Why Do You Still Feel Stuck When Things Are Improving? Decision Reminders from Nine in the Fourth Place of Oppression (Hexagram 47)

The most draining kind of slump isn’t the rock-bottom moment—it’s the phase where things *look* like they’re getting better, but never quite fully turn around.

Company performance is picking up, but you haven’t flipped from loss to profit yet. Tensions in a relationship have eased, but things aren’t back to how they used to be. Your mood and energy are bouncing back, but you’re still a long way from the version of yourself you want to be.

Say you’re stuck? Well, things *are* improving. Say you’re in the clear? Not quite, not yet.

You start getting antsy—why isn’t it fixed already? I’ve put in so much work, why am I still stuck in this limbo?

The Nine in the Fourth Place of the *Oppression* (困卦, Kun) hexagram gets this feeling perfectly.

The Line Text (Yao Ci) for the Nine in the Fourth Place of *Oppression* reads: 「来徐徐，困于金车，吝，有终。」 (Coming slowly, oppressed by a golden chariot; humiliation, but there is an end.)

“Coming slowly” — taking your time, moving at a crawl.

“Golden chariot” — a luxury vehicle, standing for favorable conditions and solid resources.

“Oppressed by a golden chariot” — being trapped inside a *nice* car.

Wen Laoshi says the image here is so vivid: you’re sitting in a super fancy car, but it’s moving so slowly you’re tempted to just jump out and walk.

That’s exactly the state of the Nine in the Fourth Place.

This line sits in the upper trigram of the hexagram, meaning you’ve already clawed your way out of the worst, lowest part of the困境. You’ve got some resources, some footing, some progress under your belt—but you’re still a ways off from real, full freedom.

And that remaining stretch? It moves *so* slowly.

“Slowly” — dragging your feet, no way to rush it. You want to speed up, but you can’t. You want to hit the gas, but it won’t rev. All you can do is grind through it at this snail’s pace.

You’re anxious, you’re irritable, you think this speed is ridiculous. With your skills, you should be moving way faster than this, right?

But the Nine in the Fourth Place of *Oppression* tells you straight: rushing won’t help.

This is a Yang Line (solid —) in a Yin position—you’ve got the strength to move fast, but your position isn’t right for it. You’re capable of running, but the road conditions won’t let you. It’s like driving a great car on a road full of speed bumps—you just can’t pick up speed no matter what.

The line text has two key phrases: 「吝，有终」 (Humiliation, but there is an end.)

“Humiliation” — it’s a little frustrating, a little awkward, not nearly as satisfying as you’d hoped.

“There is an end” — things *will* turn out well in the end.

Wen Laoshi says these four characters are the whole answer the Nine in the Fourth Place has for you: the process won’t feel great, but the outcome will be good.

Do you believe that?

A lot of people don’t.

They think— I’ve come this far, why haven’t I arrived yet? Did I pick the wrong direction? Am I using the wrong method? Should I switch paths entirely?

So they make the dumbest choice possible: they jump out of the car.

They bail on the golden chariot, walk away from all the conditions they’ve built, and start over from zero.

You think you’re chasing efficiency, but you’re really wasting all the ground you’ve gained.

All the experience, resources, and connections you built climbing up step by step from the Six at the Beginning and Six in the Second Place of *Oppression*? They’re all in that golden chariot. Jump out, and you lose every last bit of it.

Wen Laoshi says what the Nine in the Fourth Place of *Oppression* tests most isn’t your ability—it’s your patience.

You have to accept it: some roads are just slow. It’s not you—it’s the road.

Sitting in that golden chariot, you’re moving slow, but at least you’re moving forward. Jump out, and sure, you might feel faster for a second—but then you have to find a new ride, start over, and redo all that ground you already covered.

No matter how you do the math, that’s a terrible deal.

So what should you do in this Nine in the Fourth Place phase?

Three things.

First, accept the reality of “slow.”

Not every turnaround happens fast. Some recoveries take time—physical recovery is slow, rebuilding trust is slow, regaining confidence is slow too.

Force it to go faster, and it just won’t. Accept that baseline truth, and the anxiety in your chest will ease up.

When you’re not rushing, you can stay steady.

Second, make good use of that “golden chariot.”

You’ve got conditions, resources, a certain platform now. Even if you’re moving slow, you can use this unrushed stretch to do things you never have time for normally.

Learn something new, sort out your thoughts, optimize your workflows, shore up your foundational skills.

You’re in that nice car and you can’t speed up anyway—so stop staring at the speedometer, and look around to see what you can tidy up or improve inside the car.

Third, stop comparing yourself to other people.

You’re going slow? Other people might be going even slower. You feel stuck? Other people might be way more trapped than you.

Stop scrolling through your social media feed, stop reading about other people getting promotions, finding partners, buying houses. Their rhythm is theirs. Yours is yours.

Your rhythm is exactly this: “coming slowly.” Take it easy, and there will be an end to this.

The Nine in the Fourth Place of *Oppression* is actually a really underrated line.

It’s not as dramatic as the Six at the Beginning, not as dangerous as the Six in the Third Place, not as flashy as the Nine in the Fifth Place. It’s just a middle state—not great, not terrible; not fast, not slow; not moving forward, not falling back.

But it’s exactly this state that tests your character the most.

Because people don’t fear hardship—they fear not seeing an end in sight.

When you’re deep in a tough spot, you grit your teeth and tell yourself “I *will* get out of this.” But when you’re already halfway out, and you realize you still have the other half to go—and that half has to be taken slow? That’s when your fire starts to fizzle out.

Does the Nine in the Fourth Place of *Oppression* throw cold water on you? No. It does the opposite—it tells you “there is an end.”

“There is an end” — things will work out well.

But the catch to “there is an end” is: you have to make it to the finish line. You can’t jump out halfway, give up, or fall apart because it’s taking too long.

Wen Laoshi says the Nine in the Fourth Place of *Oppression* is like driving in heavy fog—you know your direction is right, you know your destination is ahead, but you just can’t see clearly. All you can do is drive slow, take it one step at a time, and wait for the fog to lift.

Don’t rush. The fog will clear.

All you have to do is make sure you don’t drive into a ditch before it does.