Hexagram 10 · Upper canon
Lu · Treading
Careful but not afraid is the best way to step.
The figure
- Number
- 10 (Upper canon)
- Upper trigram
- Heaven (Qian)
- Lower trigram
- Lake (Dui)
- Keywords
- caution · courtesy · poise
- Reversed hexagram
- Qian · Modesty
- Inverted hexagram
- Xiao Xu · Small Accumulating
The meaning
What the name means Lu is treading, putting a foot down step by step, and also courtesy.
The picture Heaven above, lake below: high over low, each in its place, walking behind a tiger.
The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about being careful without being afraid. There is a situation near you that makes you tense; with courtesy and a steady heart it is unlikely to go wrong. Fear and rashness both lose to steadiness.
In plain words: what this hexagram says
Like walking behind a tiger: be careful, but if you keep courtesy and a steady heart you will not be bitten.
The upper trigram is Heaven and the lower is Lake: Heaven above, Lake below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.
The judgement
履虎尾，不咥人，亨。
The image
上天下澤，履；君子以辨上下，定民志。
The six lines
From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.
- 初九素履，往無咎。
- 九二履道坦坦，幽人貞吉。
- 六三眇能視，跛能履，履虎尾，咥人，兇。武人為於大君。
- 九四履虎尾，愬愬，終吉。
- 九五夬履，貞厲。
- 上九視履考祥，其旋元吉。
To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".