Line 4 of
Hexagram 17: 隨
“Following” — King Wen #17 · 九四
Line 4 九四
隨有獲，貞凶；有孚在道，以明，何咎？
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows us one followed and obtaining (adherents). Though he be firm and correct, there will be evil. If he be sincere (however) in his course, and make that evident, into what error will he fall?
— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1882 (public domain)
The Changed Hexagram 之卦
Line 4 changing turns hexagram 17 into䷂ Hexagram 3: 屯 — “Sprouting”Read line 4 of hexagram 3 →Reading This Line
In the received Zhouyi text, line 4 of hexagram 17 is a strong (yang) line occupying the fourth line, risen into the upper trigram. The classical line statement — 隨有獲，貞凶；有孚在道，以明，何咎？ — 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 17 Line 4
What does line 4 of hexagram 17 say?
The received text reads: 隨有獲，貞凶；有孚在道，以明，何咎？ In James Legge's 1882 translation: “The fourth NINE, undivided, shows us one followed and obtaining (adherents). Though he be firm and correct, there will be evil. If he be sincere (however) in his course, and make that evident, into what error will he fall?”
Which hexagram does line 4 change hexagram 17 into?
Changing only line 4 of hexagram 17 (隨, “Following”) gives hexagram 3 — 屯 (zhūn, “Sprouting”). 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.