Hexagram 47 line 5: Oppression, yang in the fifth place

What changes when line 5 moves

Line 5 of Hexagram 47 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 40, Deliverance: The storm breaks and the tension releases: act quickly on what needs doing, forgive the rest, and return to normal.

Read together, the reading moves from Oppression toward Deliverance. A lake with no water: exhaustion, confinement, and the strength of character that carries a person through. Water below, thunder above: a thunderstorm clearing the air, the tension of Obstruction discharged. Deliverance is the moment after difficulty, when the knot is untied. 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 40 →

Line 5 in context

Love & relationships

You cannot act; compose yourself inwardly and relief comes softly. 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

You cannot act; compose yourself inwardly and relief comes softly. 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

You cannot act; compose yourself inwardly and relief comes softly. 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

You cannot act; compose yourself inwardly and relief comes softly. 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.