I Ching hexagram 31
Hexagram 31: Xian
Mutual Feeling · 澤山咸 · Lake above, Mountain below
Mutual attraction and response between two sides need to stay sincere and unforced.
What this hexagram is about
Someone draws you in, as in a new romance or partnership, and the question is how far to follow the feeling. Xian (Mutual Feeling) sets a lake on a mountain, and the lines climb the body from the big toe to the tongue.
A way to think about it
When something attracts you, is the feeling mutual and settled, or are you moving your toes before your heart has decided?
The text, with Legge's translation
Judgment
亨。利貞。取女吉。
Hsien indicates that, (on the fulfilment of the conditions implied in it), there will be free course and success. Its advantageousness will depend on the being firm and correct, (as) in marrying a young lady. There will be good fortune.
Mutual response opens things up, and it pays to stay correct. The text uses marriage as its example and calls forming such a bond a good sign.
Image
山上有澤，咸；君子以虛受人。
(The trigram representing) a mountain and above it that for (the waters of) a marsh form Hsien. The superior man, in accordance with this, keeps his mind free from pre-occupation, and open to receive (the influences of) others.
Line 1 · 初六
咸其拇。
The first line, divided, shows one moving his great toes.
A stir in the big toe, a tiny movement at the very bottom. The text gives no verdict, because nothing has really begun to move yet.
Line 2 · 六二
咸其腓，凶，居吉。
The second line, divided, shows one moving the calves of his leg. There will be evil. If he abide (quiet in his place), there will be good fortune.
The feeling reaches the calf, which wants to walk, and acting on the urge is a bad sign while staying where you are is a good one.
Line 3 · 九三
咸其股，執其隨，往吝。
The third line, undivided, shows one moving his thighs, and keeping close hold of those whom he follows. Going forward (in this way) will cause regret.
The thighs come next, and they go wherever the feet go. You are clinging to whatever you are following, and pressing ahead brings regret.
Line 4 · 九四
貞吉悔亡，憧憧往來，朋從爾思。
The fourth line, undivided, shows that firm correctness which will lead to good fortune, and prevent all occasion for repentance. If its subject be unsettled in his movements, (only) his friends will follow his purpose.
This is where the heart sits. Staying steady and correct is favorable and regret goes away, while restless back and forth means only people who already think like you follow your thoughts.
Line 5 · 九五
咸其脢，无悔。
The fifth line, undivided, shows one moving the flesh along the spine above the heart. There will be no occasion for repentance.
Now the feeling is in the muscle of the back, which barely moves. Being this steady leaves you nothing to regret, though it also reaches few people.
Line 6 · 上六
咸其輔，頰，舌。
The sixth line, divided, shows one moving his jaws and tongue.
The feeling is in the jaw, cheeks and tongue, which is all talk. Affection has turned into words with nothing behind them, a way of winning people over by speech alone.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi, public domain. English: James Legge, The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882), public domain. Plain notes written by this site.
Questions
I cast hexagram 31. Which text do I read?
With no changing lines, read the judgment: "Hsien indicates that, (on the fulfilment of the conditions implied in it), there will be free course and success. Its advantageousness will depend on the being firm and correct, (as) in marrying a young lady. There will be good fortune." With changing lines, read the lines that changed. When several change at once, Zhu Xi's rules decide which text leads, and the casting page marks it for you.
What are the nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams of Xian?
The nuclear hexagram is 44. Gou (Sudden Encounter). The opposite is 41. Sun (Decrease). The inverted hexagram is 32. Heng (Endurance).