HEXAGRAM 38 – K’uei – Opposition

HEXAGRAM 38 – K’uei – Opposition

Above    LI    THE CLINGING, FLAME

Below    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

This hexagram is composed of the trigram

• Li above, i.e., flame, which burns upward, and
  
• Tui below, i.e., the lake, which seeps downward.
  

These two movements are in direct contrast.

Furthermore,

• Li is the second daughter and
  
• Tui the youngest daughter, and
  

although

they live in the same house

they belong, to different men;

hence their wills

• are not the same
  
• but are divergently directed.
  

THE JUDGMENT

OPPOSITION.

In small matters, good fortune.

When people live in

• opposition and
  
• estrangement
  

they cannot carry out a great undertaking in common;

their points of view diverge too widely.

In such circumstances

• one should above all not proceed brusquely,
  

  for that would only increase the existing opposition;
  

instead,

• one should limit oneself to producing gradual effects in small matters.
  

Here success can still be expected,

because

the situation is such that

the opposition does not preclude all agreement.

In general,

opposition appears as an obstruction, but when

• it represents polarity within a comprehensive whole,
  
• it has also its useful and important functions.
  

The oppositions of

• heaven and earth,
  
• spirit and nature,
  
• man and woman,
  

when reconciled,

bring about the creation and reproduction of life.

In the world of visible things,

the principle of opposites makes possible

the differentiation by categories

through which order is brought into the world.

THE IMAGE

Above, fire,

below, the lake:

The image of OPPOSITION.

Thus amid all fellowship

The superior man retains his individuality.

The two elements, fire and water,

never mingle

but even when in contact

retain their own natures.

So

• the cultured man is never led into baseness or vulgarity
  

  through intercourse or community of interests with persons of another sort;
  

  regardless of all commingling,
  

• he will always preserve his individuality.
  

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning means:

Remorse disappears.

• If you lose your horse,
  
  • do not run after it; It will come back of its own accord.
    
• When you see evil people,
  
  • Guard yourself against mistakes.
    

Even in times when oppositions prevail,

• mistakes can be avoided, so that
  
• remorse disappears.
  

When opposition begins to manifest itself,

• a man must not try to bring about unity by force, for by so doing
  
• he would only achieve the contrary,
  

just as

• a horse goes farther and farther away
  
  • if one runs after it.
    
• it is one’s own horse, one can safely let it go;
  
  • it will come back of its own accord.
    

So too

• when someone who belongs with us is momentarily estranged
  

  because of a misunderstanding,
  

• he will return of his own accord
  

  if we leave matters to him.
  

On the other hand,

it is well to be cautious when

evil men who do not belong with us force themselves upon us,

again as the result of a misunderstanding.

Here the important thing is to avoid mistakes.

• We must not try to shake off these evil men by force;
  
  • this would give rise to real hostility.
    
• We must simply endure them.
  
  • They will eventually withdraw of their own accord.
    

0 Nine in the second place means:

One meets his lord in a narrow street.

No blame.

As a result of misunderstandings,

it has become impossible for people who by nature belong together

to meet in the correct way.

This being so,

an accidental meeting under informal circumstances

may serve the purpose,

provided there is an inner affinity between them.

Six in the third place means:

One sees the wagon dragged back,

The oxen halted.

A man’s hair and nose cut off.

• Not a good beginning,
  
• but a good end.
  

Often it seems to a man as though everything were conspiring against him.

He sees himself

• checked and hindered in his progress,
  
• insulted and
  
• dishonored.1
  

However,

• he must not let himself be misled; despite this opposition,
  
• he must cleave to the man with whom he knows he belongs.
  

Thus, notwithstanding the bad beginning,

the matter will end well.

Nine in the fourth place means:

Isolated through opposition,

• One meets a like-minded man With whom
  
• one can associate in good faith.
  

Despite the danger, no blame.

• If a man finds himself in a company of people from whom
  

  he is separated by an inner opposition,
  

  • he becomes isolated.
    
• But if in such a situation a man meets someone
  
  • who fundamentally, by the very law of his being, is kind to him, and
    
  • whom he can trust completely,
    
• he overcomes all the dangers of isolation.
  
• His will achieves its aim, and
  
• he becomes free of faults.
  

0 Six in the fifth place means:

Remorse disappears.

The companion bites his way through the wrappings.

If one goes to him,

How could it be a mistake?

Coming upon a sincere man,

• one fails to recognize him at first because of the general estrangement.
  

However,

• he bites his way through the wrappings that are causing the separation.
  

When such a companion thus reveals himself in his true character,

it is one’s duty

• to go to meet him and
  
• to work with him.
  

Nine at the top means:

Isolated through opposition,

One sees one’s companion

• as a pig covered with dirt,
  
• As a wagon full of devils.
  

First

• one draws a bow against him,
  

Then

• one lays the bow aside.
  

• He is not a robber;
  
• he will woo at the right time.
  

As one goes, rain falls;

then good fortune comes.

Here

the isolation is due to misunderstanding;

it is brought about

• not by outer circumstances
  
• but by inner conditions.
  

A man misjudges his best friends, taking them to be

• as unclean as a dirty pig and
  
• as dangerous as a wagon full of devils.
  

He adopts an attitude of defense.

But in the end, realizing his mistake,

he lays aside the bow,

perceiving that the other is approaching with the best intentions

for the purpose of close union.

Thus

the tension is relieved.

• The union resolves the tension,
  

just as

• falling rain relieves the sultriness preceding a thunderstorm.
  

All goes well,

for just when

• opposition reaches its climax
  
• it changes over to its antithesis.
  

1.    Cutting off of the hair and nose was a severe and degrading punishment.

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