Hexagram 5 Xu - Complete Guide Part 1: The Symbol and Structure of Waiting
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BY NICOLE LAU
Hexagram 5 Xu - Complete Guide Part 1: The Symbol and Structure of Waiting
After the difficult beginning of Zhun (3) and the learning of Meng (4), the I Ching arrives at Xu: waiting. Not passive, defeated waiting - but the active, nourishing, confident waiting of the person who knows that the right time has not yet come and who uses the waiting period to prepare, to nourish themselves, and to maintain their inner strength. Xu is the hexagram of the rain that has not yet fallen - and of the wisdom to wait for it rather than forcing it.
The Six Lines: Reading the Symbol
Hexagram 5 Xu: Line 1 Yang, Line 2 Yang, Line 3 Yang, Line 4 Yin, Line 5 Yang, Line 6 Yin. Binary encoding: 010111. Lower trigram: Qian (Heaven) - three solid yang lines, the full creative force. Upper trigram: Kan (Water/Clouds) - the water gathered in the sky but not yet fallen as rain.
Heaven below Clouds above: the creative force is moving upward toward the clouds, but the clouds have not yet released their rain. The readiness is there, the creative force is there - but the timing is not yet right. The rain will come - but not yet.
The Names of Xu
The character Xu means to wait, to pause, to hold back - the deliberate, conscious act of not moving forward when the time is not yet right. But Xu also carries the meaning of nourishment: the waiting of Xu is not empty waiting but nourishing waiting. The character Xu contains the radical for rain (yu), connecting it directly to the hexagram's image: the clouds that have gathered but not yet released their rain.
Richard Wilhelm rendered Xu as Waiting (Nourishment) - capturing both dimensions. The parenthetical (Nourishment) is crucial: Xu is not mere waiting but nourishing waiting. In the classical tradition, Xu is also described as calculated waiting (xu dai) - the waiting of the strategist who knows the right moment has not yet come and uses the interval to maximum advantage.
The Judgment
Xu. If you are sincere, you have light and success. Perseverance brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
The Judgment opens with a crucial condition: if you are sincere. The waiting of Xu is not effective unless grounded in genuine sincerity - authentic confidence that the right time will come, genuine commitment to the goal that makes the waiting worthwhile. Four elements define the proper orientation:
- Sincerity (fu): Inner confidence and genuine commitment that makes waiting productive rather than passive.
- Light and success: The clarity that comes from genuine sincerity - seeing the situation clearly and acting effectively when the right moment comes.
- Perseverance: Sustained commitment to the goal through the waiting period. The person who gives up during the waiting has not understood Xu.
- Cross the great water: The eventual action the waiting is preparing for - a significant undertaking requiring the full strength the waiting period has been building.
The Image
Clouds rise up to heaven: the image of Waiting. Thus the superior person eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer.
One of the most surprising Images in the I Ching. The clouds are rising - the situation is building toward something significant - and the superior person's response is to eat and drink, to be joyous and of good cheer. This is not irresponsibility or denial; it is the wisdom of the person who knows that the waiting period is nourishing time, not wasted time. The person who fasts and frets during the waiting period is depleting the very resources they will need when the right moment comes.
Correspondences and Associations
Natural World
- Elements: Heaven (Qian) and Clouds/Water (Kan)
- Season: Late Summer - clouds gathering before the autumn rains
- Time of Day: Late afternoon - day's work done, night not yet come; the time of rest and nourishment
- Landscape: A warrior resting under a tree watching storm clouds gather; a farmer waiting for rain; a traveler pausing before crossing a great river
Human and Social
- Life Stage: The period of preparation before a major undertaking; the interval between learning and action
- Virtue: Patience, sincerity, inner confidence, the wisdom to know when not to act, the capacity to nourish oneself during waiting
- Shadow: Impatience (forcing action before the right moment), passive resignation (giving up during the waiting), anxiety (depleting inner resources through worry)
Cross-Tradition Correspondences
- Tarot: The Hanged Man (XII) - the voluntary pause that brings new perspective; The Star (XVII) - patient hope and nourishment during waiting
- Astrology: Saturn (patience, timing, the long view), Taurus (patient endurance and nourishment), Cancer (nourishment and inner strength)
- Chakra: Solar Plexus (Manipura) - inner strength sustaining the waiting; Sacral (Svadhisthana) - nourishment replenishing during the waiting period
- Gemstone: Moonstone (patience and timing), aquamarine (calm confidence during uncertainty), citrine (joyous nourishment)
- Mythology: Odysseus waiting on Calypso's island; the Buddha's years of preparation before enlightenment; Moses's forty years in the desert; Joseph's years in prison before elevation to power in Egypt.
Why Xu Follows Meng
The Xugua commentary explains: Things in their early stage cannot be neglected; therefore Meng is followed by Xu. Xu means the way of eating and drinking. After the learning of Meng, the next necessary stage is Xu: the nourishment that sustains the development. The student who has learned cannot immediately act; they must first nourish themselves - consolidate what they have learned, build inner strength, and wait for the right moment to apply it. Xu is the necessary interval between learning (Meng) and action.
The Opposite and Inverse Hexagram
Opposite: Hexagram 48 (Jing, The Well) - the inexhaustible source that nourishes all who come to it. The opposite of waiting for nourishment (Xu) is being the source of nourishment (Jing). Together they define the complete cycle: receiving nourishment at the right time (Xu) and becoming a source of nourishment for others (Jing).
Inverse: Hexagram 6 (Song, Conflict) - the conflict that arises when waiting breaks down. The person who cannot wait creates conflict (Song). Xu and Song are the two possible responses to blocked forward movement: patient waiting or impatient conflict. The wisdom of Xu is choosing waiting over conflict.
What Is Next in This Series
- Part 1 (This Article): The Symbol and Structure
- Part 2: The Six Lines - Complete Line-by-Line Commentary
- Part 3: Divination Guide - How to Read Xu in Practice
- Part 4: Philosophy - Xu in Confucian, Taoist, and Neo-Confucian Thought
- Part 5: Practical Applications - Career, Relationships, Creative Work, Spiritual Development
- Part 6: Modern Interpretations - Psychology, Strategy, Contemporary Relevance
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This waiting period, when the clouds are heavy with rain that has not yet fallen, is the perfect time to turn inward and nourish the very qualities Xu demands—sincerity, patience, and the quiet confidence that the right moment will arrive. I have found that working with the 40 Manifestation Rituals helps one embody that calculated waiting, while the 13 New Moon Rituals honor the lunar rhythm of preparation and release. For those drawn to the tarot correspondences within the hexagram, the The 52-Week Tarot Journey provides a full year of structured practice that mirrors the long view of Xu. The Sacred Space Cleanse clears the energetic field for this kind of deep preparation, and the Emotional Filter Ritual Kit helps one release the anxiety that can arise when forward movement is blocked—so that, like the superior person, we can eat, drink, and be of good cheer while we wait.
