Hexagram 47 line 3: Oppression, yin in the third place

What changes when line 3 moves

Line 3 of Hexagram 47 is yin, a broken line. When it is cast as old yin (a 6) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 28, Great Excess: A ridgepole bending under too much weight: an extraordinary situation that demands extraordinary, careful action.

Read together, the reading moves from Oppression toward Great Excess. A lake with no water: exhaustion, confinement, and the strength of character that carries a person through. Wind below, lake above: the lake rising over the trees. Four strong lines in the middle, two weak at the ends: a beam too heavy for its supports. 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 47 changing to 28 →

Line 3 in context

Love & relationships

Stop pushing the stone and leaning on thorns; you are exhausting yourself on what cannot help. 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

Stop pushing the stone and leaning on thorns; you are exhausting yourself on what cannot help. 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

Stop pushing the stone and leaning on thorns; you are exhausting yourself on what cannot help. 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

Stop pushing the stone and leaning on thorns; you are exhausting yourself on what cannot help. 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.