| Name | 旅 Lǚ, “The Wanderer” |
|---|---|
| Upper trigram | ☲ 离 Fire: clarity and attachment |
| Lower trigram | ☶ 艮 Mountain: stillness and limits |
The Judgment
小亨，旅贞吉。
Success in small things. The wanderer stays true — fortune.
Stranger in a strange land. Keep it small, keep it honest. Don't make big claims when you're a guest.
The Image
山上有火，旅；君子以明慎用刑，而不留狱。
Fire on the mountain — The Wanderer. The wise are clear-minded and cautious in imposing penalties, and do not protract legal disputes.
When you're passing through, deal with conflict swiftly and fairly. Don't drag anything out — you're not staying.
The six lines
If a line changes in your cast, read its text below. Lines are numbered from the bottom.
Line 1 · first (bottom) · Yin
旅琐琐，斯其所取灾。
The wanderer busies himself with trifles. This is the basis of misfortune.
Getting petty about small stuff while traveling. Embarrassing — and a sign you've lost the bigger view.
Line 2 · second · Yin
旅即次，怀其资，得童仆贞。
The wanderer comes to an inn. He has his property with him. Wins the steadfastness of a young servant.
Found shelter, kept your stuff, made one loyal contact. The basic wins of moving through the world. Solid.
Line 3 · third · Yang
旅焚其次，丧其童仆，贞厉。
The inn burns down. He loses his young servant. Stay true — danger.
Lost the shelter, lost the help. Now you're really alone in the road. Stay grounded — danger is real but survivable.
Line 4 · fourth · Yang
旅于处，得其资斧，我心不快。
The wanderer rests in a place. He gets his property and an axe. My heart is not glad.
Resourced but uneasy. Even with everything you need, you can't fully relax — and that's an honest signal. Listen to it.
Line 5 · fifth · Yin
射雉，一矢亡，终以誉命。
He shoots a pheasant — one arrow brings it down. In the end — praise and a high charge.
One clean precise act, in a setting where you didn't belong, ends up earning you a real role. Skill recognized.
Line 6 · top · Yang
鸟焚其巢，旅人先笑后号啕。丧牛于易，凶。
The bird's nest burns up. The wanderer laughs at first — then must lament and weep. He loses his cow easily. Misfortune.
Laughed too early. The home base burned, the resource walks away. Big loss following overconfidence.
Related hexagrams
- Inverted (turned upside down): Hexagram 55, Abundance
- Complement (every line reversed): Hexagram 60, Limitation