| The present is embodied in Hexagram 3 - Chun (Difficulty at the Beginning): There will be great progress and success, and the advantage will come from being correct and firm. Any movement in advance should not be undertaken lightly. There will be advantage in appointing feudal princes or other delegates in your stead. |
| The first (bottommost) line, undivided, shows the difficulty its subject has in advancing. It will be advantageous for him to abide correct and firm, and to be made a feudal ruler. |
| The fifth line, undivided, shows the difficulties in the way of its subject's dispensing the rich favours that might be expected from him. With firmness and correctness there will be good fortune in small things. Even with them in great things there will be evil. |
| The topmost line, divided, shows its subject with the horses of his chariot obliged to retreat, and weeping tears of blood in streams. |
| The situation is shifting, and Yin (the passive feminine force) is gaining ground. |
| The future is embodied in Hexagram 23 - Po (Splitting Apart): It will not be advantageous to move in any direction whatever. |
 | The things most apparent, those above and in front, are embodied by the upper trigram K'an (Water), which is transforming into Ken (Mountain). As part of this process, danger and the unknown are giving way to stillness and obstruction. |
 | The things least apparent, those below and behind, are embodied by the lower trigram Chen (Thunder), which is transforming into K'un (Earth). As part of this process, movement, initiative, and action are giving way to docility and receptivity. |
