Waiting — nourishing patience, the strength that knows when to hold back.
The way ahead is blocked by danger, and forcing it fails. Wait with inner certainty, keeping yourself nourished and ready. The right moment will come to those who do not grasp.
patiencetimingreadinessconfidence
Waiting places Water (abysmal, dangerous) above Heaven (strong, creative). The interplay of these two trigrams gives the hexagram its character.
The Classical Textoriginal Chinese
The Judgment · 卦辞
有孚，光亨，贞吉。利涉大川。
The Image · 大象
云上于天，需；君子以饮食宴乐。
The Six Lines · 爻辞
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 六四需于血，出自穴。象曰：需于血，顺以听也。
- 九五需于酒食，贞吉。象曰：酒食贞吉，以中正也。
- 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。
The judgment, image and line texts above are quoted from the original Zhou Yi. A modern Chinese translation of the full classic is available on the original-text page.