Hexagram 31 · Line 3
Influence — 三九
Xian · San Jiu
The Line
The influence expresses itself in the thighs. It holds to what follows it. To continue is humiliating.
Interpretation
Every mood of the heart arouses a movement. Wherever the heart strives, there the thighs run, without reflection; they hold to the heart, which they follow. But applied to human life, this manner of setting oneself in motion at every stirring of a mood is not right, and, if continued, leads to humiliation. A threefold thought arises: one must not run after every person on whom one wishes to exert influence, but must sometimes be able to hold back. Just as little should one immediately comply with every whim of those in whose service one stands. And finally, with regard to the moods of one's own heart, one should never neglect the possibility of restraint, on which human freedom rests.