Hexagram 30 as yes or no
Hexagram 30 Brightness (Fire) as a yes-or-no answer
Li answers a yes-or-no question with 'yes, if you keep it attached to something correct and the temperature even'. The judgment reads 'favourable to be steady; success; nourishing the cow brings good fortune' — the matter is bright and promising, and the one condition is that it be carried out with the gentleness of a creature that stays where it is led, not the fury of a fire that runs. Clarity is on your side; haste is not.
The changing line sets the pace. Line one is yes, but slowly, with respect for what you cannot yet see. Line two is the clearest yes in the hexagram: stay in place and shine. Line three says the matter is already ending, and the only choice is how gracefully you let it go. Line four is a firm no: arriving at full blaze gets you burned out and dropped. Line five says yes to acting from honest concern, even visibly. The top line says yes to a decisive but narrowly aimed act that fixes the cause and spares the rest.
The hexagram in brief
Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
Shine by illuminating others, and keep your dependence — on fuel, on people — conscious and gracious.
The judgment
離：利貞，亨。畜牝牛，吉。Lî indicates that, (in regard to what it denotes), it will be advantageous to be firm and correct, and that thus there will be free course and success. Let (its subject) also nourish (a docility like that of) the cow, and there will be good fortune.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 離 Brightness (Fire) has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningconfused steps · reverence · early light
- 六二Six in the second placeyellow light · the mean · great good fortune
- 九三Nine in the third placesetting sun · sing or lament · nothing lasts
- 九四Nine in the fourth placesudden arrival · burning out · no one can bear it
- 六五Six in the fifth placetears in torrents · sorrow · the ruler's place
- 上九Nine at the topthe king's expedition · strike the leaders · spare the followers
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 30, Brightness (Fire), mean yes or no?
- Li answers a yes-or-no question with 'yes, if you keep it attached to something correct and the temperature even'. The judgment reads 'favourable to be steady; success; nourishing the cow brings good fortune' — the matter is bright and promising, and the one condition is that it be carried out with the gentleness of a creature that stays where it is led, not the fury of a fire that runs. Clarity is on your side; haste is not.
- What does Hexagram 30, 離 Brightness (Fire), mean?
- Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).