I Ching · Hexagram 38 of 64
Hexagram 38: Kui （睽） — Opposition
Kui is Fire above and Marsh below: fire moves up, water moves down, and the two go separate ways. The hexagram concerns estrangement and mutual ill-feeling, and counsels keeping difference within sameness: let small matters be, and good fortune follows.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 38 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Kui 睽 · Opposition |
| Upper trigram | Li （离）· Fire |
| Lower trigram | Dui （兑）· Lake |
| Structure | Fire over Lake |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Opposition. In small matters, good fortune.
ExplainedOpposition means separation and estrangement, the strain between kin and the friction of unlike minds. Great matters require one will and one aim; small matters, the practical choices of method, must allow difference, holding sameness while tolerating variation. It is difference that keeps life rich and inventive, so small matters go well, and doing them well brings the great matters through.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
Opposition: fire moves upward, the marsh moves downward; two daughters dwell together, their wills not going the same way. Pleasing and attached to brightness, the yielding advances upward, finds the center and responds to the firm: therefore small matters are auspicious. Heaven and earth are separate yet their work is one; man and woman are separate yet their wills communicate; the ten thousand things are separate yet their functions are alike. Great indeed is the use of the time of Opposition.
ExplainedFire above and water below, or two women in one house with different aims, is the image of discord. Yet to please and look toward the bright is to talk one's way into clarity, and when the yielding rises to the center it responds to the firm, as the ordinary person comes at last to honor the sage. Separation itself holds an order: heaven begets and earth nourishes, husband and wife cooperate, forest and field are many and unruly. The lesson is to bear with difference.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
Fire above, marsh below: Opposition. Thus the noble one is the same yet different.
ExplainedWater and fire differ utterly, yet both belong to one nature and can meet without conflict. The noble one takes the great direction, loyalty and filial duty and right principle, and tolerates the small differences of temper and habit, for only a melting pot that bears difference can carry the great Way.
The Six Lines （六爻）
The lines are read from the bottom upward. Each carries its own text, a Small Image commentary, and a plain-English reading.
Line 1 · YangLine 1
Regret vanishes. The horse is lost; do not chase it, for it returns of itself. Meet the wicked, and there is no blame.
Small ImageMeeting the wicked: to avoid blame.
ExplainedDo not live inside regret. What is yours cannot be lost, and the horse comes back on its own; what is not yours cannot be kept. And it is precisely the corrupt one you must meet, for refusing such a person only deepens his corruption, while a face-to-face kindness may turn him.
Line 2 · YangLine 2
Meeting the lord in a crooked lane: no blame.
Small ImageMeeting the lord in a crooked lane: the Way is not lost.
ExplainedA lane bends, and to be bent is to be preserved whole. Faced with someone difficult, yield, contain and endure as if walking a winding alley, and heaven will act as your lord, in the dark, on your behalf. A branch that bends with the wind survives; one that will not is broken.
Line 3 · YinLine 3
The cart is dragged back, the ox is pulled away, the man is branded and mutilated: no beginning, but an end.
Small ImageThe cart dragged back: the place is not fitting. No beginning but an end: he meets the firm.
ExplainedWheels jammed, ox unmanageable, the man marked and maimed: ill fortune inherits ill fortune and every circumstance works against him. Yet a bad beginning may still have a good end, for heaven closes one door and opens a window, and stubborn uprightness outlasts poor conditions.
Line 4 · YangLine 4
Separated and alone, he meets the great man; sincerity passes between them. Peril, but no blame.
Small ImageSincerity passing between them, no blame: the will is carried out.
ExplainedTo feel alone and find no kindred spirit is at least proof that one has not joined the crowd, and then the great man appears, for virtue is never without neighbors. Friendship by sincerity rather than profit is demanding: such a friend scolds and corrects and accuses, and only so does one shed faults and hold the Way.
Line 5 · YinLine 5
Regret vanishes. His own kin bite the soft flesh: going forward, what blame?
Small ImageHis own kin bite the soft flesh: going forward brings celebration.
ExplainedAfter estrangement has been healed by sincerity among kindred, one finds companions closer than blood, joined by a common purpose rather than by descent. Such a company benefits the world, and wherever it goes there is reason for celebration.
Line 6 · YangLine 6
Separated and alone, he sees a pig smeared with mud and a cart full of ghosts; first he draws the bow, then he lowers it. Not robbers but wooers: going on, to meet with rain is good fortune.
Small ImageThe good fortune of meeting rain: all doubts vanish.
ExplainedHere the lonely one meets another who appears bizarre, a mud-caked figure and a cart of shadows, and first reaches for the bow. Yet the stranger is no enemy but a bringer of blessing, and the rain that falls washes the mud away and reveals the true form. Holy fools and ragged masters are not monsters to be attacked.
Key takeaway
Opposition teaches holding sameness together with difference: tolerate variation in small matters and the way opens.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 38 (Kui) mean in the I Ching?
Kui is Fire above and Marsh below: fire moves up, water moves down, and the two go separate ways. The hexagram concerns estrangement and mutual ill-feeling, and counsels keeping difference within sameness: let small matters be, and good fortune follows.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 38?
Opposition. In small matters, good fortune. Opposition means separation and estrangement, the strain between kin and the friction of unlike minds. Great matters require one will and one aim; small matters, the practical choices of method, must allow difference, holding sameness while tolerating variation. It is difference that keeps life rich and inventive, so…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 38 say?
Line 1: Regret vanishes. The horse is lost; do not chase it, for it returns of itself. Meet the wicked, and there is no blame. Line 2: Meeting the lord in a crooked lane: no blame. Line 3: The cart is dragged back, the ox is pulled away, the man is branded and mutilated: no beginning, but an end. Line 4: Separated and alone, he meets the great man; sincerity passes between them. Peril, but no blame. Line 5: Regret vanishes. His own kin bite the soft flesh: going forward, what blame? Line 6: Separated and alone, he sees a pig smeared with mud and a cart full of ghosts; first he draws the bow, then he lowers it. Not robbers but wooers: going on, to meet with rain is good fortune.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 38 (Opposition)?
Opposition teaches holding sameness together with difference: tolerate variation in small matters and the way opens.
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