Difficulty at the Beginning vs Youthful Folly: I Ching Hexagrams Tun & Meng — Mix Them Up, Harder You Try, More Stuck You Get

A reader told me he’s been spinning his wheels for the past two years.

He couldn’t push forward the company’s business, so he assumed he lacked the skills. He signed up for three courses on short videos, private domain operations, and data analysis—but still couldn’t move the needle after finishing them. Later he realized the problem wasn’t his know-how; it was the lack of resources, staff, and budget. He knew what needed to be done, but he couldn’t do it.

That’s mistaking Meng for Zhun.

Zhun and Meng are the 3rd and 4th of the 64 Hexagrams. They sit side by side, but they describe two completely different kinds of gridlock.

Zhun is Difficulty at the Beginning (水雷屯). Thunder below, water above—thunder and rain lash together, and all things are just beginning to sprout. The Xiang Commentary puts it plainly: "Clouds and thunder; this is Zhun. The Junzi (Superior Person) orders and arranges affairs accordingly."

"Ordering and arranging" is like untangling silk threads: you have to sort out a tangled mess one strand at a time. That’s the state of Zhun: things have started, but they’re chaotic and can’t be pushed forward.

Meng is Youthful Folly (山水蒙). There’s danger beneath the mountain, the path ahead is unclear, so you stop to ask for directions. The character "meng" literally means obscurity, not being able to see clearly.

So what’s the difference?

Zhun is knowing the way but being unable to move forward. Meng is not knowing the way and being unable to move forward.

Both look like being stuck, but their solutions are total opposites.

The solution for Zhun is to endure and take root. The First Line (初九) of Zhun says: "磐桓，利居贞，利建侯" (Pán huán, lì jū zhēn, lì jiàn hóu — Lingering and hesitating, it furthers to abide in correctness, it furthers to establish a feudal lord). "Pan huan" means being pinned down by a boulder, unable to move. This isn’t the time to charge ahead; it’s time to "abide in correctness," stay true to your path, and "establish a feudal lord" — build your team. In other words, the Zhun stage is for laying foundations, not sprinting.

The solution for Meng is to ask the right person for guidance. The Hexagram Judgment of Meng says: "匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我" (Fěi wǒ qiú tóng méng, tóng méng qiú wǒ — It is not I who seek the young fool; the young fool seeks me). It’s not the teacher chasing the student, but the student actively seeking the teacher. And "初筮告，再三渎，渎则不告" (Chū shì gào, zài sān dú, dú zé bù gào — On the first divination, he is told. If he asks a second or third time, that is disrespect; if disrespectful, he is not told). The first question gets a serious answer; asking over and over is disrespectful, and you won’t get an answer.

Putting these two together is fascinating: Zhun asks you to hold steady, while Meng asks you to take initiative.

Lots of people get stuck because they use the wrong approach.

They go asking for help when they should be holding steady. When things won’t move forward, they run around asking everyone what to do—ten people give ten different answers, and the more they ask, the more confused they get. Actually, they know deep down what needs to be done; they just lack resources and time. In cases like this, asking anyone is useless. You have to lay the foundation bit by bit yourself.

They tough it out alone when they should be asking for help. If you don’t know, you don’t know. Forcing your way through, messing up, then redoing things costs ten times more time than just asking for advice. The Meng Hexagram makes it clear: not actively seeking guidance when you’re in the dark is disrespectful—you’re being careless with yourself.

How do you tell which stage you’re in?

Ask yourself one question: If you had enough resources and time right now, could you pull it off?

If yes, that’s Zhun. What you lack is conditions, not understanding. At this point, you should gather resources little by little, get the smallest step working, and don’t rush to scale up.

If no, that’s Meng. What you lack is understanding. At this point, you should find someone who really knows their stuff, ask them seriously once, and break through that key layer of confusion.

These two answers determine what you should be doing for the next six months.

There’s another line in the Zhun Hexagram that’s easy to overlook: "六三，即鹿无虞，惟入于林中，君子几不如舍，往吝" (Liù sān, jí lù wú yú, wéi rù yú lín zhōng, jūn zǐ jī bù rú shě, wǎng lìn — Six in the third place: chasing deer without a forester, one only enters the forest. The Junzi sees the omen and would rather give up; going forward leads to humiliation).

Chasing deer without a forest guide to lead the way, you plunge straight into the woods. The Junzi acts according to the situation and decides it’s better to give up.

This is the most dangerous state in Zhun: knowing you don’t have the conditions, but forcing the chase anyway. You charge in, and you can’t get out.

So Zhun isn’t just mindless endurance. The premise of enduring is knowing where the path is. If you don’t even know the way, that’s not enduring—that’s blundering around blindly.

The Meng Hexagram also has a final reminder. The Top Line (上九) says: "击蒙，不利为寇，利御寇" (Jī méng, bù lì wéi kòu, lì yù kòu — Striking at folly; it does not further to be a robber, it furthers to ward off robbers). Enlightenment needs a firm, forceful touch, but it can’t go too far and become aggression—it should only be used for defense.

This is advice for both the teacher and the student. Learning something needs impact, but don’t push yourself so hard you become your own enemy. Some people grind their teeth through learning something, and by the time they’ve mastered it, they’re burnt out.

Zhun and Meng sitting side by side actually says something very down-to-earth: most of the time in life, you’re either waiting for the right conditions, or filling in gaps in your understanding.

You might think you’re working hard, but you could just be pushing hard at the wrong stage.

Figure out which stage you’re in first, then talk about how to put in the effort.