I Ching Hexagram 9: Small Taming - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance

I Ching Hexagram 9, Small Taming (Xiao Chu), is wind above heaven: five strong yang lines held back by a single yin line in the fourth place. Its Judgement promises success but warns of dense clouds that bring no rain, so the counsel is to accept a short delay and refine small things meanwhile. This guide covers the trigrams, the Judgement, the Image, all six changing lines, and the related hexagrams 38, 16 and 10.

What does I Ching Hexagram 9, Small Taming, mean?

I Ching Hexagram 9, Small Taming, means that a strong forward movement is being held in check by something small, and that the check is genuine but temporary. The Chinese name is Xiao Chu, where xiao means small and chu carries the paired sense of restraining and of rearing or feeding, so the taming in Hexagram 9 stores as much as it stops. The figure is five solid yang lines with one broken yin line in the fourth place. Five strong lines want to rise, and one weak line stands in the corridor and slows them. It cannot block them and it does not try to. It only makes them wait. Readers who draw Hexagram 9 are usually in a situation where the direction is right, the energy is available, and the calendar refuses to cooperate. Small Taming is not a verdict against the plan. It is a statement about the size of the obstacle and about how obstacles of that size are handled, with patience, with attention to detail, and without forcing. In the King Wen sequence Hexagram 9 is one of the gentlest restraining figures, and the whole of its counsel is to accept the pause and put it to use.

The hexagram 9 meaning becomes sharper by contrast with the other blocked figures of the Yijing. Hexagram 29, the Abysmal, blocks you with danger. Hexagram 39, Obstruction, blocks you with terrain you cannot cross. Hexagram 12, Standstill, blocks you because heaven and earth have stopped speaking to each other. None of that applies to Small Taming, where nothing is dangerous, hostile, or structurally wrong. What holds the five yang lines is one soft line that happens to occupy the doorway at the moment they arrive. In practice this shows up as a permit not yet stamped, a colleague on leave, a payment clearing next week, a pending test result. Hexagram 9 is also the first figure in the sequence where a single yin line governs five yang lines, and the tradition finds that arrangement instructive rather than weak: the line commands attention because it is outnumbered, the way a missing signature holds a contract. Small Taming asks you to identify which small thing is actually doing the holding, then to work on that thing instead of on the general sense of being stuck.

Is Hexagram 9 about restraint or about accumulation?

Hexagram 9 is about both, because the character chu means restrain and rear at once. The yin line in the fourth place holds back the yang lines, and the yang lines that cannot move upward pool beneath it. The delay in Small Taming is what creates the reserve, in the same way that a dam both stops the river and stores it.

Why does Hexagram 9 have only one yin line?

Hexagram 9 has one yin line because the taming it describes is small, and in Yijing vocabulary yin is what small refers to. A single soft line in the fourth place is the minimum amount of resistance that can still change the behavior of the whole figure. Add a second yin line and the hexagram becomes a different situation entirely.

What is the shortest accurate reading of Hexagram 9?

The shortest accurate reading of Hexagram 9, Small Taming, is: right direction, wrong moment, small cause, short wait. Everything else in the hexagram elaborates one of those four. The reading turns wrong only when someone treats the small cause as a large one and abandons a plan that Hexagram 9 explicitly says will succeed.

Which two trigrams form I Ching Hexagram 9, and why does wind over heaven produce Small Taming?

I Ching Hexagram 9 is formed by Qian, Heaven, in the lower position and Sun, Wind, in the upper position, giving the figure known as wind over heaven. Qian is three solid lines, the most concentrated yang in the system, tireless and upward moving. Sun is one yin line beneath two yang lines, the trigram of wind and of gentle penetration, associated with what enters everywhere without weight. Put wind above heaven and you get exactly the physical picture the hexagram wants: a great sky in motion, with wind moving across its face, pushing clouds around, changing the appearance of the sky without altering the sky itself. That is Small Taming. The wind cannot stop heaven. It can only shape what passes over it. This is why hexagram 9 small taming reads as influence rather than control. The restraining party in a Hexagram 9 situation has no authority to stop the strong party and usually does not want to. It has enough leverage to redirect, to slow, to require a form to be filled out. Everything the hexagram says about tact, indirect approach, and refinement follows from the fact that the upper trigram is wind and not mountain, water, or thunder.

The trigram pairing also explains the psychology of the figure. Sun, the wind trigram, is linked in the tradition with what is indecisive and with what works by repetition rather than by a single blow. Wind does not push once, it pushes continuously. So the delay in Hexagram 9 is rarely one dramatic refusal. It is a series of small frictions, each individually trivial, that together add up to a stall. Meanwhile Qian below is heaven, which does not sulk and does not stop; it keeps generating force under the restraint. The tension in i ching small taming comes from that mismatch, enormous energy underneath, feathery resistance on top. A practitioner reading this figure will look for where a persistent minor irritant is sitting on top of a genuinely strong project. The remedy suggested by the trigrams is to answer wind with wind. Meet a soft obstacle softly, and do not deploy the full weight of Qian against something that will reshape itself around the impact.

What does the Sun trigram contribute to Hexagram 9?

Sun, the wind trigram, contributes gentleness, penetration, and repetition to Hexagram 9. Because Sun holds the upper position, the restraint in Small Taming arrives as persuasion, procedure, and small recurring obstacles rather than as force. Sun also carries associations with wood and with what grows slowly, which supports the reading that the pause in Hexagram 9 is productive.

What does the Qian trigram contribute to Hexagram 9?

Qian, the heaven trigram, contributes inexhaustible driving force to Hexagram 9. Sitting in the lower position, Qian is the party that wants to move and has every capacity to do so. Its presence is why Small Taming never reads as failure: the strength is unquestioned, and only the release date is in dispute.

How is Hexagram 9 different from Hexagram 26, which also tames heaven?

Hexagram 9 places Wind above Heaven while Hexagram 26, Great Taming, places Mountain above Heaven. Wind restrains lightly and briefly; a mountain restrains massively and stores great reserves. Hexagram 9 therefore counsels a short wait and small refinements, while Hexagram 26 counsels long discipline, deliberate study, and the accumulation of real capacity.

What does the Judgement of I Ching Hexagram 9 mean?

The Judgement of I Ching Hexagram 9 reads, in the Wilhelm and Baynes rendering, that the Taming Power of the Small has success, followed by the striking line about dense clouds and no rain from our western region. Both halves matter. The opening word is the standard formula for a successful outcome, so Hexagram 9 is not refusing the question. The second half explains the shape of the delay. Clouds have massed, the sky is dark, everyone can see that something is about to happen, and nothing falls. Conditions have accumulated to the point of near sufficiency and stopped one step short. Anyone who has watched a deal reach the final signature and sit there recognizes the picture. The phrase about the western region is usually read as a reference to Zhou, the western territory of King Wen, a strong house still formally subordinate to the Shang court in the east. The clouds gather in the west, but the rain belongs to a decision made elsewhere. Applied to a reading, hexagram 9 meaning at the Judgement level is that you have done the accumulating and someone or something else still controls the release.

That same cloud image recurs in Hexagram 62, Preponderance of the Small, which tells you the Yijing treats it as a fixed technical phrase rather than as decoration. It marks a specific condition: potential fully assembled, discharge withheld. In the Judgement of Hexagram 9 the withholding agent is the yin line in the fourth place, sitting directly beneath the ruling fifth line and directly above the ascending strength of Qian. Because that line is small, the Judgement stays optimistic. Rain that is merely delayed is still rain. The practical instruction embedded in the Judgement is therefore not to seed the clouds. A person reading i ching hexagram 9 who tries to force the release by escalating, going over someone's head, or issuing an ultimatum is acting against the whole figure, since the one thing wind responds to is patience and the one thing it does not respond to is pressure. The Judgement's promise of success is conditional on your willingness to let the last condition arrive on its own schedule.

What do the dense clouds in Hexagram 9 represent?

The dense clouds in Hexagram 9 represent accumulated potential that has not yet discharged. Every ingredient of the result is present and visible, which is why the situation feels so close, and one final trigger is absent. Readers use the image to distinguish a Hexagram 9 delay, which resolves, from a genuine dead end, which does not.

Why does the Judgement of Hexagram 9 mention the western region?

The Judgement of Hexagram 9 mentions the western region because the Zhou homeland lay west of the Shang capital, and the Zhou were powerful but not yet sovereign. The phrase encodes the position of a strong party who must still wait on a higher authority. In a modern reading it points to approval, funding, or permission held by someone else.

Does the Judgement of Hexagram 9 promise success?

Yes. The Judgement of Hexagram 9 opens with the formula for success, so the outcome is affirmed. What it withholds is the timing. Readers summarize it as success granted and delivery postponed, which is why Small Taming is counted among the favorable hexagrams despite the frustration it describes.

What does the Image of I Ching Hexagram 9 advise you to do?

The Image of I Ching Hexagram 9 states that the wind drives across heaven, and that the superior person accordingly refines the outward aspect of their nature. The Chinese phrase points to cultivating wen de, the cultural or literary virtues, meaning style, manners, expression, and craft rather than substance. This is the most practical instruction in the hexagram. When a great undertaking is held up by something small, large work is unavailable, so the tradition redirects the energy into finishing quality. Rewrite the proposal. Fix the typography. Repair the tone of a conversation that went badly. None of that moves the project forward by itself, and all of it improves what happens the moment the block lifts. The Image is deliberately modest, since Small Taming has no mandate for anything ambitious. Wind across heaven changes the sky's appearance, not its nature, and the Image asks you to do exactly the same to yourself: work on the surface, because the surface is what is reachable this week. Practitioners treat the Image of Hexagram 9 as its most actionable sentence.

There is a reason the Yijing assigns refinement rather than rest to this waiting period. A yin line holding back five yang lines produces pressure, and pressure with nowhere to go becomes irritation, which is what the third line of Hexagram 9 later depicts as a couple glaring at each other. The Image supplies a channel. Directing the surplus force of Qian into detail work discharges the pressure without breaking the restraint. It also has a strategic effect that the commentaries note: in a situation governed by influence rather than authority, presentation is leverage. The person who spends a stalled month improving how their case reads is more persuasive when the meeting finally happens than the person who spent it complaining. Applied to i ching small taming in daily practice, the Image argues for a week spent tightening what already exists rather than starting what cannot yet begin. Anything needing the other party's cooperation should be prepared and held; anything needing only your own hands should be finished.

What does refining the outward aspect of your nature mean in Hexagram 9?

In Hexagram 9 it means improving form, expression, and conduct while substance is on hold. The Image points to wen de, cultural refinement: clearer writing, better manners, cleaner presentation, more careful speech. Small Taming grants no authority for structural change, so it assigns the work that lies entirely within your own control.

Why does the Image of Hexagram 9 recommend small work instead of rest?

The Image of Hexagram 9 recommends small work because the lower trigram Qian keeps producing force whether or not there is an outlet. Idle strength under restraint turns into friction and blame. Detail work absorbs that energy, keeps the restraint intact, and leaves you better prepared for the moment the yin line in the fourth place gives way.

How long should the refining period of Hexagram 9 last?

The refining period of Hexagram 9 lasts until the rain falls, which the top line of the hexagram confirms it eventually does. The tradition frames it as short, since wind cannot hold heaven for long. In practice readers watch for the specific small blockage they identified and treat its removal, not the calendar, as the signal.

What do the first three changing lines of I Ching Hexagram 9 mean?

The first three changing lines of I Ching Hexagram 9 are all yang lines in the lower trigram Qian, and all three describe the strong party meeting the restraint for the first time. Nine at the beginning reads that one returns to the way, asks how there could be blame in this, and calls it good fortune. Nine in the second place reads that one allows oneself to be drawn into returning, also good fortune. Nine in the third place reads that the spokes burst out of the wagon wheel, and man and wife roll their eyes at each other. The progression is unmistakable. The first line turns back easily because it has barely started. The second line turns back with company, following the first rather than pressing on alone. The third line refuses to turn back, drives into the restraint at full speed, and breaks its own vehicle. Among all of the hexagram 9 changing lines these three form the clearest lesson in the figure: withdrawal early is cheap, withdrawal later is still possible, and refusal to withdraw is what causes the only real damage Small Taming contains.

Position explains the difference. The first line sits at the bottom, far from the yin line in the fourth place, with almost nothing invested, so returning costs it nothing. The second line holds the central position of the lower trigram, and centrality in the Yijing is a virtue of proportion, so it judges the situation correctly and pulls back with dignity rather than defeat. The third line is neither central nor yielding. It is a yang line at the top of Qian, the point of maximum accumulated momentum, sitting immediately below the restraining fourth line with no buffer at all. It has the least room and the most speed, which is why the text gives it a mechanical failure. Notice that the wagon does not hit a wall in the third line of Hexagram 9. The spokes burst out from the inside. The damage is self inflicted, caused by driving hard against something that was never solid enough to hit back. The domestic image that follows is the tradition's way of saying that the frustration then leaks sideways into the nearest relationship.

What does nine at the beginning of Hexagram 9 mean?

Nine at the beginning of Hexagram 9 means an early, costless withdrawal. The line returns to its own path, the text asks how there could be blame in it, and calls the result good fortune. Because this line is far from the restraint and barely committed, it can step back before anything has been spent, and Small Taming rewards that promptness.

What does nine in the second place of Hexagram 9 mean?

Nine in the second place of Hexagram 9 means being drawn back along with others, and it is also fortunate. This line holds the central position of the lower trigram, so it retreats out of proportion rather than out of fear. In a reading it describes joining a general pause instead of insisting on being the exception.

What does nine in the third place of Hexagram 9 mean?

Nine in the third place of Hexagram 9 shows wagon spokes bursting and a couple rolling their eyes, the one genuinely damaging line in the hexagram. Sitting directly beneath the restraining yin line with maximum momentum, it forces the issue and breaks its own vehicle. The text then shows the frustration spilling into a partnership.

What do changing lines four, five and six of I Ching Hexagram 9 mean?

Changing lines four, five and six of I Ching Hexagram 9 shift the perspective from the party being restrained to the parties managing the restraint. Six in the fourth place reads that if you are sincere, blood vanishes and fear gives way, so there is no blame. Nine in the fifth place reads that if you are sincere and loyally attached, you are rich in your neighbor. Nine at the top reads that the rain comes and there is rest, that this is due to the lasting effect of character, that perseverance brings the woman into danger, that the moon is nearly full, and that if the superior person persists, misfortune comes. Read together, these hexagram 9 changing lines describe how the standoff ends well. The fourth line, the lone yin holding five yang lines, survives a dangerous position through sincerity alone. The fifth line refuses to hoard and shares its strength with those around it. The top line receives the rain, then immediately warns against continuing to press once the goal has been reached. Small Taming closes not with triumph but with an instruction to stop.

The fourth line deserves particular attention because it is the ruler of the figure. A single yin line standing between the ascending force of Qian below and the strong fifth line above occupies a genuinely exposed position, and the mention of blood in the line text acknowledges the risk of injury. What saves it is not strength, which it does not have, but sincerity, which the yang lines can recognize and will not attack. The fifth line then supplies the social solution: being rich in one's neighbor means treating the resources of those around you as jointly held, which is how a strong central figure keeps allies during a stall. The top line is the most quoted in i ching hexagram 9 because of its two warnings. The nearly full moon marks the moment just before the turn, when the smart move is to stop rather than to seek completeness. And the caution about persistence is aimed at whoever has been doing the restraining. Once the rain falls, continued control becomes overreach, and the hexagram ends by taking the small taming power away.

What does six in the fourth place of Hexagram 9 mean?

Six in the fourth place of Hexagram 9 is the ruling line, the single yin holding back five yang lines. Its text promises that with sincerity, blood vanishes and fear gives way, leaving no blame. The position is exposed and could turn bloody, and the line survives it through transparent good faith rather than through any strength of its own.

What does nine in the fifth place of Hexagram 9 mean?

Nine in the fifth place of Hexagram 9 says that with sincerity and loyal attachment you are rich in your neighbor. This strong central line does not hoard during the delay. It pools resources with those beside it, which both steadies the fourth line above and keeps the restrained lines below willing to wait.

What does nine at the top of Hexagram 9 mean?

Nine at the top of Hexagram 9 brings the rain and the rest, credits it to lasting character, then warns twice. The moon is nearly full, meaning stop before completeness turns into decline, and continued persistence brings danger and misfortune. It is the line that tells the restraining party to release its grip.

What are the nuclear, opposite and paired hexagrams of I Ching Hexagram 9?

The nuclear hexagram of I Ching Hexagram 9 is Hexagram 38, Opposition, its opposite is Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, and its paired partner in the King Wen sequence is Hexagram 10, Treading. The nuclear figure comes from lines two, three and four, which form Dui, the Lake, and lines three, four and five, which form Li, Fire. Fire above Lake is Hexagram 38, and it tells you what is hidden inside Small Taming: two elements moving away from each other, estrangement, and mutual misunderstanding between parties who are not actually enemies. That is the concealed cost of the delay, and it is why the third line of Hexagram 9 shows a couple glaring at each other. Turn every line of Hexagram 9 to its opposite and you get Thunder above Earth, Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, which is release, music, movement, and everyone marching in the same direction. Small Taming is precisely the inverse condition, the stored charge before the drumbeat. Turn Hexagram 9 upside down instead and you get Hexagram 10, Treading, Heaven above Lake, the figure of stepping carefully on the tiger's tail.

These three relatives sharpen the practical reading. Hexagram 38 as the nuclear core warns that if a Small Taming period runs badly, the lasting damage will be relational, not material. Nothing in Hexagram 9 breaks except a wheel and a mood, but resentment accumulated during the wait outlasts the wait. Hexagram 16 as the opposite is the destination, since the same energy that is compressed under Small Taming becomes collective momentum once the yin line yields. Hexagram 10 as the sequence partner is the more instructive pairing: Treading and Small Taming both describe a weak party in close contact with an overwhelming one, and both resolve through correct conduct rather than power. Where Treading walks carefully behind the tiger, Small Taming stands in front of it and holds it briefly with sincerity. One more relative is worth naming. Change the top line of Hexagram 9 and it becomes Hexagram 5, Waiting, the figure of eating and drinking while the rain gathers, the same counsel the Judgement already gave in the language of clouds.

How is the nuclear hexagram of Hexagram 9 calculated?

The nuclear hexagram of Hexagram 9 is built from its middle lines. Lines two, three and four give Dui, the Lake, and lines three, four and five give Li, Fire. Placing Li above Dui produces Hexagram 38, Opposition, the hidden inner condition of Small Taming: parties drifting apart while nothing visibly breaks.

What is the opposite of Hexagram 9 and what does it reveal?

The opposite of Hexagram 9, made by reversing every line, is Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, Thunder above Earth. It reveals what Small Taming is holding in reserve. Where Hexagram 9 is compressed potential and silence, Hexagram 16 is release, shared momentum, and music, which is where the stored energy goes once the restraint lifts.

Why are Hexagram 9 and Hexagram 10 a pair?

Hexagram 9 and Hexagram 10 are a pair because Hexagram 10, Treading, is Hexagram 9 turned upside down, and the King Wen sequence arranges hexagrams in such inverted couples. Thematically both show a small party in direct contact with overwhelming strength, and both resolve through correctness and sincerity rather than through any contest of force.

How does I Ching Hexagram 9 read for a decision, a relationship and work?

I Ching Hexagram 9 reads the same way across a decision, a relationship and work: the intention is sound, one small factor is holding it, and pushing will cost more than waiting. For a decision, Small Taming means do not decide today. The information that would settle the question is the missing rain, and choosing before it arrives means choosing blind, which is what the third line's broken wheel depicts. For a relationship, Hexagram 9 describes real affection under a specific and usually mundane obstruction, and it warns that the obstruction gets mistaken for the person. For work, Hexagram 9 is the stalled launch, the pending approval, the offer that has not been confirmed, with the added instruction from the Image to spend the interval improving quality. In all three arenas the correct behavior is identical, which is unusual in the Yijing and is part of why hexagram 9 small taming is considered a straightforward figure to read. Identify the one small thing. Work on what your own hands control. Keep your sincerity visible, since the fourth and fifth lines both say that sincerity, not leverage, is what resolves this hexagram.

Where the three arenas differ is in the failure mode. A decision under Hexagram 9 fails through impatience: someone forces a choice to end the discomfort of not knowing, and the Judgement's dense clouds become a decision made in the dark. A relationship under Hexagram 9 fails through displacement, which is exactly what the nuclear Hexagram 38, Opposition, predicts, with two people who agree about everything important arguing about the delay itself. Work under Hexagram 9 fails through escalation: going around the person holding the file, which turns a light restraint into a real adversary and converts a Small Taming problem into a Great Taming one. The counterweight in each case comes from nine in the fifth place, the line about being rich in your neighbor. Sharing information, credit, and resources during the wait keeps the coalition intact, so that when the yin line in the fourth place yields, everyone is still moving in the same direction and the top line's rain arrives with the relationships undamaged.

What does Hexagram 9 advise when you have to make a decision now?

When a decision genuinely cannot wait, Hexagram 9 advises choosing the smallest reversible version of it. Small Taming does not support committing the full weight of Qian while the clouds are still holding their rain. Make the provisional choice, keep it revisable, and let the pending information convert it into a full commitment when it arrives.

What does Hexagram 9 mean for a stalled job offer or promotion?

For a stalled job offer or promotion, Hexagram 9 indicates that the decision is favorable and the paperwork is not finished. One person, budget cycle, or approval is holding it, and that hold is small. The Image counsels using the interval to sharpen your materials and to stay in courteous contact rather than issuing deadlines.

What does Hexagram 9 say about the person doing the restraining?

Hexagram 9 treats the restraining party sympathetically. Six in the fourth place stands alone against five strong lines, at real risk, and holds its ground through sincerity rather than authority. The top line then tells that party when to stop, since persistence past the rain turns a legitimate restraint into overreach and brings misfortune.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is I Ching Hexagram 9, Small Taming, a good or bad omen?

I Ching Hexagram 9, Small Taming, is a mildly favorable omen with a timing warning attached. The Judgement opens with the phrase for success, so the direction of the question is sound and the effort is not wasted. What Hexagram 9 denies is speed. The single yin line in the fourth place holds the five yang lines for a while, and the image of dense clouds that produce no rain says the result exists but has not fallen yet. Readers treat Hexagram 9 as a yes with a wait, not as a no.

What is the Chinese name of I Ching Hexagram 9?

The Chinese name of I Ching Hexagram 9 is Xiao Chu, written with the characters for small and for chu. Xiao means small, minor, or slight. Chu carries two linked meanings, to restrain or hold back, and to rear, feed, and accumulate, as one does with domestic animals. Hexagram 9 therefore names both the holding and the storing. Common English renderings include Small Taming, The Taming Power of the Small, Small Accumulating, and Small Restraint, and all four point at the same gesture of a light hand on a strong animal.

Why is Hexagram 9 called Small Taming instead of Great Taming?

Hexagram 9 is called Small Taming because the line doing the restraining is a single yin line, and yin is called small in the Yijing vocabulary. Hexagram 26, Great Taming, uses Mountain above Heaven, and a mountain is an immovable structure that can hold heaven for a long time and store a great deal. Hexagram 9 uses Wind above Heaven instead. Wind has no substance and cannot block anything permanently, so the taming in Hexagram 9 is brief, partial, and reversible, and its accumulation is a modest store rather than a treasury.

Which line rules I Ching Hexagram 9?

Six in the fourth place rules I Ching Hexagram 9 as the constituting ruler, because it is the only yin line and its presence is what makes the hexagram Small Taming at all. It also sits in a yin position, which the tradition counts as correct placement, so it restrains legitimately rather than by force. Nine in the fifth place acts as the governing ruler, the strong central line that supplies confidence and shares resources with its neighbors. Reading Hexagram 9 well means watching both, the one that holds and the one that reassures.

What does I Ching Hexagram 9 say about timing?

I Ching Hexagram 9 says the timing is close but not arrived. Dense clouds have gathered, which means the conditions are almost complete, and no rain has fallen, which means the last condition is missing. The top line of Hexagram 9 finally reports that the rain comes and there is rest, so the delay resolves within the figure itself. Practitioners usually read the wait as short and countable, a matter of weeks rather than seasons, and they read pushing during the wait as the one thing that lengthens it.

What does Hexagram 9, Small Taming, mean in a love reading?

In a love reading, Hexagram 9, Small Taming, describes a relationship that is fundamentally sound but currently held by one specific obstacle, often a schedule, a distance, a family situation, or an unresolved detail neither person has named. The third line of Hexagram 9 shows the wheel spokes bursting and the couple rolling their eyes at each other, which is what happens when the delay gets blamed on the partner. The advice is to name the actual obstacle, keep the small courtesies intact, and stop arguing about the wait.

What hexagram does Hexagram 9 become when the top line changes?

When the top line of Hexagram 9 changes, the yang line at the top becomes yin and the hexagram becomes number 5, Waiting. That transformation is unusually literal. Small Taming, the figure of the delay, opens directly into Waiting, the figure of nourishment while the rain gathers. Since the top line of Hexagram 9 is the line where the rain finally falls and where persistence turns dangerous, the resulting Hexagram 5 confirms the counsel: the correct posture at the end of Small Taming is to eat, drink, and stop pressing.