38. K´uei

	Opposition
	Upper Trigram:	Li, Clinging Brightness, Fire
	Lower Trigram:	Tui, Joy, a Lake
	Governing Rulers:	Nine in the second place Six in the fifth place

The Image
Fire above the lake: the image of K'uei. The superior man, in accordance with this, where there is a general agreement, yet admits to diversity.

Miscellaneous Signs
K'uei looks on others as beyond its care; Chia Jen all includes within its sphere.

The Judgement
K'uei indicates that, notwithstanding the condition of things it denotes, in small matters there will still be good fortune.

See also: Ta Chuan - Section 2, Chapter II-10.

Commentary
In K'uei we have fire, which, when moved, tends upwards, and water, which, when moved, tends downwards. We have also the symbols of two sisters living together, but whose wills do not move in the same direction. We see how the inner trigram, expressive of harmonious satisfaction, is attached to the outer, expressive of bright intelligence; the weak line is advanced and acting above, and in the central place, and responded to by its strong correlate below. These indications show that 'in small matters there will still be good fortune'.
Heaven and earth are seperate and apart, but the work which they do is the same. Male and female are seperate and apart, but with a common will they seek the same object. There is diversity between the millions of classes of beings, but there is an analogy between their several operations. Great indeed are the phenomena and the results of this condition of disunion and separation.

The Lines and commentaries
Bottom nine
This line shows that to its subject occasion for repentance will disappear. He has lost his horses, but let him not seek for them; - they will return of themselves. Should he meet with bad men, he will not err in communicating with them.

'He meets with bad men, and communicates with them': to avoid the evil of their condemnation.

Nine in the second place
Showing its subject happening to meet with his lord in a by-passage. There will be no error.

'He meets with his lord in a by-passage', but he has not deviated, for this meeting, from the proper course.

Six in the third place
Showing one whose carriage is dragged back, while the oxen in it are pushed back, and he himself subjected to the shaving of his head and the cutting off of his nose. There is no good beginning, but there will be a good end.

'We see his carriage dragged back': this is indicated by the inappropriateness of the position.
'There is no good beginning, but there will be a good end': this arises from his meeting with the strong subject of the top-most line.

Nine in the fourth place
Showing its subject solitary amidst the prevailing disunion. But he meets with a good man (the subject of the first line), and they blend their sincere desires together. The position is one of peril, but there will be no mistake.

'They blend their sincere desires together, and there will be no error': their common aim is carried into effect.

Six in the fifth place
Showing that to its subject all occasion for repentance will disappear. With his relative he unites closely and readily as if he were biting through a piece of skin. Where he goes forward with this help, what error can there be?

'With his hereditary minister he unites closely and readily as if he were biting through a piece of skin': his going forward will afford ground for congratulation.

Top-most nine
Showing its subject solitary amidst the prevailing disunion. In his relative (in the third place) he seems to see a pig bearing on its back a load of mud, or fancies him as a carriage full of ghosts. First he bends his bow against him, then he unbends it, for he discovers that he is not an assailant to injure, but a near relative. Going forward he shall meet with genial rain, and there will be good fortune.

The good fortune symbolised by meeting with genial rain springs from the passing away of all doubts.