Hexagram 9 of 64
Small Restraint
小畜 Xiǎo Xù
Upper trigram: 巽 Xùn, wind
Lower trigram: 乾 Qián, heaven
The judgment
亨。密雲不雨，自我西郊。
Success. Clouds pile thick and no rain falls, rolling in from our western outskirts.
The Great Image
風行天上，小畜；君子以懿文德。
Wind moves across the sky: Small Restraint. In the same way, the noble person refines the virtues of culture.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初九
復自道，何其咎，吉。
Returning by one's own road. What blame is there? Good fortune.
The line finds no fault in returning by your own road. If you went a little off course, consider simply going back.
Line 2 九二
牽復，吉。
Led back. Good fortune.
Here someone is led back by another hand. Ask who could walk you back to where you meant to be, and whether you would let them.
Line 3 九三
車說輹，夫妻反目。
The cart has shed its axle-brace. Husband and wife glare at each other.
A cart without its axle-brace stops dead, and so does a couple glaring across it. If a small breakdown has turned into a standoff with someone close, ask what repair could come first.
Line 4 六四
有孚，血去惕出，无咎。
There is trust. Blood goes and fear departs. No blame.
With trust, the blood and the fear both leave. Consider what you could say plainly to ease a tense situation.
Line 5 九五
有孚攣如，富以其鄰。
There is trust that binds together. Rich along with the neighbors.
Trust here binds people so closely that plenty passes among neighbors. Ask who shares in what you have and who you could include.
Line 6 上九
既雨既處，尚得載，婦貞厲，月幾望，君子征凶。
The rain has come and has stopped. There is still room to load up. A wife's holding firm brings danger. The moon is nearly full. For the noble person, setting out brings misfortune.
The rain has fallen and the moon is almost full, and the line says to stop. The old text singles out a wife, and we read the caution for anyone: consider whether you already have enough and what pushing further could cost.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is heaven below and wind above. Wind moves over the sky and gathers clouds but cannot yet bring rain. It is about a small force that restrains a larger one for a while.
The judgment gives the picture of dense clouds from the west with no rain. Something is building and has not arrived. Ask what small refinements you could make while the larger thing is out of your hands.
If your question is about a project held up by minor obstacles or a plan waiting on someone else, tradition reads this as a time for patient, small adjustments. The lines caution against quarrels at home when the cart breaks down and against pressing on once enough has come.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/小畜), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
Where the sources differ
- In the third line, Wikisource reads 車說輹 (the cart sheds its axle-brace) and notes that 車 is also written 輿 and 輹 is also written 輻. Project Gutenberg reads 輿說輻 (the carriage sheds its spokes).
- In the top line, Wikisource reads 尚得載，婦貞厲 (there is still room to load; a wife's holding firm brings danger) and notes that 得 is also written 德. Project Gutenberg reads 尚德載婦，貞厲 (virtue is honored and carries the wife; holding firm brings danger).
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.