Hexagram 9
Small TamingXiǎo Xù 小畜
Also translated as The Taming Power of the Small, Small Accumulating, Small Restraint.
Wind / Wood above Heaven below
The wind drives clouds across the sky, but they do not yet release their rain. A single yielding line restrains five strong ones. Xiao Xu is the power of small, gentle influences: they cannot stop a great force, but they can shape and delay it. It is a time for patience, refinement and modest accumulation before the larger breakthrough.
Judgment
小畜：亨。密雲不雨，自我西郊。
Small accumulating: success. Dense clouds but no rain, from our western outskirts.
Image
風行天上，小畜；君子以懿文德。
Wind travels across the sky: small accumulating. Taking this as a model, the noble one refines the expression of their virtue.
- Gentle restraint
- Influence of small things
- Patience before fulfillment
- Refinement
- Accumulating gradually
- restraint
- gentleness
- patience
- refinement
- accumulation
- delay
- Small, gentle influences can shape great forces.
- Fulfillment is near but not yet ripe.
- Use the delay to refine and prepare.
The six lines
Lines are numbered from the bottom. In a reading, only the lines that are changing apply to your cast.
Line 1Nine at the beginning 初九
Line text
復自道，何其咎，吉。
Returning by one's own path. How could that be a fault? Good fortune.
Meeting resistance, you return to your own way rather than forcing ahead. There is nothing wrong in this; it is the right response.
- Returning to your path
- Natural restraint
- Forcing through obstacles
- Finding the right way by stepping back
Line 2Nine in the second place 九二
Line text
牽復，吉。
Pulled back, returning: good fortune.
Seeing that others are also turning back, you join them. Retreating in company with like-minded people is wise and not a loss of face.
- Retreating with others
- Shared judgment
- Pushing on alone out of pride
- Strength in shared restraint
Line 3Nine in the third place 九三
Line text
輿說輻，夫妻反目。
The cart's wheel spokes come loose. Husband and wife glare at each other.
Pushing forward against the restraint leads to breakdown and quarrels. Force at the wrong time damages the vehicle and the relationship.
- Breakdown from forcing
- Quarrels
- Forcing progress that the situation does not allow
- Accepting the delay before damage is done
Line 4Six in the fourth place 六四
Line text
有孚，血去惕出，无咎。
With sincerity, blood is gone and fear departs. No blame.
The one gentle line restraining the strong ones is in a risky position. Sincerity and truthfulness defuse the danger. Honest influence works where force would fail.
- Sincerity defusing danger
- Influence without force
- Trying to restrain others by force
- Calming a tense situation through honesty
Line 5Nine in the fifth place 九五
Line text
有孚攣如，富以其鄰。
Sincerity that binds closely, sharing wealth with one's neighbor.
Loyalty and mutual trust create shared strength. What one has is shared with others, and everyone is the richer for it.
- Mutual loyalty
- Shared wealth
- Keeping gains to yourself
- Prosperity that grows by being shared
Line 6Nine at the top 上九
Line text
既雨既處，尚德載，婦貞厲。月幾望，君子征凶。
The rain has come, things are at rest. Virtue has been gathered to fullness. For the wife, persisting is dangerous. The moon is almost full. If the noble one marches out: misfortune.
Success has arrived through small, patient steps. Now be content with what has been achieved. Pushing further at the peak, like a moon about to wane, would spoil it.
- Fulfillment reached
- Not pushing past the peak
- Overreaching once the goal is achieved
- Resting in a hard-won success
Related hexagrams
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Cast a readingChinese text: Zhouyi 周易 (received classical text). English rendering and notes: Site rendering. About our sources
Commentary
Dense clouds gather from the west but the rain does not come. Xiao Xu describes a moment of near-fulfillment, held back by circumstances that are small but real. The one yin line in the fourth place restrains all the yang lines: gentleness, persuasion and patience are the only tools available, and they are enough to keep things in check for now.
The reading may suggest frustration at a delay, or the need to work with small means when larger ones are unavailable. The image advises refining your conduct and expression rather than forcing results. In relation to a question, Xiao Xu may emphasize that the time for big moves has not yet come, and that small, consistent efforts are building toward it.