Hexagram 45: Cui

Lake over Earth · 泽地萃 · Tendency: Auspicious

Structure

• Number: 45 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷬
• Upper trigram: Dui (Lake)
• Lower trigram: Kun (Earth)
• Lines: yin yin yin yang yang yin (bottom to top)

The statement

亨，王假有庙。利见大人。亨，利贞，用大牲吉。利有攸往。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram indicates that people and resources are gathering; it is suitable for meetings, team formation, consolidating strength, and setting common goals. When many people come together, order and rules are essential. Do not just pursue excitement—without a core direction, gathering can turn into chaos.

A Buddhist reading

Cui (Gathering) is coming together. Ouyi Zhixu observes that meeting leads to gathering, a pattern common to worldly and transcendent life alike: when the seen and the unseen gather a shrine can be raised, and when high and low gather a great person can be met. He notes pointedly that offerings follow no fixed rule. Decrease allowed two simple bowls, while here a great sacrifice is auspicious; be frugal when frugality fits and generous when generosity fits, simply following what the time asks. Repairing weapons against the unforeseen he reads through the precepts, which guard against wrongdoing, and through inner practice, where mantra recitation counters ingrained habit. Wherever people gather, protection has to come first.

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 44: Gou
• Next / Inverted: Hexagram 46: Shengthe whole figure turned upside down
• Opposite: Hexagram 26: Da Xuevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 53: Jianlines 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.