Hexagram 44, Gòu (Coming to Meet): Line 3

姤卦九三 · 天风姤 · 中文版

九三:臀无肤,其行次且,厉,无大咎。

The line (Legge)

The third NINE, undivided, shows one from whose buttocks the skin has been stripped so that he walks with difficulty. The position is perilous, but there will be no great error.

Small Image commentary

'He walks with difficulty:' - but his steps have not yet been drawn (into the course of the first line).

象曰:其行次且,行未牵也。

In plain words

Thighs without skin, walking with difficulty: danger, but no great fault. The third line is strong but not central and wants to meet the first line, but the second stands in between, so it is uneasy whether it goes or stays. The Small Image says its movement has not yet been drawn in.

Applying it to your situation

If you keep being blocked from getting close to something, this line suggests the blocking may be protecting you. If you did get close, what would you face?

Position

A solid (yang) line in the third place, which is a yang (odd) place, so it is in its proper place. Its partner is line 6; both are yang, so they do not respond.

If this line moves

With this line moving alone, Gòu changes into Hexagram 6 Sòng (Conflict). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·姤之讼.

The hexagram

Hexagram 44 Gòu (Coming to Meet). The Judgment: Gou shows a female who is bold and strong. It will not be good to marry (such) a female.

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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.

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