Hexagram 30 for love
Hexagram 30 Brightness (Fire) in love and relationships
Li is fire doubled, and fire cannot exist by itself: it must cling to what feeds it. In a relationship it is attachment that knows its own dependence — the judgment's 'nourish the docile cow' pictures warmth kept gentle and continuous rather than fierce. The lines show two ways brightness can go. Line two is the steady yellow light, warm and in its place, called great good fortune; line four the sudden blaze that burns out and is cast off. In between, line three faces a setting sun with either a song or a lament.
For a question about love the hexagram affirms the bond and asks about its temperature. Intensity is not the problem; intensity with nowhere to cling is. A changing line in the lower trigram concerns the first fire: eager steps at one, the ideal at two, an ending at three; one in the upper trigram about what follows: a hot new arrival, the honest tears of someone who feels the weight, or the clarity to end what is wrong without punishing everyone.
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
- Is hexagram 30, Brightness (Fire), a good sign for love?
- Li is fire doubled, and fire cannot exist by itself: it must cling to what feeds it. In a relationship it is attachment that knows its own dependence — the judgment's 'nourish the docile cow' pictures warmth kept gentle and continuous rather than fierce. The lines show two ways brightness can go. Line two is the steady yellow light, warm and in its place, called great good fortune; line four the sudden blaze that burns out and is cast off. In between, line three faces a setting sun with either a song or a lament.
- 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).