Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
Obstruction
Hexagram 39 of the Yi Jing · 蹇 Jiǎn
The figure
Water above the Mountain: danger ahead, stillness behind — caught between the abyss and the wall. The image of the obstruction that forces a halt.
What this figure illuminates
Obstruction lights up the dead ends where the frontal advance is blocked. The reflex of blaming the outside exhausts; the figure invites you instead to turn back on yourself and seek a third party's support.
For a decision, the figure shifts the gaze: “facing this block, what can I change in myself or my approach, rather than hitting the wall again?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
The way is blocked. It furthers to turn toward the open, gentle ground, not the steep and hard; to seek the great person; and, held firm and correct, good fortune.
The Image
Water on the heights of the mountain, the path halted. Seeing this, the noble person turns back upon themselves and cultivates their virtue.
The Six Lines
- First line
To press ahead now only deepens the trouble; to hold still earns praise. Wait.
- Second line
You meet obstacle upon obstacle in the service of something larger — and not for your own gain. The burden is not your fault.
- Third line
Advance meets only greater obstruction. Turn back instead to those who are yours — there is your ground.
- Fourth line
Going on leads deeper into difficulty. Hold your place and join with the strong one near you.
- Fifth line
In the thick of the greatest obstruction — but here friends are coming to your aid.
- Sixth line
To go on now only adds to the difficulty; to stay is where the great merit lies. Good fortune — and it furthers to seek the great person.
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
Facing the block, what can you change in your approach?
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