I Ching hexagram 10
Hexagram 10: Lü
Treading · 天澤履 · Heaven above, Lake below
Walking close to power or risk calls for careful manners, and the tiger does not bite.
What this hexagram is about
Someone holds more power than you, or one wrong step could cost a lot, and Lü (Treading) is about how you carry yourself there. The lines move from plain beginnings to overconfidence and to a final look back over the whole path.
A way to think about it
Who or what in your life holds more power than you do? Do you know where the line is, and how to stay on the right side of it?
The text, with Legge's translation
Judgment
履虎尾，不咥人，亨。
(Lî suggests the idea of) one treading on the tail of a tiger, which does not bite him. There will be progress and success.
Stepping on a tiger's tail and not being bitten is the picture, and the judgment says things go through. It is about moving near danger with care and good manners.
Image
上天下澤，履；君子以辨上下，定民志。
(The trigram representing) the sky above, and below it (that representing the waters of) a marsh, form Lî. The superior man, in accordance with this, discriminates between high and low, and gives settlement to the aims of the people.
Line 1 · 初九
素履，往无咎。
The first line, undivided, shows its subject treading his accustomed path. If he go forward, there will be no error.
You move in plain shoes, as you are, without show, and setting out in that simple way involves no mistake.
Line 2 · 九二
履道坦坦，幽人貞吉。
The second line, undivided, shows its subject treading the path that is level and easy;--a quiet and solitary man, to whom, if he be firm and correct, there will be good fortune.
The road is level and open, and a quiet person who keeps a private, steady course finds a good omen on it. Staying out of the spotlight suits this stretch.
Line 3 · 六三
眇能視，跛能履，履虎尾，咥人，凶。武人為于大君。
The third line, divided, shows a one-eyed man (who thinks he) can see; a lame man (who thinks he) can walk well; one who treads on the tail of a tiger and is bitten. (All this indicates) ill fortune. We have a (mere) bravo acting the part of a great ruler.
Overrating your own ability is the trouble here, like a half-blind person sure they see well, or a fighter trying to rule. Stepping on the tiger's tail from there gets you bitten.
Line 4 · 九四
履虎尾，愬愬終吉。
The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject treading on the tail of a tiger. He becomes full of apprehensive caution, and in the end there will be good fortune.
Treading on the tiger's tail with great caution and a healthy fear is how this line reaches a good ending.
Line 5 · 九五
夬履，貞厲。
The fifth line, undivided, shows the resolute tread of its subject. Though he be firm and correct, there will be peril.
Walking with total resolve and no hesitation is risky, even when you are in the right.
Line 6 · 上九
視履考詳，其旋元吉。
The sixth line, undivided, tells us to look at (the whole course) that is trodden, and examine the presage which that gives. If it be complete and without failure, there will be great good fortune.
At the end of the walk you look back over every step and read what the whole path adds up to. If it is complete and sound, that is the best sign of all.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi, public domain. English: James Legge, The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882), public domain. Plain notes written by this site.
Questions
I cast hexagram 10. Which text do I read?
With no changing lines, read the judgment: "(Lî suggests the idea of) one treading on the tail of a tiger, which does not bite him. There will be progress and success." With changing lines, read the lines that changed. When several change at once, Zhu Xi's rules decide which text leads, and the casting page marks it for you.
What are the nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams of Lü?
The nuclear hexagram is 37. Jia Ren (The Household). The opposite is 15. Qian (Modesty). The inverted hexagram is 9. Xiao Chu (Small Store).