Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
Conduct
Hexagram 10 of the Yi Jing · 履 Lǚ
The figure
Heaven above the Lake: the strong above the joyous, treading carefully where it is slippery. The image of right conduct.
What this figure illuminates
Conduct lights up how to move on delicate ground, sometimes facing those stronger than you. It is not force that protects, but the rightness of behavior and tact.
For a decision, the figure puts attention on the “how” as much as the “what”: “is my way of going about this equal to what I want to achieve?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
You tread on the tiger's tail, and it does not bite. Move with such care, and there is success.
The Image
Heaven above, the marsh below — each in its place. Seeing this, the noble person tells high from low and settles where each belongs.
The Six Lines
- First line
Tread your plain, accustomed path. Go forward simply, and there is no error.
- Second line
A level, quiet path, walked alone. Stay firm and true: good fortune.
- Third line
The half-blind who trust their sight, the lame who trust their stride: overreaching, they tread the tiger and are bitten. Know your true measure.
- Fourth line
You tread on the tiger's tail — but with wary dread, and in the end good fortune.
- Fifth line
A resolute, decided tread. Even correct, such firmness carries danger — do not grow reckless.
- Sixth line
Look back over the whole path you have trodden, and read what it foretells. If it is complete and without fault, great good fortune.
Daoa's wording, written after the classical reference translations, now in the public domain: James Legge (1882) and Charles de Harlez (1889).
A question to keep
Is your way of doing this equal to what you're aiming for?
Draw this figure for your question
Ask your question and do a free I Ching reading online, then receive a reading tied to your situation.
To go further, Daoa is also an iPhone, iPad & Android app.
Download on the App StoreDownload on Google PlayOr do a free Chinese tarot reading online →