Hexagram 38
Opposition
Fire over Lake
The judgment
小事吉Fire rises and the lake sinks, and the two will not share a direction. Difference this wide still allows small agreements, and a large one turns into a fight.
The image
Fire above, water below: one rises, one sinks, and neither waits. Two things can differ and still be in the same room.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.
- 初九Line 1
悔亡，丧马勿逐，自复；见恶人无咎
The horse has bolted; no need to chase it, it will find its own way back. The difficult man met on the road is only a face passing by, each going his own way.
Marked in the textregret clearsno blame
- 九二Line 2
遇主于巷，无咎
Meeting the one who decides in a back alley, contact made away from the front door.
Marked in the textno blame
- 六三Line 3
见舆曳，其牛𧤊，其人天且劓，无初有终
The cart is dragged along, the ox pulling it wrenched off course, and the driver marked on the brow and stripped of his nose. The start will not move; the finish slowly takes shape.
- 九四Line 4
睽孤，遇元夫，交孚，厉无咎
Isolated, meeting another alone, both lay their cards down; closeness carries risk, and only bearing it keeps things moving.
Marked in the textdangerno blame
- 六五Line 5
悔亡，厥宗噬肤，往何咎
Kin press close as easily as teeth through soft meat; stepping forward here meets little resistance.
Marked in the textregret clears
- 上九Line 6
睽孤，见豕负涂，载鬼一车，先张之弧，后说之弧，匪寇婚媾，往遇雨则吉
At the far edge of isolation, seeing phantoms and mud-caked pigs, the bow drawn then lowered; closer, it is a wedding party, and rain settles it.
Marked in the textauspicious
Where each changing line leads
Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.
This page is for reference. To get a hexagram from six throws, cast your own.
The classical text is the Zhouyi, public domain, checked against a Wikisource transcript. The readings are ours. Daily hexagram