Hexagram 43 · Line 3
Breakthrough — 三九
Guai · San Jiu
The Line
To be powerful in the cheekbones brings misfortune. The noble one is firmly resolved. They walk alone and come into the rain. They are spattered, and people murmur against them. No blame.
Interpretation
The situation in which one finds oneself is ambiguous. While all are engaged in resolute struggle against the petty, one is alone in a certain relation with a petty person. If one now wanted to show oneself outwardly strong and, before the conditions are ripe, turn against them, one would only endanger the overall situation; for the petty one would then prematurely resort to countermeasures. The task of the higher person here is extremely difficult. They must be inwardly firmly resolved and, while associating with the petty one, yet keep themself away from all participation in their baseness. In doing so, they are naturally misunderstood. People think they belong to the party of the petty. They are wholly alone because no one understands them. Their relations with the petty one sully them in the eyes of the masses, and people turn murmuring against them. But they bear the misunderstanding and make no mistake, since they remain true to themself.