Hexagram 39

ObstructionJiǎn

Water over Mountain

The judgment

利西南，不利东北；利见大人，贞吉

Water rests on the mountain and the road ahead climbs. Going on costs more than turning back to fix the footing, and this is a season for the turn.

Water on a mountain top has nowhere lower to go. A blocked road is information, and reading it costs less than forcing it.

Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.

初六Line 1
往蹇，来誉
Setting out only to hit the block, turning back gets noticed—this retreat earns its keep.
六二Line 2
王臣蹇蹇，匪躬之故
Caught between two fronts, still carrying your own share of it, for no reason but duty.
九三Line 3
往蹇来反
One step forward meets the same wall; pull back and stop spending force on it.
六四Line 4
往蹇来连
Near the seat of power yet hemmed in—bring others alongside; moving alone is shakier.
九五Line 5
大蹇朋来
The hardest stretch sits at the center, and companions choose this moment to gather and help.
上六Line 6
往蹇来硕，吉；利见大人
Going on is only spinning; coming back, what has been gathered is already full. To meet the great person who can settle matters — that is when things truly come to rest.
Marked in the textauspicious

Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.

This page is for reference. To get a hexagram from six throws, cast your own.

The classical text is the Zhouyi, public domain, checked against a Wikisource transcript. The readings are ours. Daily hexagram