Hexagram 9: Xiǎo Chù (Small Taming)

The Judgment

Xiao Xu indicates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and success. (We see) dense clouds, but no rain coming from our borders in the west.

小畜：亨。密云不雨，自我西郊。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

In Xiao Xu the weak line occupies its (proper) position, and (the lines) above and below respond to it. Hence comes the name of Xiao Xu (Small Restraint). (It presents the symbols of) strength and flexibility. Strong lines are in the central places, and the will (of their subjects) will have free course. Thus it indicates that there will be progress and success. 'Dense clouds but no rain' indicate the movement (of the strong lines) still going forward. The 'Commencing at our western border' indicates that the (beneficial) influence has not yet been widely displayed.

彖曰：小畜，柔得位而上下应之，曰小畜。健而巽，刚中而志行，乃亨。密云不雨，尚往也。自我西郊，施未行也。

The Great Image

(The trigram representing) the sky, and that representing wind moving above it, form Xiao Xu The superior man, in accordance with this, adorns the outward manifestation of his virtue.

象曰：风行天上，小畜；君子以懿文德。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject returning and pursuing his own course. What mistake should he fall into? There will be good fortune.

   'He returns and pursues his own path:' - it is right that there should be good fortune.

   In plain words: Returning to one's own way: what fault could there be? Good fortune. The first line is strong and low; it wants to go up but is held back by the fourth line, so it returns to its own path. The Small Image says returning to the right way is fortunate in principle.

   初九：复自道，何其咎，吉。 象曰：复自道，其义吉也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject, by the attraction (of the former line), returning (to the proper course). There will be good fortune.

   'By the attraction (of the subject of the former line) he returns (to its own course),' and is in the central place: - neither will he err in what is due from him.

   In plain words: Drawn back together: good fortune. The second line is linked with the first and returns with it; sitting at the centre, it neither strays nor loses itself. The Small Image says that being drawn back while keeping to the middle means not losing oneself either.

   九二：牵复，吉。 象曰：牵复在中，亦不自失也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third NINE, undivided, suggests the idea of a carriage, the strap beneath which has been removed, or of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes.

   'Husband and wife look on each other with averted eyes:' - (the subject of line three is like a husband who) cannot maintain correctly his relations with his wife.

   In plain words: The cart body comes apart from its axle; husband and wife turn their eyes away from each other. The part named here joins the cart body to the axle. The third line is strong but not central and, close to the yin fourth line, contends with it, like a cart falling apart or a couple falling out. The Small Image says husband and wife fall out because the household cannot be kept in order.

   九三：舆说辐，夫妻反目。 象曰：夫妻反目，不能正室也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity. The danger of bloodshed is thereby averted, and his (ground for) apprehension dismissed. There will be no mistake.

   'He is possessed of sincerity; his (ground for) apprehension is dismissed:' - (the subjects of the lines) above agree in aim with him.

   In plain words: With sincerity, harm departs and fear is gone; no fault. "Blood" stands for harm and the other word for fear. The fourth line is the only yin line in the hexagram and holds back all the yang lines with softness, a dangerous position; but it is sincere and of one mind with the fifth line, so it escapes harm. The Small Image says that being sincere and free of fear comes from sharing the aims of the one above.

   六四：有孚，血去惕出，无咎。 象曰：有孚惕出，上合志也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity, and drawing others to unite with him. Rich in resources, he employs his neighbours (in the same cause with himself).

   'He is possessed of sincerity, and draws others to unite with him:' - he does not use only his own rich resources.

   In plain words: With sincerity, closely bound to others, one shares one's wealth with one's neighbours. "Closely bound" means tied tightly together. The fifth line holds the place of honour, is of one mind with the fourth, and shares its prosperity with those nearby. The Small Image says it is not rich alone.

   九五：有孚挛如，富以其邻。 象曰：有孚挛如，不独富也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The topmost NINE, undivided, shows how the rain has fallen, and the (onward progress) is stayed - (so) must we value the full accumulation of the virtue (represented by the upper trigram). But a wife (exercising restraint), however firm and correct she may be, is in a position of peril, (and like) the moon approaching to the full. If the superior man prosecute his measures (in such circumstances), there will be evil.

   'The rain has fallen and (the onward progress) is stayed:' - the power (denoted in the figure) has accumulated to the full. 'If the superior man prosecute his measures, there will be evil:' - he will find himself obstructed.

   In plain words: The rain has come and the rain has stopped; virtue has been stored up in full. Even a wife's steadfastness is perilous; the moon is nearly full, and if the noble person sets out now there is misfortune. The judgment of this hexagram speaks of dense clouds but no rain; at the top line the rain finally falls, and the work of holding back is complete. Yin has reached its height, and one more step would let it overwhelm yang, so it is time to stop. The Small Image says the rain has fallen and stopped because virtue has built up in full, and setting out is unfortunate because there is cause for doubt.

   上九：既雨既处，尚德载，妇贞厉。月几望，君子征凶。 象曰：既雨既处，德积载也。君子征凶，有所疑也。

Line positions

4 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), 1 pair is 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 Xun palace runs: Xùn (head), Xiǎo Chù (1st change), Jiā Rén (2nd change), Yì (3rd change), Wú Wàng (4th change), Shì Kè (5th change), Yí (wandering soul), Gǔ (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Xiao Chu to Da Chu: Okada Heizō starts a business: Okada Heizō was about to start a business and received the fifth line of Xiao Chu, "trust that binds; rich together with the neighbour". Takashima said it would profit, but only with an honest partner to run it, who must share in the gains.

Previous: Hexagram 8 Bǐ · Next: Hexagram 10 Lǚ

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.

Cast a hexagram · All 64 hexagrams · Worked examples