Hexagram 38, Kuí (Opposition): Line 6 (top)

睽卦上九 · 火泽睽 · 中文版

上九: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。

The line (Legge)

The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (In the subject of the third line, he seems to) see a pig bearing on its back a load of mud, (or fancies) there is a carriage full of ghosts. He first bends his bow against him, and afterwards unbends it, (for he discovers) that he is not an assailant to injure, but a near relative. Going forward, he shall meet with (genial) rain, and there will be good fortune.

Small Image commentary

'The good fortune symbolised by meeting with (genial) rain' springs from the passing away of all doubts.

象曰:遇雨之吉,群疑亡也。

In plain words

Isolated by opposition, one sees a pig covered in mud and a cartload of ghosts; first one draws the bow, then puts it down; it is not a robber but a suitor. Going on and meeting rain brings good fortune. The top line is at the height of opposition and deeply suspicious, seeing its own partner, the third line, as a monster; when the doubts clear, yin and yang meet like falling rain. The Small Image says the good fortune of the rain is that all doubts vanish.

Applying it to your situation

If you are full of suspicion about someone, this line suggests what you see may be your own imagining. If you set the doubt aside and look again, what are they really like?

Position

A solid (yang) line in the top place, which is a yin (even) place, so it is not in its proper place. Its partner is line 3; one is yin and the other yang, so they respond to each other.

If this line moves

With this line moving alone, Kuí changes into Hexagram 54 Guī Mèi (The Marrying Maiden). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·睽之归妹.

The hexagram

Hexagram 38 Kuí (Opposition). The Judgment: Kui indicates that, (notwithstanding the condition of things which it denotes), in small matters there will (still) be good success.

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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction. Plain-English readings and position notes by this site.

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