# Hexagram 5: Waiting

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/5
Last updated: 2026-10-07

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

- **Upper trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lower trigram:** [Qian 乾](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/qian), Heaven, the creative, strong
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 111010 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Waiting. The time is not yet ripe. Forcing the moment will spoil what would otherwise arrive in due course. Nourish yourself, conserve your strength, and hold your faith. The situation is moving: it simply does not yet need your hand.

## Image

Clouds gathering in the sky before rain. The superior person eats and drinks and remains at ease, trusting what is coming.

## Counsel

Do not act out of anxiety. Tend to ordinary life; strengthen your body, your relationships, your attention. When the right moment arrives, you will recognize it by the simplicity of what it asks. Until then, remain inwardly ready and outwardly unhurried.

## The six lines

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

### Line 1

> A nine at the beginning means:
> Waiting in the meadow.
> It is favorable to abide in what lasts.
> No blame.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> Waiting on the sand.
> There is a little gossip.
> The end brings good fortune.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> Waiting in the mud
> brings on the coming of the enemy.

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> Waiting in blood.
> Out of the pit.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> Waiting at wine and food.
> Perseverance brings good fortune.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> One falls into the pit.
> Three uninvited guests arrive.
> Honor them, and in the end good fortune comes.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [38 Opposition](https://thefreeiching.com/library/38)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [6 Conflict](https://thefreeiching.com/library/6)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [35 Progress](https://thefreeiching.com/library/35)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [48 The Well](https://thefreeiching.com/library/48) |
| Line 2 | [63 After Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/63) |
| Line 3 | [60 Limitation](https://thefreeiching.com/library/60) |
| Line 4 | [43 Breakthrough](https://thefreeiching.com/library/43) |
| Line 5 | [11 Peace](https://thefreeiching.com/library/11) |
| Line 6 | [9 Small Taming](https://thefreeiching.com/library/9) |

Previous: [4 Youthful Folly](https://thefreeiching.com/library/4). Next: [6 Conflict](https://thefreeiching.com/library/6). [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 5: Waiting." https://thefreeiching.com/library/5 (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/5). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.