Hexagram 7, Shī (The Army): Line 4

师卦六四 · 地水师 · 中文版

六四:师左次,无咎。

The line (Legge)

The fourth SIX, divided, shows the host in retreat. There is no error.

Small Image commentary

'The host is in retreat; but there is no error:' - there has been no failure in the regular course.

象曰:左次无咎,未失常也。

In plain words

The army retreats and camps; there is no fault. Camping on the left means pulling back, since in ancient usage the right was the front and the left the rear. The fourth line is weak but correct; knowing it cannot win, it withdraws and keeps its troops safe. The Small Image says retreating is no fault and does not depart from the normal way of war.

Applying it to your situation

If the situation is against you, this line suggests that stepping back to hold your ground is no disgrace. What could you keep safe by pulling back now?

Position

A broken (yin) line in the fourth place, which is a yin (even) place, so it is in its proper place. Its partner is line 1; both are yin, so they do not respond.

If this line moves

With this line moving alone, Shī changes into Hexagram 40 Xiè (Deliverance). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·师之解.

The hexagram

Hexagram 7 Shī (The Army). The Judgment: Shi indicates how, in the case which it supposes, with firmness and correctness, and (a leader of) age and experience, there will be good fortune and no error.

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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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