The Best Thing to Do When Things Go Smoothly: Prepare for Rough Patches — Tai (Peace) Hexagram: Downslope Lurks in Prosperity

There are periods when everything feels like it’s going your way.

Projects move forward smoothly, people are willing to help, opportunities come knocking on their own, and even luck seems to be on your side.

In moments like this, it’s human nature to think: I deserve this, and it will stay this way forever.

There is a hexagram in the I Ching (Book of Changes) dedicated entirely to this state of being — and it goes to great lengths to remind you: it won’t last forever.

1. The Image of the Tai Hexagram: Earth Above, Heaven Below

The Tai hexagram has Kun / The Receptive above and Qian / The Creative below. Kun is earth, Qian is heaven.

It looks strange at first: how can heaven end up below?

That is exactly the subtle brilliance of the Tai hexagram.

The nature of heaven is to rise upward; the nature of earth is to sink downward.

With heaven below rising up, and earth above sinking down — the two meet and unite in the middle.

The Xiang Commentary (Images) states: "Heaven and earth unite; this is Tai."

Compare this to the Pi (Standstill) hexagram: heaven above rises further up, earth below sinks further down, drifting farther and farther apart — hence stagnation and blockage.

One meets in the middle, the other separates at the two ends. That is the entire difference between Tai and Pi.

2. Hexagram Judgment: Small Departs, Great Arrives; Good Fortune and Success

"Tai: the small departs, the great arrives. Good fortune, success."

"Small departs, great arrives" — what is petty and small leaves, what is great and substantial comes.

"Good fortune, success" — auspicious, and all paths are open and flowing.

These four words are the exact opposite of Pi hexagram’s "the great departs, the small arrives."

Your scope is expanding, quality is improving, and opportunities are multiplying.

Tai is one of the most auspicious hexagrams among the 64 Hexagrams.

3. The Six Lines of Tai: Six Lessons in Times of Good Fortune

Nine at the Beginning: "Pulling up a茅草 reed, its roots are tangled together, pulling up the whole clump. To advance is good fortune." — When you pull reeds, their roots are interwoven, so they all come up together. Moving forward brings good fortune.

The first step in good times: move forward with people who are like-minded. A person walking alone may go fast, but a group walking together goes far.

Nine in the Second Place: "Embracing the wild and rough, fording a river on foot, not neglecting those far away, parting from partisan friends, thus attaining honor through the middle way." — Be tolerant of what is rough and imperfect, have the courage to cross a river on foot, do not overlook people on the distant margins, do not form cliques for personal gain, and act in line with the balanced middle way.

This line is the core of the Tai hexagram. It lays out four requirements:

Embracing the wild and rough: being able to tolerate imperfect people and situations

Fording a river on foot: having courage

Not neglecting those far away: not overlooking people on the edges or out of sight

Parting from partisan friends: not forming exclusive small circles

The most common mistakes people make when things are going well are the exact opposite of these four: being overly critical, playing it safe, only focusing on what’s right in front of them, and forming cliques.

Nine in the Third Place: "No plain without a slope, no going without a return. Persevering through hardship brings no blame. Do not grieve over your sincerity; there will be blessing in food." — There is no road that stays flat forever, no journey that only goes outward and never comes back. Staying upright and steadfast in hardship brings no fault.

This is the most important line of the Tai hexagram.

"No plain without a slope, no going without a return" — these eight words are among the most famous lines in the entire I Ching.

What it says is: flat ground will always be followed by a slope, and what goes out will always come back.

When good fortune reaches a certain point, the turning point begins.

But there is a follow-up line: "Persevering through hardship brings no blame" — staying upright and steadfast in hardship means you will make no mistakes.

What this means is: if you know a turning point is coming, and you prepare ahead of time as if it will come, you won’t go wrong.

Six in the Fourth Place: "Fluttering down, no longer wealthy, together with the neighbors, trusting without caution." — Coming down lightly and gracefully, no longer holding onto wealth, standing with your neighbors, and not needing to be on guard because there is mutual trust.

This line is about "putting aside your pride." When things are going well, it’s easy to get carried away. The fourth line reminds you: keep a humble stance.

Six in the Fifth Place: "Di Yi marries off his younger sister; through this blessing comes, supreme good fortune." — Emperor Di Yi marries off his daughter, gaining blessing and supreme good fortune.

This line is about "alliances and cooperation." When times are good, you should weave your network of relationships tighter.

Six at the Top: "The city wall falls back into the moat. Do not deploy the army. Issue orders from your own city. Even with perseverance, there is humiliation." — The city wall collapses back into the moat. Do not send out troops; issue commands from your own city. Even holding to correctness brings regret.

This line is the end of the Tai hexagram: the city wall has fallen.

When good fortune reaches its extreme, it flips into stagnation. And at this point, launching an offensive is a mistake — the only option is to pull back and defend your own ground.

4. The Harshest Truth of Tai: It Writes the Ending at the Beginning

Most hexagrams follow a pattern of "from bad to good" or "from good to bad."

Tai follows the pattern of "from good to better, then collapse."

And it doesn’t hide it — it tells you plainly as early as the third line: "No plain without a slope, no going without a return."

The reason this line matters so much is that it gives you advance warning.

If you know good times will end, you will do three things while things are going well:

Save money (instead of spending it all)

Keep good people around (instead of alienating them)

Build your skills (instead of resting on your laurels)

If you assume good times will last forever, you will do the exact opposite three things:

Take on more leverage

Get rid of everyone who "doesn’t follow orders"

Stop learning

When the turning point comes, the outcomes for these two types of people will be completely different.

5. Four Rules for Good Times From the Tai Hexagram

First, save money when times are good.

This isn’t about being stingy — it’s about leaving room for the future. The third line of Tai says "there will be blessing in food" — having enough to eat is a blessing. Don’t use up all your good fortune at once.

Second, keep good people around when times are good.

The second line says "not neglecting those far away, parting from partisan friends" — don’t overlook people on the margins, and don’t form exclusive small circles.

The easiest thing to do when you’re on top is to push away people you think are "useless." But you never know who might help you down the line.

Third, build your skills when times are good.

When projects move forward smoothly in good times, a lot of it is due to the momentum of the moment — not all of it is your own ability.

Turning the gains brought by momentum into your own real ability is what counts as truly earning your success.

Fourth, keep a low profile when times are good.

The fourth line says "fluttering down, no longer wealthy" — keep your stance humble. If you act arrogant when you’re on top, no one will speak up for you when the tide turns.

6. Real-Life Scenarios for the Tai Hexagram

When your career is going well: don’t rush to quit your job, don’t rush to expand, don’t rush to replace everyone. First ask yourself: if the market takes a turn for the worse next year, will what I’m doing now still matter?

When money is coming in easily: don’t take on leverage. Turn a portion of your profits into "things that won’t disappear" — ability, relationships, health.

When your love life is going smoothly: don’t assume "they’ll never leave." Say the things that need to be said, do the things that need to be done.

When your body is healthy: don’t overdraw on it. Health is the most classic example of "extreme Tai turning into Pi."

7. Pi and Tai: A Pair of Hexagrams That Must Be Read Together

In the I Ching, Tai comes right before Pi (they are the 11th and 12th hexagrams).

Tai first, then Pi.

This order tells us: smooth flowing prosperity is temporary; stagnation and blockage are bound to come.

But it also tells us: after Pi comes, things will circle back to Tai again.

So true wisdom is not "how to stay lucky forever" — it is:

Preparing for hard times when things are going well, and believing things will get better when they are hard.

These two things are actually one and the same: understanding the cycle.

Final Thoughts

"No plain without a slope, no going without a return."

These eight words are the single most important thing to remember in any time of good fortune.

It is not a curse — it is a reminder.

A reminder that when you’re walking uphill, you should already be watching for the downhill path ahead.