I Ching hexagram · 5 of 64
Hexagram 5: Waiting 需 Xū · Patience, timing, preparation
Wait with confidence. Build your strength until the right moment arrives. If you are sincere, you have light and success. Perseverance brings good fortune. It helps to cross the great water.
- Upper: ☵ Water
- Lower: ☰ Heaven
- Nuclear: 38
- Opposite: 35
Number
5 of 64
Chinese name
需 Xū
Upper trigram
☵ Water
Lower trigram
☰ Heaven
Nuclear hexagram
䷥ 38. Opposition
Opposite hexagram
䷢ 35. Progress
What hexagram 5 means
Hexagram 5 shows clouds gathering in the sky before the rain falls. Strength, the trigram Heaven, waits below danger, the trigram Water, and the right response is patience rather than force.
This is not idle waiting but confident preparation. Stay calm, look after yourself, face the facts honestly and trust that the moment to act will come.
The Judgement · 卦辞
需：有孚，光亨，贞吉。利涉大川。
If you are sincere, you have light and success. Perseverance brings good fortune. It helps to cross the great water.
The Image · 象曰
云上于天，需；君子以饮食宴乐。
Clouds rise up to heaven: the image of waiting. The noble person eats, drinks and stays cheerful.
The lines and trigrams
Waiting places ☵ Water (坎 Kǎn), the trigram of danger and depth, above ☰ Heaven (乾 Qián), the trigram of strength and creative power. The lower trigram describes the inner situation and the upper trigram the outer world.
A hexagram is read from the bottom line up. Lines 1 to 3 form the lower trigram and lines 4 to 6 the upper trigram. Solid lines are yang and broken lines are yin; in the traditional names a yang line is called Nine (九) and a yin line Six (六).
Hexagram 5 in your life
Love and relationships
Don't rush a relationship or press for answers. Patience and trust let things develop naturally; enjoy the present while the future takes shape.
Personal growth
Practise patience with inner certainty. Waiting well means staying calm, nourished and ready rather than anxious.
The six changing lines
If you cast hexagram 5 and some lines come out as changing lines, read the text for those lines, then turn each one into its opposite to find the hexagram your situation is moving towards. See how to consult the I Ching.
Line 1 初九 · Nine at the beginning
Waiting in the meadow. Keep to your normal routine; no blame. The danger is still far off, so don't stir up trouble early.
Line 2 九二 · Nine in the second place
Waiting on the sand. There is some gossip or criticism, but stay calm and in the end there is good fortune.
Line 3 九三 · Nine in the third place
Waiting in the mud invites the enemy. You have moved too early into a weak position, so be careful.
Line 4 六四 · Six in the fourth place
Waiting in blood: get out of the pit. You are in real danger; keep still and let events take their course.
Line 5 九五 · Nine in the fifth place
Waiting over food and wine. Perseverance brings good fortune. Enjoy a pause in the struggle without losing sight of your goal.
Line 6 上六 · Six at the top
You fall into the pit and three uninvited guests arrive. Honour them: unexpected help brings good fortune in the end.
Hexagram 5 questions, answered
What does I Ching hexagram 5 mean?
Hexagram 5, Waiting (需 Xū), is about patience, timing, preparation. Wait with confidence. Build your strength until the right moment arrives. Hexagram 5 shows clouds gathering in the sky before the rain falls. Strength, the trigram Heaven, waits below danger, the trigram Water, and the right response is patience rather than force.
What does hexagram 5 mean in love?
Don't rush a relationship or press for answers. Patience and trust let things develop naturally; enjoy the present while the future takes shape.
What does hexagram 5 mean for work and money?
Results, approvals or opportunities are on their way but not here yet. Prepare, keep your resources ready and avoid acting out of impatience.
Which trigrams make up hexagram 5?
Hexagram 5 has Water (Kǎn) as its upper trigram and Heaven (Qián) as its lower trigram.
What are the related hexagrams of hexagram 5?
Its nuclear hexagram is 38, Opposition. Its opposite, with every line changed, is 35, Progress. Turned upside down it becomes 6, Conflict.
All 64 hexagrams
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