Hexagram 59, line 4
六四Line 4 of Dispersing
Six in the fourth place · 渙 huàn
爻辭 The line text
渙其群，元吉。渙有丘，匪夷所思。The fourth line, divided, shows its subject scattering the (different) parties (in the state); which leads to great good fortune. From the dispersion (he collects again good men standing out, a crowd) like a mound, which is what ordinary men would not have thought of.
渙其群，元吉；光大也。'He scatters the (different) parties (in the state), and there is great good fortune:'—brilliant and great (are his virtue and service).
In plain words
Line four is the minister's place, a weak line in its correct position at the bottom of the wind, right under the ruler — the Tuan's 'weak line that finds its place outside and joins the one above'. It 'disperses its group' (渙其群), breaking up the faction, the clique, the private following, and the text calls this greatly auspicious. Then the paradox: out of the dispersal 'there is a hill' (渙有丘), a new and larger gathering that 'ordinary thinking would not reach'. Scattering the small groups is what makes a great one possible. The small Image says the achievement is bright and great (光大), the strongest praise in the hexagram.
If this line is changing
Break up the small loyalties that are holding things apart, even your own circle, and a wider unity will form that you could not have planned.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 1: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
渙 Dispersing becomes ䷅ 6 訟 Dispute
Heaven above and water below, moving apart: contention. Sincerity is obstructed; a dispute may be won partway but ends badly if pushed to the finish.
What it becomes6 · 訟 DisputesòngThe six lines of 渙 Dispersing
- 初六Six at the beginningearly rescue · strong horse · going along
- 九二Nine in the second placehurrying to support · amid dispersal · regret vanishes
- 六三Six in the third placedissolving the self · outward will · no regret
- 六四Six in the fourth placedissolving factions · gathering a hill · great good fortune
- 九五Nine in the fifth placethe great proclamation · like sweat · scattering the stores
- 上九Nine at the topleaving harm behind · far away · no blame
Read 渙 Dispersing for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the fourth place of hexagram 59, Dispersing, mean?
- Line four is the minister's place, a weak line in its correct position at the bottom of the wind, right under the ruler — the Tuan's 'weak line that finds its place outside and joins the one above'. It 'disperses its group' (渙其群), breaking up the faction, the clique, the private following, and the text calls this greatly auspicious. Then the paradox: out of the dispersal 'there is a hill' (渙有丘), a new and larger gathering that 'ordinary thinking would not reach'. Scattering the small groups is what makes a great one possible. The small Image says the achievement is bright and great (光大), the strongest praise in the hexagram.
- What does hexagram 59 become when line 4 changes?
- Dispersing becomes hexagram 6, 訟 Dispute: Heaven above and water below, moving apart: contention. Sincerity is obstructed; a dispute may be won partway but ends badly if pushed to the finish.
- Is line 4 of Dispersing in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).