Hexagram 5: Xū (Waiting)

The Judgment

Xu intimates that, with the sincerity which is declared in it, there will be brilliant success. With firmness there will be good fortune; and it will be advantageous to cross the great stream.

需：有孚，光亨，贞吉。利涉大川。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

Xu denotes waiting. (The figure) shows peril in front; but notwithstanding the firmness and strength (indicated by the inner trigram), its subject does not allow himself to be involved (in the dangerous defile); - it is right he should not be straitened or reduced to extremity. When it is said that, 'with the sincerity declared in Xu, there will be brilliant success, and with firmness there will be good fortune,' this is shown by the position (of the fifth line) in the place assigned by Heaven, and its being the correct position for it, and in the centre. 'It will be advantageous to go through the great stream;' - that is, going forward will be followed by meritorious achievement.

彖曰：需，须也；险在前也。刚健而不陷，其义不困穷矣。需有孚，光亨，贞吉。位乎天位，以正中也。利涉大川，往有功也。

The Great Image

(The trigram for) clouds ascending over that for the sky forms Xu. The superior man, in accordance with this, eats and drinks, feasts and enjoys himself (as if there were nothing else to employ him).

象曰：云上于天，需；君子以饮食宴乐。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject waiting in the distant border. It will be well for him constantly to maintain (the purpose thus shown), in which case there will be no error.

   'He is waiting in the (distant) border:' - he makes no movement to encounter rashly the difficulties (of the situation). 'It will be advantageous for him constantly to maintain (the purpose thus shown), in which case there will be no error:' - he will not fail to pursue that regular course.

   In plain words: Waiting in the outskirts; it is favourable to stay constant, and there is no fault. The outskirts are the open land beyond the city walls, still far from the danger ahead (the upper trigram is water, standing for danger). The first line is furthest from danger and keeps its distance without venturing on. The Small Image says waiting in the outskirts means not rushing into trouble, and that staying constant keeps to the ordinary way.

   初九：需于郊。利用恒，无咎。 象曰：需于郊，不犯难行也。利用恒，无咎，未失常也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject waiting on the sand (of the mountain stream). He will (suffer) the small (injury of) being spoken (against), but in the end there will be good fortune.

   'He is waiting on the sand:' - he occupies his position in the centre with a generous forbearance. Though 'he suffer the small injury of being spoken (against),' he will bring things to a good issue.

   In plain words: Waiting on the sand; there is a little gossip, but in the end good fortune. The sand is closer to the water than the outskirts, nearer to danger, so some talk is hard to avoid. The second line sits at the centre of the lower trigram and is broad-minded and at ease. The Small Image says it waits generously in the middle way, and although there is some talk, it ends well.

   九二：需于沙。小有言，终吉。 象曰：需于沙，衍在中也。虽小有言，以吉终也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject in the mud (close by the stream). He thereby invites the approach of injury.

   'He is waiting in the mud:' - calamity is (close at hand, and as it were) in the outer (trigram). 'He himself invites the approach of injury:' - if he be reverent and careful, he will not be worsted.

   In plain words: Waiting in the mud brings robbers. The mud is right at the water's edge; the third line is strong but not central and has come too close to danger, so it invites harm. The Small Image says the disaster is outside; it was brought on oneself, and with respect and caution one will not be defeated.

   九三：需于泥，致寇至。 象曰：需于泥，灾在外也。自我致寇，敬慎不败也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject waiting in (the place of) blood. But he will get out of the cavern.

   'He is waiting in (the place of) blood:' - he accommodates himself (to the circumstances of the time), and hearkens to (its requirements).

   In plain words: Waiting in blood, getting out of the pit. The fourth line has already entered the danger of the upper trigram; "blood" stands for a place of harm. But it yields and listens to the times rather than fighting them, and so it gets out of the pit. The Small Image calls this yielding and listening.

   六四：需于血，出自穴。 象曰：需于血，顺以听也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject waiting amidst the appliances of a feast. Through his firmness and correctness there will be good fortune.

   'The appliances of a feast, and the good fortune through being firm and correct,' are indicated by (the position in) the central and correct place.

   In plain words: Waiting with wine and food; steadiness brings good fortune. The fifth line holds the place of honour, central and correct, and is the ruler of the hexagram. While the time is not yet right, it eats and drinks in peace, gathers its strength, and waits steadily. The Small Image says this is because it is central and correct.

   九五：需于酒食，贞吉。 象曰：酒食贞吉，以中正也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject entered into the cavern. (But) there are three guests coming, without being urged, (to his help). If he receive them respectfully, there will be good fortune in the end.

   'Guests come unurged (to give their help), and if (the subject of the line) receive them respectfully, there will be good fortune in the end:' - though the occupant and the place are not suited to each other, there has been no great failure (in what has been done).

   In plain words: Falling into the pit; three uninvited guests arrive; treat them with respect and in the end there is good fortune. The Chinese idiom for an uninvited guest comes from this line, and the three are usually taken to be the three yang lines below. The top line is in the depth of danger; when waiting reaches its end, help comes from outside, and courtesy gets it out of trouble. The Small Image says that although it is not in its proper place, there is no great loss. The top line is actually yin in a yin place, so why the Small Image says otherwise is unclear; Zhu Xi marked it as uncertain.

   上六：入于穴，有不速之客三人来，敬之终吉。 象曰：不速之客来，敬之终吉。虽不当位，未大失也。

Line positions

5 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).

The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; both are strong, so they do not correspond.

Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 2 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.

Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.

These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.

Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces

Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Kun palace runs: Kūn (head), Fù (1st change), Lín (2nd change), Tài (3rd change), Dà Zhuàng (4th change), Guài (5th change), Xū (wandering soul), Bǐ (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Xu to Ji Ji: whether to go to Hokkaido to collect a debt: Nagai Taijirō had lent money to a merchant in Hokkaido who was overdue and did not answer letters, and he meant to go there himself. The second line of Xu, "waiting on the sand; some talk, good in the end", led Takashima to advise him to stay and expect the money in four months.

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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.

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