Kuai / Break-through (Resoluteness)
above:Tui The Joyous, Lake
below:Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
The fifth [nine], undivided, shows (the small men like) a bed of purslane, which ought to be uprooted with the utmost determination. (The subject of the line having such determination), his action, in harmony with his central position, will lead to no error or blame.
Purslane grows in shady places, and hence we find it here in close contiguity to the topmost line, which is yin. As 5 is the ruler's seat, evil may come to him from such contiguity, and strenuous efforts must be made to prevent such an evil. The subject of the line, the ruler in the central place, will commit no error. It must be allowed that the symbolism in this line is not easily managed.