Hexagram 40, Xiè (Deliverance): Line 4
解卦九四 · 雷水解 · 中文版
九四:解而拇,朋至斯孚。
The line (Legge)
(To the subject of) the fourth NINE, undivided, (it is said), 'Remove your toes. Friends will (then) come, between you and whom there will be mutual confidence.'
Small Image commentary
'Remove your toes:' - the places (of this line and of the third and first) are all inappropriate to them.
象曰:解而拇,未当位也。
In plain words
Free yourself from your big toe; then friends will come and trust one another. The big toe stands for the first line. The fourth line is yang in a yin place and corresponds to the first; it must first shake off that tie before the friends of the noble come. The Small Image says its position is not proper.
Applying it to your situation
If a relationship is dragging you down, this line suggests freeing yourself first, and real friends will come closer. What tie do you need to loosen?
Position
A solid (yang) line in the fourth place, which is a yin (even) place, so it is not in its proper place. Its partner is line 1; one is yin and the other yang, so they respond to each other.
If this line moves
With this line moving alone, Xiè changes into Hexagram 7 Shī (The Army). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·解之师.
The hexagram
Hexagram 40 Xiè (Deliverance). The Judgment: In (the state indicated by) Jie advantage will be found in the south-west. If no (further) operations be called for, there will be good fortune in coming back (to the old conditions). If some operations be called for, there will be good fortune in the early conducting of them.
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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.