Hexagram 25, Wú Wàng (Innocence): Line 5

无妄卦九五 · 天雷无妄 · 中文版

九五:无妄之疾,勿药有喜。

The line (Legge)

The fifth NINE, undivided, shows one who is free from insincerity, and yet has fallen ill. Let him not use medicine, and he will have occasion for joy (in his recovery).

Small Image commentary

'Medicine in the case of one who is free from insincerity!' - it should not be tried (at all).

象曰:无妄之药,不可试也。

In plain words

An illness not of one's own making; without medicine there will be joy. The fifth line is central and correct; the trouble it meets is not caused by any fault of its own, so it should not rush into remedies. The Small Image says such medicine should not be tried lightly. This is a figure for one's situation, not medical advice: if you are unwell, see a doctor.

Applying it to your situation

If you face a problem you did not create, this line suggests sometimes there is no need to rush to fix it, and to give it time. Is there a problem that will pass on its own?

Position

A solid (yang) line in the fifth place, which is a yang (odd) place, so it is in its proper place. It holds the centre of the upper trigram. Its partner is line 2; one is yin and the other yang, so they respond to each other.

If this line moves

With this line moving alone, Wú Wàng changes into Hexagram 21 Shì Kè (Biting Through). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·无妄之噬嗑.

The hexagram

Hexagram 25 Wú Wàng (Innocence). The Judgment: Wu Wang indicates great progress and success, while there will be advantage in being firm and correct. If (its subject and his action) be not correct, he will fall into errors, and it will not be advantageous for him to move in any direction.

Previous: Line 4 · Next: Line 6 (top)

English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction. Plain-English readings and position notes by this site.

Cast a hexagram · All 64 hexagrams · Worked examples