Led Like a Sheep

Mighty in the Toes

"Power in the forward-striding toes — but going forth unequal to the task, one makes a mistake."

You've got hexagram 43 line 1: the urge to charge straight at the problem, felt as strength in the feet. It means eagerness has outrun your actual readiness. Marching now, before you can match the task, turns a first move into a first defeat — and a failed opening entrenches exactly what you meant to clear.

The Cry of Alarm

"A cry of alarm: arms ready at evening and at night. Then fear nothing."

Hexagram 43 line 2 means keep watch exactly when things are going well. A cry of alarm sounds, arms are ready by night — and the reward is stated plainly: fear nothing. The old habit tests the fences after dark; the almost-victorious win by staying alert, not by relaxing.

Powerful in the Cheekbones

"Power showing in the cheekbones brings misfortune. The superior man, firmly resolved, walks alone — caught in rain, bespattered, murmured against. No blame."

Hexagram 43 line 3 draws two portraits of resolve. The loud, jaw-set version — determination written across the face — provokes and hardens what it opposes: misfortune. The quiet version looks compromised, gets rained on and murmured about, yet carries no blame. Hold your firmness inwardly, out of sight, and let it complete itself.

Weeds Demand Firmness

"Against weeds, firm resolution is necessary. Walking in the middle keeps one free of blame."

Hexagram 43 line 5 names the hardest thing to uproot: the inferior element closest to you — the ingrown habit, the entangled tie. Like purslane, it regrows from any fragment you fondly spare. Break it now, wholly, without exemptions — yet stay measured everywhere else: total toward the weed, moderate in all other directions.

No Cry at the End

"No cry of warning left. In the end, misfortune comes."

Hexagram 43 line 6 is the breakthrough that stopped just short. Victory looks complete, the guard is dropped — and one remnant of the old wrong sits unexpelled in a corner. From that seed the whole growth returns, and misfortune comes. Don't merely say the right things; live them past the point of applause.

Say the truth openly — resolve it cleanly, without declaring war.

Say the truth openly — resolve it cleanly, without declaring war.

The decisive push — declare it openly, but never resort to force.

Say the truth openly — resolve it cleanly, without declaring war.

The final push to clear it — resolute, open, starting with you.

The last push against an old fault — start with yourself.

One bad study habit is ready to go — root it out completely.

The last resolute push — clear the block, then finish it fully.

Act decisively — but check your strength and finish completely.

The last resolute push — declare it openly, and refuse its weapons.

Name the thing openly — resolve it cleanly, without declaring war.

The last push to make the break — declare it, not war.