Hexagram 38, line 6
上九Line 6 of Divergence
Nine at the top · 睽 kuí
爻辭 The line text
睽孤，見豕負塗，載鬼一車，先張之弧，後說之弧，匪寇婚媾，往遇雨則吉。The topmost line, 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.
遇雨之吉，群疑亡也。'The good fortune symbolised by meeting with (genial) rain' springs from the passing away of all doubts.
In plain words
Alone at the extreme of opposition, he sees a pig covered in mud and a cart full of ghosts; he draws his bow, then unstrings it — not a robber but a suitor; going forward, meeting rain, good fortune. The top line is yang at the end of Li, the eye of the hexagram, and what it sees is line three, its proper correspondent, distorted by suspicion into something filthy and haunted. Opposition at its height is a failure of perception. Then the bow is lowered, the figure is recognised as kin, and rain — yin and yang meeting — falls. The small Image gives the whole hexagram's resolution in four characters: 'the crowd of doubts vanishes' (群疑亡).
If this line is changing
What you are seeing as monstrous is almost certainly someone who means you well, seen through accumulated suspicion; lower your guard before you act on it, and let the tension break.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It corresponds (應) with line 3: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
睽 Divergence becomes ䷵ 54 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister
Thunder over the lake: the younger sister married as a secondary wife. Undertakings bring misfortune; nothing is favourable — a relationship or position entered on unequal terms must be managed with great care.
What it becomes54 · 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sisterguī mèiThe six lines of 睽 Divergence
- 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
Read 睽 Divergence for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the top of hexagram 38, Divergence, mean?
- Alone at the extreme of opposition, he sees a pig covered in mud and a cart full of ghosts; he draws his bow, then unstrings it — not a robber but a suitor; going forward, meeting rain, good fortune. The top line is yang at the end of Li, the eye of the hexagram, and what it sees is line three, its proper correspondent, distorted by suspicion into something filthy and haunted. Opposition at its height is a failure of perception. Then the bow is lowered, the figure is recognised as kin, and rain — yin and yang meeting — falls. The small Image gives the whole hexagram's resolution in four characters: 'the crowd of doubts vanishes' (群疑亡).
- What does hexagram 38 become when line 6 changes?
- Divergence becomes hexagram 54, 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister: Thunder over the lake: the younger sister married as a secondary wife. Undertakings bring misfortune; nothing is favourable — a relationship or position entered on unequal terms must be managed with great care.
- Is line 6 of Divergence in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).