I Ching Oracle / Hexagrams / 25
The Judgement
Supreme success. Perseverance furthers. If someone is not as he should be, he has misfortune.
Act from sincerity without calculation; contrivance invites trouble.
The Image
Under heaven thunder rolls; the kings of old, rich in virtue, nurtured all beings.
This hexagram on ten matters
- WorkCAREER
- Innocence draws heaven's protection. Not counting on the harvest while ploughing — do what should be done without presetting the outcome, and it goes well. Contrivance brings misfortune.
- LoveRELATIONSHIP
- Sincerity is the only strategy. This hexagram does not tolerate calculation; any tactic backfires here.
- MoneyFINANCE
- Do not speculate. Undeserved misfortune means loss that arrives unearned — conservatism is the only sensible position.
- HealthBODY
- Use no medicine in an illness incurred through no fault of your own. Read this carefully: it means do not medicate randomly, not do not seek care. See someone if you should.
- StudyLEARNING
- Just work through it in order. Effort given without expectation of return performs best.
- An examEXAM
- Prepare honestly; do not gamble on predicted questions. Straightforward preparation gives the most reliable result.
- PeopleSOCIAL
- Be sincere; do not manage people. The wanderer's gain, the citizen's loss — do not get pulled into what is not yours.
- A choiceDECISION
- Hold to what is correct rather than clever. He who can be persevering remains without blame.
- TravelJOURNEY
- Innocent action brings misfortune, nothing furthers — the top line says it plainly: do not move unless you must.
- A lost itemLOST ITEM
- An accidental loss, not your fault. Do not blame yourself; if it cannot be recovered, accept it as chance.
The Six Lines
Innocent behavior brings good fortune.
Innocent behaviour brings good fortune. Acting from your own nature simply works. The cleanest line here: no calculation, no obstruction.
If one does not count on the harvest while plowing, then it will be favorable to undertake something.
Not counting on the harvest while ploughing. The advantage of undertaking something comes precisely from not reckoning the return.
Undeserved misfortune. The cow that was tethered by someone is the wanderer's gain, the citizen's loss.
Undeserved misfortune. The tethered cow is the wanderer's gain and the citizen's loss. A loss that is not yours, borne by you — that is what undeserved means.
He who can be persevering remains without blame.
He who can be persevering remains without blame. Just hold. There is no room to act; not wavering is itself the achievement.
Use no medicine in an illness incurred through no fault of your own. It will pass of itself.
Use no medicine in an illness incurred through no fault of your own. Do not medicate blindly. The line is about not over-intervening, not about ignoring it.
Innocent action brings misfortune. Nothing furthers.
Innocent action brings misfortune. Free of delusion, yet still moving. Nothing furthers: when it is time to stop, stop.
The governing line
Nuclear · Opposite · Reverse
The nuclear hexagram shows the middle stretch of the matter; the opposite is the same situation seen from the reverse position; the reverse is the view from the other party's side.