Line 5 of
Hexagram 12: 否
“Obstruction” — King Wen #12 · 九五
Line 5 九五
休否，大人吉；其亡其亡，繫于苞桑。
In the fifth NINE, undivided, we see him who brings the distress and obstruction to a close,--the great man and fortunate. (But let him say), 'We may perish! We may perish!' (so shall the state of things become firm, as if) bound to a clump of bushy mulberry trees.
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 5 changing turns hexagram 12 into䷢ Hexagram 35: 晉 — “Prospering”Read line 5 of hexagram 35 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 5 of hexagram 12 is a strong (yang) line occupying the fifth line, the place the tradition treats as the ruler's position of the figure. The classical line statement — 休否，大人吉；其亡其亡，繫于苞桑。 — is what commentators from the Ten Wings onward have read as the figure's own commentary on this one position. James Legge's 1882 rendering, quoted above, keeps the imagery of the original: each line of a hexagram is read as a stage of the same picture, and this page collects the source text for that stage. If you treat the line as moving in the traditional way, flipping it alone produces the changed hexagram linked above; readers have long used that pair of figures to compare a situation as given with the same situation one line different. As always with classical divination texts, this is presented for cultural and reference interest — the text itself carries no prediction about any modern reader's situation.
Questions About Hexagram 12 Line 5
What does line 5 of hexagram 12 say?
The received text reads: 休否，大人吉；其亡其亡，繫于苞桑。 In James Legge's 1882 translation: “In the fifth NINE, undivided, we see him who brings the distress and obstruction to a close,--the great man and fortunate. (But let him say), 'We may perish! We may perish!' (so shall the state of things become firm, as if) bound to a clump of bushy mulberry trees.”
Which hexagram does line 5 change hexagram 12 into?
Changing only line 5 of hexagram 12 (否, “Obstruction”) gives hexagram 35 — 晉 (jìn, “Prospering”). This is the classical way a changed hexagram is derived from moving lines.
Are line pages available for every hexagram?
Yes. Every one of the 64 hexagrams now has six line pages — one per line from the bottom line up to the top line — each with the classical Chinese text, Legge's 1882 translation, and the changed hexagram that line produces when it moves.
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1882), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and reference — not financial, medical, or life advice.