do not try to talk your way out; act quietly and correctly. The tradition promises that the person of character comes through.
- A decision
- Do not let exhaustion become despair; the gloom deepens by your own steps. In decisions, Hexagram 47 reads: Not a time to decide anything large, and not a time to persuade. Choose the option that costs least and preserves your integrity, and wait for the water to return.
Cast your own reading
The topic is pre-selected. The hexagram is not: the coins decide it.
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