I Ching · Hexagram 44 of 64
Hexagram 44: Gou （姤） — Coming to Meet
Gou is Heaven over Wind: a single yin is born below and the wind moves under heaven, stirring the grass. The hexagram concerns the meeting of heaven's principle and human desire: principle must govern desire, desire must not be indulged and grown, and the way of restraint and the center is what is right.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 44 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Gou 姤 · Coming to Meet |
| Upper trigram | Qian （乾）· Heaven |
| Lower trigram | Xun （巽）· Wind |
| Structure | Heaven over Wind |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Coming to Meet. The woman is strong; do not use her to take a wife.
ExplainedTo come to meet is to encounter, to join: strangers meeting, attraction and union. It stresses the meeting of yin and yang, of firm and yielding, for principle and desire must be combined in right proportion, principle alone making a sage and desire alone a beast. That the woman is strong means desire is unbridled and must not be married in; do not admit so vast a power into your life, but hold the fleshly appetite in contempt.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
Coming to Meet means meeting: the yielding meets the firm. Do not use her to take a wife: she cannot be allowed to grow. Heaven and earth meet, and all creatures are made bright. The firm meets the central and upright, and the world proceeds greatly. Great indeed is the meaning of the time of Coming to Meet.
ExplainedThe yielding meets the firm to be pressed down and not allowed to grow, for growth means the petty way rises and the noble way fades. Yet desire is not to be destroyed, since with heaven and earth meeting all creatures are beautiful: yin belongs at the bottom, doing the work of nourishing life without fouling the air. When the firm meets the center and rightness, desire is small and kindness governs, and the world advances, household and all.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
Wind under heaven: Coming to Meet. Thus the sovereign issues commands and admonishes the four quarters.
ExplainedThis is the sovereign as woman, the age of the yielding way in power, and not evil in itself, for wise women have ruled well. She does not command but admonishes, softly persuading and teaching rather than punishing, so that hearts yield to her. So the yielding way, free of greed and full of gentleness, reforms customs and turns people toward good.
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 · YinLine 1
Tie it to the metal brake. Steadfastness brings good fortune. If there is somewhere to go, misfortune appears: a lean sow pacing restlessly in confidence.
Small ImageTied to the metal brake: the yielding way is drawn back.
ExplainedThe metal brake stops the wagon, and against desire one needs a brake; the practitioner's brake is the practice itself, curbing the scattered mind and giving desire no excuse. Check desire and one turns upright and good; loose it and let it grow, and misfortune soon comes, like a wagon without brakes in rough country. The lean sow pacing in blind confidence is weak impulse sure of itself.
Line 2 · YangLine 2
Wrapped up, there is a fish: no blame. Not favorable for a guest.
Small ImageWrapped up, there is a fish: in rightness it does not reach the guest.
ExplainedThe blind, impulsive yin of the first line becomes a fish, cold and slippery and unholdable, turning every kinship aside. Wrapped up, it can still be contained without offense, and one knows its danger and does not let it reach out. To contain it is painful, a battle with a shark within, but it keeps one from harming others.
Line 3 · YangLine 3
No skin on the thighs, and his walk is halting: peril, but no great blame.
Small ImageHis walk is halting: his going is not checked.
ExplainedWhen desire cannot be contained it grows into a dark thing, and one is caught between craving and fear, pressed and suppressed: no skin left, a limping walk, the road of life hard, body and mind worn out. Since one has harmed only oneself and committed no crime there is no great blame, but a strong brake must be set at the very first line, dissolving the thought the moment it arises.
Line 4 · YangLine 4
Wrapped up, there is no fish: misfortune arises.
Small ImageThe misfortune of no fish: estrangement from the people.
ExplainedWhen the fish bursts out, one buys and eats and rages without check, passing from fault into crime. Most struggle between containment and pain while few apply the brake, and those who harm no one harm themselves. The misfortune is that relations sour and people draw away: if with each year one's circle shrinks and no one will stay, this is that case.
Line 5 · YangLine 5
The willow wraps the melon; he holds his brightness within, and there falls from heaven.
Small ImageThe fifth line holds his brightness within: central and upright. There falls from heaven: the will does not abandon the mandate.
ExplainedThe tall willow wrapping the melon vine is the noble one, or a community, embracing those who must lean on something to climb: the clinging vine wrapped in yang wood, bearing sweet fruit. Every being holds beauty within, and it ripens through shared effort. Heaven then drops its mandate upon the one whose will does not forsake it, for personal destiny is brief while the mandate of saving the world endures, and heaven supplies all.
Line 6 · YangLine 6
Meeting its horn: distress, but no blame.
Small ImageMeeting its horn: being at the top, exhausted and distressed.
ExplainedOver-cultivated, one goes up the bull's horn: desireless but also compassionless, cold to the world's suffering, wanting only one's own deliverance. It is a narrow path with no blame in it, yet it saves no one else. High as one climbs, the road ends in exhaustion, and when the last age comes no private salvation is enough; one must carry a mission for all beings, and heaven will send aid to the task.
Key takeaway
Coming to Meet teaches that when principle and desire meet, desire must be restrained and not grown, and the center kept.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 44 (Gou) mean in the I Ching?
Gou is Heaven over Wind: a single yin is born below and the wind moves under heaven, stirring the grass. The hexagram concerns the meeting of heaven's principle and human desire: principle must govern desire, desire must not be indulged and grown, and the way of restraint and the center is what is right.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 44?
Coming to Meet. The woman is strong; do not use her to take a wife. To come to meet is to encounter, to join: strangers meeting, attraction and union. It stresses the meeting of yin and yang, of firm and yielding, for principle and desire must be combined in right proportion, principle alone making a sage and desire alone a beast. That the woman is strong means desire is unbridled and…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 44 say?
Line 1: Tie it to the metal brake. Steadfastness brings good fortune. If there is somewhere to go, misfortune appears: a lean sow pacing restlessly in confidence. Line 2: Wrapped up, there is a fish: no blame. Not favorable for a guest. Line 3: No skin on the thighs, and his walk is halting: peril, but no great blame. Line 4: Wrapped up, there is no fish: misfortune arises. Line 5: The willow wraps the melon; he holds his brightness within, and there falls from heaven. Line 6: Meeting its horn: distress, but no blame.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 44 (Coming to Meet)?
Coming to Meet teaches that when principle and desire meet, desire must be restrained and not grown, and the center kept.
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