The 64 hexagrams / Hexagram 39
Obstruction
Hexagram 39 · 蹇 Jiǎn
Water above · Mountain below
兑 palace · 四世
What hexagram 39 says
Water on a mountain: progress nearly impossible. Go where the ground is level, not toward the cliffs. The remedy is turning back on yourself, not pushing harder.
Above: Water (Kan) — abysmal, dangerous, flowing.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. The first line is the beginning of the situation, the sixth is its outer edge. The Chinese text is the classical line text; the line below it is a reading of what it is pointing at.
yin — broken
yin — broken
yang — solid
yin — broken
yang — solid
yin — broken
How to use this hexagram
If you cast this as your primary hexagram, it describes the situation you are in. If it came up as the transformed hexagram, it describes where things are heading once the changing lines have flipped. If you are only looking it up, read the judgment first — the line texts are for specific moments inside the situation, not for the situation as a whole.
Frequently asked
What does I Ching hexagram 39 mean?
Hexagram 39, Obstruction, is made of Water above and Mountain below. Water on a mountain: progress nearly impossible. Go where the ground is level, not toward the cliffs. The remedy is turning back on yourself, not pushing harder.
How do I read hexagram 39 in a casting?
Read the primary hexagram first — it describes the situation as it stands. If any of your six lines were changing lines (sixes or nines from the coin tosses), read those lines' texts next: they mark where the situation is moving. The hexagram produced after those lines flip is the transformed hexagram, and it shows where the movement leads.
What are the six lines of hexagram 39?
Hexagram 39 has six lines, read from the bottom up. The texts below are given in order, first line (bottom) to sixth line (top).
Which palace does hexagram 39 belong to?
In the six-line (liuyao) system, hexagram 39 sits in the 兑 palace, fourth generation — the inversion is deepening. The palace gives the hexagram its ruling element, and from that element the Six Relatives are assigned to each line.