Hexagram 9: Small Taming

小畜 (Xiǎo Xù)

Gentle restraint and gradual accumulation of power.

Overview

What you planned in the past is starting to become real. Obstacles that were almost invisible until now stand clearly in your way. For now they hold you back.

This sign is about how your inner self meets the world around you. You feel full of creative energy and new ideas. They are not easy to carry out, because many difficulties stand in the way. Why does fate put so many obstacles in the way of good ideas?

You need to understand this. The obstacles are not there to stop you from doing what you want. They are there so that the result is bigger and more serious than what you hoped for at the start. Getting past them is the best way to build your willpower and your endurance.

You are capable of a lot. Fate is giving you a good chance to show it to everyone. Meet each problem in the right way, and you will handle the difficulties and move on to the next stage of your life.

People around you

Your relations with the people around you tend to stay calm, though they do not go very far. When you meet friends and acquaintances you can have pleasant conversations, but do not plan any serious joint projects with them. Do not load them with requests that cost them time and energy. Look after your own affairs, and keep your contact at the level of good conversation.

Work and rest

Give work your whole attention, because you will need a lot of energy to get past the obstacles. Organize your time well: your day should be full of activity. Rest is better left unplanned, so take it as it comes. Mix your work with things you enjoy, and you will stay awake and in a good mood from morning until night.

Your wish

When you think about your wish, remember that the result may be different from what you expect. Whether it is better or worse depends on your sense of timing. Find the right moment to begin. If you get that right, everything you planned will be done.

This Overview is one traditional reading of the figure, offered as a prompt for reflection and perspective rather than a prediction of a fixed future. Where this material comes from.

New to the sequence? See how lines, trigrams and changing lines work, or cast your own reading with the three-coin method.

Structure

Read from the bottom upward, hexagram 9 is Wind/Wood over Heaven. Its two inner, or nuclear, trigrams are Fire over Lake. What the eight trigrams mean.

Upper trigram (lines 4–6): Xùn · Wind/Wood Gentle and penetrating
Lower trigram (lines 1–3): Qián · Heaven Creative and strong
Upper nuclear (lines 3–5): Lí · Fire Clinging and bright
Lower nuclear (lines 2–4): Duì · Lake Joyous and open