Contemplation, Line 3

Turning the gaze inward, the third line changes the object of contemplation. Legge's translation shows one looking at the course of his own life in order to advance or recede accordingly, and the Little Symbolism promises that he will not fail in the right course. Every other line of this hexagram looks outward at something to be judged. This one looks at the person doing the judging and treats that as the more decisive question.

The position explains the turn. A yielding stroke occupies an odd place, incorrect by the standard rule, at the top of the lower trigram Kun, the threshold where the inner trigram gives way to the wind of Xun above. Threshold lines are where a movement decides whether to cross, and here the decision is made to depend on an honest reading of one's own record rather than on the attractions of what lies ahead.

Advance and retreat are given equal standing in the text, which is the line's most useful feature. Neither is recommended in advance. What is recommended is the examination, and the assurance in the commentary covers the examination rather than either outcome, so that a person who reads their own course truthfully is promised the right course whichever direction it turns out to be.

Six in the third place is drawn when a querent stands at a decision point and the useful evidence is their own track record rather than the opportunity in front of them. The text prescribes looking at the course of one's own life and letting that reading determine whether to go forward or step back, and the commentary attaches its assurance to the looking, not to either choice.

That is unusual enough to be worth stating plainly. Most lines of the Yi lean toward an outcome. This one is neutral between advancing and receding and stakes everything on the honesty of the self assessment, which means a querent who has already decided and is seeking confirmation has misread it. The line is asking a question rather than answering one.

Structurally it is a yielding stroke in an odd place, incorrect for the position, standing at the top of the lower trigram Kun where the hexagram crosses from the inner world to the outer. Readings landing here often concern a threshold that can no longer be postponed, a role about to be accepted or declined, and the counsel is to make the record of how one has actually behaved so far the deciding evidence. Nothing in the line favours boldness or caution as such, and a querent who supplies that preference themselves has answered the question the text meant them to ask.