Hexagram 45 as yes or no
Hexagram 45 Assembly as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a yes-or-no question Cui says yes to joining, convening or committing: 'success; favourable to see the great man; favourable to go somewhere' (亨，利見大人，利有攸往). The condition is the judgment's 'favourable to be steady' — the gathering must be for something correct, and the Tuan says the gathering reveals the true dispositions of all things (觀其所聚). Ask whether what you would be joining is held together by a shared purpose or by proximity.
A changing line in the lower trigram, Kun, is about your own entry: line one says commit to the right correlate and stop wavering, line two says yes, let yourself be drawn in, line three says the place you want is taken but another will receive you. A changing line in the upper trigram, Dui, is about the centre you are gathering toward: line four says yes only if the following is turned to the larger purpose, line five says yes with patience about trust, and the top line says you are outside this gathering and should grieve honestly rather than force your way in.
The hexagram in brief
The lake over the earth: waters gathering. Success; the king approaches the temple; see the great man — people gather around sincerity, and a great offering brings good fortune.
Bring people together around a worthy purpose, and prepare for the frictions that gathering brings.
The judgment
萃：亨。王假有廟，利見大人，亨，利貞。用大牲吉，利有攸往。In (the state denoted by) Žhui, the king will repair to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous (also) to meet with the great man; and then there will be progress and success, though the advantage must come through firm correctness. The use of great victims will conduce to good fortune; and in whatever direction movement is made, it will be advantageous.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 萃 Assembly has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginningsincerity that falters · confusion in the crowd · cry and it turns to laughter
- 六二Six in the second placedrawn forward · unchanged centre · small offering accepted
- 六三Six in the third placesighing to gather · nowhere to belong · small regret
- 九四Nine in the fourth placegreat fortune required · wrong place · gathering below the ruler
- 九五Nine in the fifth placegathering in office · not yet trusted · lasting steadiness
- 上六Six at the topsighs and tears · no rest at the top · left out of the gathering
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 45, Assembly, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a yes-or-no question Cui says yes to joining, convening or committing: 'success; favourable to see the great man; favourable to go somewhere' (亨，利見大人，利有攸往). The condition is the judgment's 'favourable to be steady' — the gathering must be for something correct, and the Tuan says the gathering reveals the true dispositions of all things (觀其所聚). Ask whether what you would be joining is held together by a shared purpose or by proximity.
- What does Hexagram 45, 萃 Assembly, mean?
- The lake over the earth: waters gathering. Success; the king approaches the temple; see the great man — people gather around sincerity, and a great offering brings good fortune.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).