# Hexagram 40: Deliverance

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/40
Last updated: 2026-10-07

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

- **Upper trigram:** [Zhen 震](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/zhen), Thunder, the arousing, movement
- **Lower trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 010100 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Deliverance. The tension breaks, the storm passes, the air is washed clean. What has been held in suspense is released. Do not waste this fresh moment on old grievances or postmortems. Return promptly to ordinary life and ordinary work; build something new on the cleared ground.

## Image

Thunder and rain, the storm passing. The superior person forgives mistakes and pardons offenses.

## Counsel

Release what no longer needs holding. Forgive: not for the other's sake, but so you can carry less going forward. Do not linger in the post-crisis analysis for its own sake. The cleared air is brief; move into it with gratitude and begin the next chapter.

## 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:
> No blame.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> In the field one bags three foxes
> and receives a yellow arrow.
> Perseverance brings good fortune.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> If one carries a burden on one's back
> and yet rides on the wagon,
> one thereby causes robbers to come near.
> Perseverance leads to humiliation.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> Free yourself from your big toe.
> Then the companion comes,
> and him you can trust.

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> If the noble one can only free themself, that brings good fortune.
> They thus show the petty that they are in earnest.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> The prince shoots at a hawk on a high wall.
> He brings it down. Everything is furthering.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [63 After Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/63)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [37 The Family](https://thefreeiching.com/library/37)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [54 The Marrying Maiden](https://thefreeiching.com/library/54) |
| Line 2 | [16 Enthusiasm](https://thefreeiching.com/library/16) |
| Line 3 | [32 Duration](https://thefreeiching.com/library/32) |
| Line 4 | [7 The Army](https://thefreeiching.com/library/7) |
| Line 5 | [47 Oppression](https://thefreeiching.com/library/47) |
| Line 6 | [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64) |

Previous: [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39). Next: [41 Decrease](https://thefreeiching.com/library/41). [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 40: Deliverance." https://thefreeiching.com/library/40 (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/40). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.