Upper trigram
☵
Water (Kan) above
Danger and depth.
FamilyMiddle son
ElementWater
Hexagram 39 of 64
I Ching hexagram 39 ☵☶ Obstruction
I Ching hexagram 39, Obstruction, is water above, mountain below. In brief: an obstacle that calls for a different route. Counting from the bottom, its solid lines sit in places 3 and 5 and its broken lines in 1, 2, 4 and 6.
- Lines, bottom up
- ⚋⚋⚊⚋⚊⚋ 001010 · 1 = solid
- Trigrams
- Water over Mountain Kan ☵ / Gen ☶
- Every line changed
- № 38 Opposition
- In Legge, 1882
- p. 141 Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16
Legge, The Yî King, 1882.
Lower trigram
☶
Mountain (Gen) below
Stillness and limit.
FamilyYoungest son
ElementEarth
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What the text says, in plain terms
The Judgement and the Image of hexagram 39
The Judgement
Obstruction ahead. Pressing directly into the difficulty fails; turning aside, seeking good counsel and looking at your own part in it leads through.
The Image
Water on a mountain, blocked on steep ground. The lesson is to turn inwards and build character when the way forward is blocked.
A summary of meaning written for this site, not a translation — James Legge’s 1882 translation of the full text follows below. How the Judgement and the Image are read, and which translations to use →
Primary source
Hexagram 39 in James Legge’s translation
“In (the state indicated by) Kien advantage will be found in the south-west, and the contrary in the north-east. It will be advantageous (also) to meet with the great man. (In these circumstances), with firmness and correctness, there will be good fortune.”
“(The trigram representing) a mountain, and above it that for water, form Kien. The superior man, in accordance with this, turns round (and examines) himself, and cultivates his virtue.”
The lines
- Line 1 · bottom From the first line, divided, we learn that advance (on the part of its subject) will lead to (greater) difficulties, while remaining stationary will afford ground for praise.
- Line 2 The second line, divided, shows the minister of the king struggling with difficulty on difficulty, and not with a view to his own advantage.
- Line 3 The third line, undivided, shows its subject advancing, (but only) to (greater) difficulties. He remains stationary, and returns (to his former associates).
- Line 4 The fourth line, divided, shows its subject advancing, (but only) to (greater) difficulties. He remains stationary, and unites (with the subject of the line above).
- Line 5 The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject struggling with the greatest difficulties, while friends are coming to help him.
- Line 6 · top The topmost line, divided, shows its subject going forward, (only to increase) the difficulties, while his remaining stationary will be (productive of) great (merit). There will be good fortune, and it will be advantageous to meet with the great man.
James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 141 — read the original text.
Words in parentheses are Legge’s own: in his preface he explains that they supply what the original writer left unsaid. “Undivided” and “divided” are his terms for yang and yin lines, counted from the bottom. The Image comes from the second appendix of the book, the Treatise on the Symbolism.
Obstruction for a decision
Do not charge the obstacle. Pause, get advice, go around it, and ask what you could change in your own approach.
I Ching 39 in love and relationships
A blockage that neither person can push through alone. Talking it over with someone wise helps.
Hexagram 39 at work
Barriers, delays and dead ends. Regroup, find allies and reconsider the route rather than repeating the same attempt.
The six lines of hexagram 39
Read from the bottom up. This figure runs yin yin yang yin yang yin — what each position means.
2 yang and 4 yin lines. Five of the six stand in their proper place, and the pairs 2–5 and 3–6 answer.
What the two trigrams do to each other
Inner and outer
Mountain below — stillness and limit — is the private, inner side of hexagram 39.
Water above — danger and depth — is the world that side meets.
The five-element relation
Earth below controls Water above. The inner position restrains the outer, which reads as holding back circumstance rather than being carried by it.
Read as a family
The middle son sits above and the youngest son below. Two brothers, the older one on top — siblings rather than parent and child, so the order is one of seniority, not authority.
Calculated from the lines
Hexagrams connected to hexagram 39
Nuclear hexagram
64 · Before Completion
What is happening beneath the surface.
Lines 2–4 give Kan (Water) as the lower trigram, lines 3–5 give Li (Fire) as the upper.
Opposite hexagram
38 · Opposition
The situation turned inside out.
Change all six lines and Water over Mountain becomes Fire over Lake.
Inverse hexagram
40 · Deliverance
The situation seen from the other side.
Turn the figure upside down and Water over Mountain becomes Thunder over Water.
None of these are assigned by an author — each follows from the arrangement of lines.
The image
Water above, Mountain below.
Water over Mountain: danger and depth meeting stillness and limit.
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “I Ching Hexagram 39: Obstruction.” Accessed October 27, 2026. https://astrohot.com/i-ching/hexagram/39/
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