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Hexagram 39
蹇Jiǎn
An obstructed path and the help needed to face it.
The southwest is favorable; the northeast is not. Meeting a great person is beneficial. Constancy is favorable.
利西南，不利東北。利見大人，貞吉。
Water rests on the mountain: Obstruction. The exemplary person turns back to examine the self and cultivate character.
山上有水，蹇。君子以反身修德。
Bottom to top
Line 1
往蹇，來譽。
Going meets obstruction; coming back receives praise.
The blocked path is recognized at Line 1, before much distance is lost. Making the bottom line firm changes Mountain to Fire and yields Hexagram 63, Fire beneath Water.
Read Line 1 in contextLine 2
王臣蹇蹇，匪躬之故。
The king's servant meets obstruction upon obstruction, not for the sake of the self.
Line 2 bears repeated difficulty in service to the king rather than for the self. Its change turns lower Mountain into Wind and produces Hexagram 48, The Well beneath Water.
Read Line 2 in contextLine 3
往蹇，來反。
Going forward meets obstruction; coming back returns one to familiar companions.
Line 3 reverses at the outer edge of Mountain. When the firm line yields, Earth replaces Mountain below Water and the figure becomes Hexagram 8, a return toward cohesion.
Read Line 3 in contextLine 4
往蹇，來連。
Going meets obstruction; coming back forms a connection.
Return forms a connection at Line 4, the first line of outer Water. Making it firm turns Water into Lake and gives Hexagram 31 above the unchanged Mountain.
Read Line 4 in contextLine 5
大蹇，朋來。
In the great obstruction, companions come.
Great obstruction remains at Line 5, but companions arrive there. The firm center yields, Water becomes Earth, and Hexagram 15 places receptive ground above Mountain.
Read Line 5 in contextLine 6
往蹇，來碩，吉。利見大人。
Going forward meets obstruction; returning achieves much. Favorable. Meeting a great person is beneficial.
At Line 6, the traditional reading turns back toward the fifth line to help meet the obstruction. The text contrasts blocked advance with a return that can accomplish more. Changing Line 6 makes Wind above Mountain, Hexagram 53.
Read Line 6 in contextOne line away
One classical protocol
A cast determines which part of a hexagram governs the reading. When one line moves, that line is read as the focus; other moving-line counts use different focus rules.
Read the changing-line protocol
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