需
“Attending” — King Wen #5
Waiting. Strength is held in reserve until conditions ripen — patience now becomes confidence later.
The Judgment 卦辞
有孚，光亨，貞吉，利涉大川。
Xu intimates that, with the sincerity which is declared in it, there will be brilliant success. With firmness there will be good fortune; and it will be advantageous to cross the great stream.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
需于郊，利用恆，無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject waiting in the distant border. It will be well for him constantly to maintain (the purpose thus shown), in which case there will be no error.
需于沙，小有言；終吉。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject waiting on the sand (of the mountain stream). He will (suffer) the small (injury of) being spoken (against), but in the end there will be good fortune.
需于泥，致寇至。
The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject in the mud (close by the stream). He thereby invites the approach of injury.
需于血，出自穴。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject waiting in (the place of) blood. But he will get out of the cavern.
需于酒食，貞吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject waiting amidst the appliances of a feast. Through his firmness and correctness there will be good fortune.
入于穴，有不速之客三人來；敬之，終吉。
The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject entered into the cavern. (But) there are three guests coming, without being urged, (to his help). If he receive them respectfully, there will be good fortune in the end.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 5 places heaven (乾) beneath water (坎) —creative force pressing upward below, water finding its way through hard gaps above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Attending”:waiting. Strength is held in reserve until conditions ripen — patience now becomes confidence later Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 5
What does 需 (xū) mean?
Hexagram 5 of the I Ching is named 需 (xū), usually rendered "Attending" in English editions. Its figure pairs heaven (乾) below with water (坎) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 5?
坎 (Water) sits above and 乾 (Heaven) sits below — the classical picture is creative force pressing upward beneath water finding its way through hard gaps.
How is hexagram 5 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 5 gives hexagram 35 — 晉 (Prospering). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 6 — 訟 (lawsuit). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 38 — 睽 (Polarising).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.