比Bi · Alliance
In one sentence
It is time to find people to work with and draw close to your companions, and to do it early.
A situation of closeness and unity, which is fortunate in itself. Relationships are built on sincerity, and those who come too late are left with nothing. Go actively and sincerely toward people who deserve your trust. In choosing people, look at whether they are reliable and whether it can last. Hesitate and watch from the side, and you will miss it.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- It is a good time to find collaborators, join a team, and draw close to people worth following, and to declare yourself early. Choose people by whether they are reliable and can last, not only by the benefit in front of you. If you keep watching from the side and arrive only after everyone else has taken their place, there will be no place left for you.
- Love
- This is a hexagram of closeness. If you are interested, draw near actively and sincerely, and do not stand on your dignity. First ask yourself whether you mean it, whether you want it to last, and whether your motives are right. If so, go ahead with an easy mind. If you keep hesitating and declare yourself only at the very end, the other person will no longer be waiting.
- Money
- In money matters it suits you to join hands with others; banding together beats going it alone. Choose partners who are honest and can last, bring your own sincerity, and do not scheme. Once you have judged well, join early. Always wanting others to finish testing the ground so you can pick up the results usually leaves you with nothing.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsGood fortune. Ask yourself once more: do you truly have good will, can you last, are you keeping to what is right? If so, there is no blame. Those who were uneasy before will also come to join you; the one who drags it out and comes last meets misfortune.
The Tuan commentary
比，吉也。比，輔也，下順從也。原筮，元永貞，无咎，以剛中也。不寧方來，上下應也。後夫凶，其道窮也。
Bi is good fortune. Bi means support: those below comply and follow. "Consult the oracle once more: if there is goodness, constancy and staying true, no blame": because the firm is in the center. "Those who were not at ease now come": above and below respond. "The latecomer meets misfortune": his way has run out.
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
地上有水，比。先王以建萬國，親諸侯。
Water upon the earth: Bi (Alliance). The ancient kings established the many states and kept close to the feudal lords.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text有孚比之，无咎。有孚盈缶，終來有它，吉。With sincerity, draw close to him. No blame. Sincerity fills the earthen jar. In the end something more comes from elsewhere. Good fortune.In plain wordsDraw close to people with real sincerity: no blame. When your sincerity is as full as a brimming clay jar, in the end unexpected good things come as well. Good fortune. More on this line →
Six in the second place
Text比之自內，貞吉。Drawing close from within. Staying true brings good fortune.In plain wordsThis closeness comes from the heart, not from a wish to attach yourself to someone useful. Stay true: good fortune. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text比之匪人。Drawing close to the wrong people.In plain wordsThe people you are close to are none of them people you should be close to. Above, below, left and right, you are surrounded by the wrong people — it is time to take a good look at the company you keep. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text外比之，貞吉。Drawing close to one outside. Staying true brings good fortune.In plain wordsReach outward to draw close to that wise and worthy person. Stay true: good fortune. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text顯比，王用三驅，失前禽。邑人不誡，吉。Closeness shown in the open. The king drives the game from three sides and lets those in front escape. The townspeople need no warning. Good fortune.In plain wordsDraw close to people openly and honorably. Like a king on a hunt who closes in on only three sides and leaves one open for the game to leave: those who come are not turned away, those who go are not chased, and the people around you have no need to live on edge. Good fortune. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text比之无首，凶。Drawing close with no head. Misfortune.In plain wordsYou want to be close to people, but there is no head to it — no beginning, and no one you can follow. Nowhere to belong. Misfortune. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Bi belongs to the third pentad of Start of Summer, “Snake gourds grow” (May 16 to May 20, 2027).