Hexagram 43: Guai

Lake over Heaven · 泽天夬 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 43 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷪
• Upper trigram: Dui (Lake)
• Lower trigram: Qian (Heaven)
• Lines: yang yang yang yang yang yin (bottom to top)

The statement

扬于王庭，孚号。有厉，告自邑。不利即戎，利有攸往。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram calls for decisive action, especially regarding lingering hidden problems or unhealthy relationships. It is suitable for public clarification, clear decisions, and removing obstacles. Note that decisiveness does not mean being harsh; methods should be proper to avoid escalating conflicts.

A Buddhist reading

Guai (Resolution) is cutting away. Most commentators make it the noble person cutting off the petty one, but Ouyi Zhixu turns it around. Strength that is pleased and resolution that is harmonious show the work must be done by moral influence rather than force, so he favors turning back to cultivate virtue over taking up arms. Inwardly, recognizing that affliction is itself the realm of reality, so that confusion becomes wisdom, is what announcing it from your own town means; treating affliction as an enemy to be beaten is the resort to arms. His finest stroke is on the third line: the other yang lines resolve to remove the petty, while I resolve to differ from them. The fifth line adds that the single yin is also made of the whole, and deserves protection rather than trampling.

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: Hexagram 42: Yi
• Next / Inverted: Hexagram 44: Gouthe whole figure turned upside down
• Opposite: Hexagram 23: Boevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 1: Qianlines 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.