Hexagram 3 · line 5
Difficulty at the Beginning
屯Zhūn
Nourishing resources are held back from circulation. Constancy in small matters is favorable; in great matters, misfortune even with constancy.
Line statement
九五
屯其膏，小貞吉，大貞凶。
Nourishing resources are held back from circulation. Constancy in small matters is favorable; in great matters, misfortune even with constancy.
A firm, central position does not ensure that resources reach those who need them. The text distinguishes a small undertaking from a large one, making scale part of the problem rather than treating persistence as sufficient. Changing Line 5 produces Hexagram 24.
Computed position
How this place works
- Trigram position
- outer · center
Line 5 is the center of the outer trigram.
- Polarity and place
- yang in an odd place: aligned
Its yang polarity matches the traditional odd-place convention.
- Correspondence
- Line 2: responsive
Its counterpart is Line 2; the two have opposite polarities and can be read as responsive.
One line changes