Progress

The advance starts and is held back at once. Legge reads here “the small and obstructed beginnings of his subject”, and adds that “the king does not yet believe in him”.

The answer of the text to missing trust is a generous mind, and Wilhelm has “one should remain calm”. The commentary gives the reason there is no error in this, since “he has not yet received an official charge”.

The commentary also says how the held back person goes on, “all-alone he pursues the correct course”. Legge reads it the same way, and writes that “by his firm correctness he pursues the way to good fortune”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 21, Biting Through

The advance goes on, but in sorrow. Legge explains that the subject “has still to mourn in obscurity”, and yet “he holds on his way”. The commentary credits the blessing to the place of the line, “the central place and the correct position for him”.

The blessing comes from a figure Legge translates as the grandmother and Wilhelm as “one’s ancestress”. Legge admits the phrase startled him. He takes it to point to the fifth line, and he quotes a paraphrase of the line, “He receives at last this great blessing from the mild and compliant ruler”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 64, Before Completion

Here the person is “trusted by all (around him)”. The commentary says why, “their (common) aim is to move upwards and act”. Legge adds that the two lines below share “the same desire to advance”, and he calls the result a “not unfavourable auspice”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 56, The Wanderer

This is the first whole line counting from below, and the text turns against it. The advance is “like a marmot”, and Legge pictures the animal “stealthily advancing”. Wilhelm names another animal, “Progress like a hamster”.

Firmness does not help here, because the position is “one of peril”. The commentary puts it in terms of place, “his place is not that appropriate for him”. Legge is blunt, “Nothing could be more opposed to the ideal of the feudal lord in the hexagram”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 23, Splitting Apart

Legge writes that in this line “that lord and his intelligent sovereign meet happily”. The text asks the person not to weigh failure against success, and Wilhelm has “Take not gain and loss to heart”.

Legge describes him as one who “holds on his right course, indifferent as to results”. The line closes with open approval, “To advance will be fortunate, and in every way advantageous”.

The commentary agrees and says that “his movement in advance will afford ground for congratulation”. In Legge's note “things are so ordered that he is, and will continue to be, crowned with success”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 12, Standstill

The top line carries the advance to its end, and with force. Legge calls the horns “an emblem of threatening strength”, used only inside the person's own state. The commentary is cool about it, “his course of procedure is not yet brilliant”.

The verdict is mixed. The text speaks of peril, of good fortune and of regret in one breath. Legge explains the regret, “that such a prince should have any occasion to use force is matter for regret”.

When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 16, Enthusiasm