Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Outer trigram (upper)
Chấn
Thunder · Wood
Inner trigram (lower)
Khảm
Water · Water
Judgment
解：利西南，无所往，其來復吉，有攸往，夙，吉.
Translation
Release (liberation): favorable to the southwest. If there is nowhere to go, returning brings good fortune; if there is somewhere to go, going promptly brings good fortune.
Commentary
Zhen above represents thunder, Kan below represents rain. Thunder and rain break out together, and all things are released — like plants sprouting after the rain. Line 2, yang, and line 5, yin, correspond with each other. After hardship (the hexagram Difficulty) comes release, and one must act promptly.
Line Readings
Line 1 (yin)
初六：无咎.
Translation
No blame.
Commentary
Line 1, yin, is at the very start of release, with nothing remarkable yet to do. Remaining calm and settled is the right course, and there is no blame.
Line 2 (yang)
九二：田獲三狐，得黃矢，貞，吉.
Translation
Hunting, one catches three foxes and finds a golden arrow. Holding to what is correct brings good fortune.
Commentary
Line 2, yang, holds the central position. It catches those who scheme and deceive — the three foxes — through its centered, upright virtue, symbolized by the golden arrow; holding to what is correct brings good fortune.
Line 3 (yin)
六三：負且乘，致寇至，貞吝.
Translation
Carrying a burden yet also riding in the carriage — someone lowly occupying a high position — and so inviting robbers. Even holding to what is correct brings regret.
Commentary
Line 3, yin, holds neither the center nor the correct position — a petty person (the one carrying the burden) occupying a position above their standing (riding in the carriage), thereby bringing disaster upon themselves. This is regrettable.
Line 4 (yang)
九四：解而拇，朋至斯孚.
Translation
Free yourself from the big toe that binds you, and companions will arrive and trust will follow.
Commentary
Line 4, yang, needs to free itself from line 1, yin — the big toe, a petty attachment holding it back — so that its companion, line 2, can arrive and mutual trust can form.
Line 5 (yin)
六五：君子維有解，吉，有孚于小人.
Translation
If the noble person is able to bring about release, good fortune follows, and even petty people are won over.
Commentary
Line 5, yin, holds the central position at the place of honor. Knowing how to bring about release, by relying on line 2, it wins the trust even of petty people — good fortune.
Line 6 (yin)
上六：公用射隼于高墉之上，獲之，无不利.
Translation
A duke shoots a hawk perched atop a high wall and brings it down; nothing is unfavorable.
Commentary
Line 6, yin, sits at the very top, like a duke who seizes the right moment — his high position — to remove a threat, the hawk representing a wrongdoer. Success follows, and nothing is unfavorable.