Hexagram 6: Song

Heaven over Water · 天水讼 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 6 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷅
• Upper trigram: Qian (Heaven)
• Lower trigram: Kan (Water)
• Lines: yin yang yin yang yang yang (bottom to top)

The statement

有孚窒惕，中吉，终凶。利见大人。不利涉大川。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram often refers to disputes, misunderstandings, or conflicts of interest. It's suitable to first clarify evidence, rules, and boundaries, and try to resolve through rational communication. Don't make arguing the goal; mediate if possible, and fighting to the end often wastes time and energy.

A Buddhist reading

The dispute here is not with other people. Ouyi Zhixu reads Song as the quarrel one has with oneself: repentance, self reproach, and the turn from fault toward good. A person who is strong with no danger inside has nothing to accuse; a person in danger with no strength cannot begin the accusation. It takes both. Yet he sets a limit at once. Remorse that never stops hardens into a hindrance, and the arrow of regret lodged in the heart wounds more than the original fault did. Planning the start means watching the first stir of a habit.

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 5: Xuthe whole figure turned upside down
• Next: Hexagram 7: Shi
• Opposite: Hexagram 36: Ming Yievery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 37: Jia Renlines 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.