Hexagram 38: Kui

Fire over Lake · 火泽睽 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 38 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷥
• Upper trigram: Li (Fire)
• Lower trigram: Dui (Lake)
• Lines: yang yang yin yang yin yang (bottom to top)

The statement

小事吉。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram indicates disagreement and divergent directions. It is suitable for handling small matters first, finding common ground, and then discussing larger goals. Do not rush to demand complete agreement; differences themselves are not necessarily bad—the key is whether they can be coordinated.

A Buddhist reading

Kui (Divergence) is estrangement. Ouyi Zhixu points out that fire rises and marsh sinks only once they move; at rest there is no above or below. Two sisters differ in aim only once they set out; while they lived together they were not different at all. Producing division out of sameness yields little good, while finding sameness within division is where the real power lies. Same yet different he explains through the Tiantai six identities: knowing that difference is originally sameness, an ordinary person is already buddha and need not shrink back; knowing that sameness still holds difference, one who is already buddha still has stages to walk and cannot grow conceited. The first line advises letting neither gain and loss disturb the mind nor good and evil split it in two.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous / Inverted: Hexagram 37: Jia Renthe whole figure turned upside down
• Next / Opposite: Hexagram 39: Jianevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 63: Ji Jilines two to four below, three to five above

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.