Also known as The Taming Power of the Small, Small Taming, Small Accumulating.
The characters 小畜 mean "small" and "to tame or store up". Hexagram 9 is about a strong force held in check by something small. Progress is coming, but not yet. For now, gentle influence works better than force.
The figure
Wind over Heaven. Heaven below is strength wanting to rise. Wind above is gentle and persistent, and it holds that strength back for a while. Only one line, the fourth, is broken, and that single soft line restrains the five strong ones.
The judgment
It moves. Cloud piled up and nothing falling, blown in from our own western edge.
The clouds are there and the rain isn't, so the conditions are building toward a release. You can't force it. Small, patient adjustments are what move things now.
The image
Wind moving across the sky and never reaching the ground. Work on the surface of things: how it reads, how it is said.
When you can't change the big picture, improve the details. Polish is real work in a holding period.
The six lines
Counted from the bottom, the way the figure is built when you cast it.
- Line 1, at the bottom. Going back to your own path. How could that be wrong? It goes well.
- Line 2. You let yourself be drawn back, together with others who are returning too. It goes well.
- Line 3. The spokes burst out of the wheel. A couple glare at each other. Pushing ahead against the restraint breaks things and damages trust.
- Line 4. If you are sincere, the danger passes and the fear goes. Not a mistake. Honesty is what lets a small force hold a strong one.
- Line 5. Sincere and loyal, you share your wealth with your neighbors. Holding together makes everyone richer.
- Line 6, at the top. The rain falls, and there is rest. The small efforts have added up. But don't press your advantage now. The moon is nearly full, and pushing further brings trouble.
Reading it for a question
Hexagram 9 says you are close but not there. Don't force a breakthrough. Make small, steady improvements and use persuasion, not pressure. The release comes when enough has built up.