# Hexagram 39: Obstruction

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/39
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lower trigram:** [Gen 艮](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/gen), Mountain, keeping still
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 001010 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Obstruction. A real obstacle stands in your path, and it will not move for pushing. Do not waste yourself in direct assaults on it. Turn inward, examine what in yourself the obstruction is revealing, and seek the help of those who know a different way around.

## Image

Water on the mountain: trouble upon trouble. The superior person turns back to themselves and works on their own character.

## Counsel

Stop pushing. Ask what this obstacle is teaching you: sometimes obstructions reveal that our direction itself was wrong. Seek allies and advisors; you do not have to solve this alone. Use the pause to strengthen yourself for a path that will open when you are ready for it.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> Going leads into obstructions; coming finds praise.

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> The king's servant is in obstruction upon obstruction.
> But it is not his own fault.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> Going leads into obstructions; so he comes back.

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> Going leads into obstructions;
> coming leads to union.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> In the midst of the greatest obstructions, friends come.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> Going leads into obstructions; coming leads to great good fortune.
> It is favorable to see the great man.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [40 Deliverance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/40)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [38 Opposition](https://thefreeiching.com/library/38)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [63 After Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/63) |
| Line 2 | [48 The Well](https://thefreeiching.com/library/48) |
| Line 3 | [8 Holding Together](https://thefreeiching.com/library/8) |
| Line 4 | [31 Influence](https://thefreeiching.com/library/31) |
| Line 5 | [15 Modesty](https://thefreeiching.com/library/15) |
| Line 6 | [53 Development](https://thefreeiching.com/library/53) |

Previous: [38 Opposition](https://thefreeiching.com/library/38). Next: [40 Deliverance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/40). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 39: Obstruction." https://thefreeiching.com/library/39 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/39). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.