Hexagram 38 as yes or no
Hexagram 38 Divergence as a yes-or-no answer
Kui answers a large 'should I' with 'not yet, and not all at once', and a small one with yes. The Judgment's 'good fortune in small matters' is precise: in a time of opposition the things that succeed are modest, incremental and local. Anything that requires everyone to agree, or a direct confrontation to settle who is right, runs into the fire-and-water problem — the two parties are moving in opposite directions and cannot be forced together. What the hexagram does promise is that the opposition is temporary and that doubts, once they peak, dissolve.
The changing line sets the pace. In the lower trigram the answer is to wait and keep channels open: line one says let it come back on its own, two says take the indirect route, three says you cannot move now, only endure. In the upper trigram the answer turns toward yes: four says proceed with the ally you have found, five says go forward — there is no fault — and six says the thing you are afraid of is not what it looks like; lower your guard and the way opens.
The hexagram in brief
Fire rising and the lake sinking: two moving apart. Opposition — good fortune only in small matters; yet difference has its uses, as heaven and earth differ and still work together.
Don't force unity; find small common ground, keep your individuality, and let misunderstandings dissolve with time.
The judgment
睽：小事吉。Khwei indicates that, (notwithstanding the condition of things which it denotes), in small matters there will (still) be good success.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 睽 Divergence has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningthe lost horse returns · do not chase · meeting bad people
- 九二Nine in the second placemeeting in a lane · the indirect path · not off course
- 六三Six in the third placethe cart dragged back · humiliation · a bad start and a good end
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeisolated · meeting the good man · sincerity exchanged
- 六五Six in the fifth placebiting through skin · kin and partner · going forward
- 上九Nine at the topthe mud-covered pig · a cart of ghosts · doubts dissolve in rain
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 38, Divergence, mean yes or no?
- Kui answers a large 'should I' with 'not yet, and not all at once', and a small one with yes. The Judgment's 'good fortune in small matters' is precise: in a time of opposition the things that succeed are modest, incremental and local. Anything that requires everyone to agree, or a direct confrontation to settle who is right, runs into the fire-and-water problem — the two parties are moving in opposite directions and cannot be forced together. What the hexagram does promise is that the opposition is temporary and that doubts, once they peak, dissolve.
- What does Hexagram 38, 睽 Divergence, mean?
- Fire rising and the lake sinking: two moving apart. Opposition — good fortune only in small matters; yet difference has its uses, as heaven and earth differ and still work together.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).