Hexagram 9 of 64
小畜 xiǎo chù
Small Accumulation
巽 (xùn, Wind) above · 乾 (qián, Heaven) below
The Judgment 卦辞
The soft is holding back the strong — for now. Your plans are bigger than current conditions allow. Accumulate small advantages; the rain will fall later.
The Image 大象
Dense clouds, no rain, from the western outskirts: power held in reserve. The wise person refines the small details that shape the larger whole.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 小畜 has its own classical text. If a line in your cast is changing, its text is the heart of your reading.
Line 1 · 初九
Returning by your own road. Nothing is wrong with that — good fortune.
「复自道，何其咎，吉」
Line 2 · 九二
Drawn back together with others. Returning in company is safe.
「牵复，吉」
Line 3 · 九三
The cart loses its spokes; husband and wife turn on each other. Inner and outer have come apart.
「舆说辐，夫妻反目」
Line 4 · 六四
With real trust, the wound heals and fear departs. No blame remains.
「有孚，血去惕出，无咎」
Line 5 · 九五
Linked hand in hand by trust — your wealth includes your neighbors. Share the small gains.
「有孚挛如，富以其邻」
Line 6 · 上九
The rain has fallen and settled; carry virtue, not force. Near the full moon, the wise do not march.
「既雨既处，尚德载。妇贞厉，月几望，君子征凶」
If you drew this in a reading
A pattern of tension and craft. This hexagram belongs to the large middle family of mixed patterns: it works, but only along its own grain. Read the Judgment closely — mixed hexagrams usually name the exact condition on which their promise depends.
In yes/no questions this hexagram reads as “not yet clear” — the answer hinges on timing and execution.
The trigrams give the flavor: 巽 (Wind) above — gentle penetration — gradual influence, flexibility, patience — over 乾 (Heaven) below — creative force — initiative, clarity, persistence. Where those two energies meet, 小畜 is born.
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