Hexagram 40: Xie

Thunder over Water · 雷水解 · Tendency: Auspicious

Structure

• Number: 40 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷧
• Upper trigram: Zhen (Thunder)
• Lower trigram: Kan (Water)
• Lines: yin yang yin yang yin yin (bottom to top)

The statement

利西南。无所往，其来复吉。有攸往，夙吉。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram indicates that tension is beginning to ease, and problems have a chance to be resolved. It is suitable for reconciliation, clearing obstacles, and promptly dealing with leftover matters. When a crisis has just passed, do not create new conflicts. Returning to a simple and stable state is a good outcome.

A Buddhist reading

Xie (Release) is difficulty dissolving. Ouyi Zhixu says that when danger lies ahead you should halt, and when danger is already beneath you it is time to move and get clear of it; this is a matter of timing and conditions, not of force. Once the knot is untied there is nowhere further to go, only a return to the ordinary way. He offers three comparisons: a good general fights only to bring the other side over, a good doctor prescribes only to remove the illness, and one who watches the mind practices only to return to original nature, with no separate thing to be grasped. Pardoning faults he reads as repentance practice, sitting upright and contemplating reality until offenses dissolve.

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 39: Jianthe whole figure turned upside down
• Next: Hexagram 41: Sun
• Opposite: Hexagram 37: Jia Renevery 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.