Lü · The Wanderer
旅卦 · 火山旅
- Travel
- Transition
- Being a guest
- Travelling light
The Judgment
Lu intimates that (in the condition which it denotes) there may be some little attainment and progress. If the stranger or traveller be firm and correct as he ought to be, there will be good fortune.
小亨，旅贞吉。
The Image
Fire on the mountain: the wanderer. The noble one, in the same way, is clear-sighted and careful in applying penalties, and does not let lawsuits drag on.
山上有火，旅。君子以明慎用刑而不留狱。
Plain-language reading
Your situation
You are in a period of transition: a business trip, travel, a move, a change of environment, or simply the feeling of being on the road without yet having found a place to settle. Lü is fire on the mountain, burning through and moving on, a symbol of being a guest and of constant movement.
Where to put your effort
As a guest, stay modest and low-key and look after your belongings; pettiness invites trouble and carelessness can cost you your lodging. Do not put on airs or stir up trouble in unfamiliar places. Handle matters promptly and leave no loose ends. Treat this journey as learning and transition; wherever your heart is at peace is home.
Four areas of life
- Career
- Be careful to avoid trouble; a promotion is near.
- Wealth
- Do business away from home; do not stockpile.
- Family
- Be careful with fire; a wedding can happen soon.
- Health
- Liver heat is very high; a serious matter.
Health notes come from traditional texts and are cultural reference only. If you feel unwell, please see a doctor.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up: the first line is at the bottom, the top line is at the top. Open each line for details.
Nine in the third placeThe third line, undivided, shows the stranger, burning his lodging-house, and having lost his servants. However firm and correct he (try to) be, he will be in peril.Moving
九三：旅焚其次，丧其童僕，贞厉。
Image：The wanderer's inn burns down: this too is harmful. Treating those below as a wanderer would: by rights, they are lost.
- Career
- Your luck is upside down; plenty of danger.
- Wealth
- Do not seek profit; guard against disaster early.
- Family
- Be careful with fire; hard to grow old together.
- Health
- A child or helper is at risk.
Nine in the fourth placeThe fourth line, undivided, shows the traveller in a resting-place, having (also) the means of livelihood and the axe, (but still saying), ‘I am not at ease in my mind.’Moving
九四：旅于处，得其资斧，我心不快。
Image：The wanderer finds a place to stay: but not his rightful position. He gains his means and an axe: but his heart is not glad.
- Career
- A temporary difficulty; wait until next year.
- Wealth
- Limited profit; you feel it is unfair.
- Family
- An unsuitable position; not the main partner.
- Health
- Low spirits and unhappiness.
Nine at the topThe sixth line, undivided, suggests the idea of a bird burning its nest. The stranger, (thus represented), first laughs and then cries out. He has lost his ox(-like docility) too readily and easily. There will be evil.Moving
上九：鸟焚其巢，旅人先笑后号啕。丧牛于易，凶。
Image：As a wanderer at the top: by rights it burns. Losing the ox through carelessness: in the end no one hears of it.
- Career
- Loss without gain; joy turns to sorrow.
- Wealth
- Small gains, big losses; very dangerous.
- Family
- The danger of a destroyed nest; joy first, then sorrow.
- Health
- Unlucky for those born in the Year of the Ox.
Related hexagrams
Judgment and line texts from the public-domain translation by James Legge (1882). Readings by DeepHeart AI.
Bring your own question to the AI
The classics speak in general terms; your situation is specific. Bring the question on your mind, cast a Plum Blossom Divination reading, and let the AI help you think it through.
Ask DeepHeart free →