Hexagram 30: Li

Judgment

利貞。亨。畜牝牛，吉。

Lî indicates that, (in regard to what it denotes), it will be advantageous to be firm and correct, and that thus there will be free course and success. Let (its subject) also nourish (a docility like that of) the cow, and there will be good fortune.

Brightness has to cling to something, so the judgment asks for steadiness in what you attach yourself to. Keeping a docile cow, a picture of gentle and dependable character, is called a good sign.

Image

明兩作，離；大人以繼明照于四方。

(The trigram for) brightness, repeated, forms Lî. The great man, in accordance with this, cultivates more and more his brilliant (virtue), and diffuses its brightness over the four quarters (of the land).

Line 1 · 初九

履錯然，敬之无咎。

The first line, undivided, shows one ready to move with confused steps. But he treads at the same time reverently, and there will be no mistake.

At the beginning your steps are muddled, going in all directions. Treating each step with respect leaves nothing to fault.

Line 2 · 六二

黃離，元吉。

The second line, divided, shows its subject in his place in yellow. There will be great good fortune.

You cling to the center, the yellow of the middle, with soft and correct conduct. The text rates this the best kind of attachment.

Line 3 · 九三

日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之差，凶。

The third line, undivided, shows its subject in a position like that of the declining sun. Instead of playing on his instrument of earthenware, and singing to it, he utters the groans of an old man of eighty. There will be evil.

The sun is slanting toward evening. You can tap a clay drum and sing, or you can groan about growing old, and the text names the groaning as the bad choice.

Line 4 · 九四

突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。

The fourth line, undivided, shows the manner of its subject's coming. How abrupt it is, as with fire, with death, to be rejected (by all)!

Fire erupts without warning and burns itself out, and then it is cast aside. The line pictures a flare-up with no steady fuel, all of its force spent at once.

Line 5 · 六五

出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。

The fifth line, divided, shows its subject as one with tears flowing in torrents, and groaning in sorrow. There will be good fortune.

Tears pour down and you sigh with grief, and the omen is good. Real worry in a precarious spot keeps you alert and honest.

Line 6 · 上九

王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。

The topmost line, undivided, shows the king employing its subject in his punitive expeditions. Achieving admirable (merit), he breaks (only) the chiefs (of the rebels). Where his prisoners were not their associates, he does not punish. There will be no error.

A ruler sends you out to deal with trouble, and you take down only the ringleaders and leave their followers alone. The text praises this, and nothing counts against you.