咸Xian · Mutual Influence
In one sentence
There is a response between you, a mutual liking. That is a good thing.
A hexagram of mutual response and mutual attraction. Originally about man and woman, it applies to every case of people moving one another. Treat the other person with a sincere and open heart, and don't play games. Stay true and it goes smoothly; union brings good fortune. Don't let it stop at words.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- What counts here is people moving one another: you have genuine goodwill and responsiveness toward colleagues, clients and superiors, they have the same toward you, and things naturally go through. Listen to others with an open mind, and do not fill yourself up with your own ideas first. Do not scheme to please anyone, and do not stop at fine words; there has to be real action.
- Love
- This hexagram is about love to begin with: feeling a response and an attraction to each other is a good thing, and moving toward union is good fortune. Treat the other person with a true and open heart, set your own preconceptions aside first, do not use tactics, and do not be sweet only in words. But the heart must be moved in the right way; with someone you should not touch, it is wrong however strong the feeling.
- Money
- Business and money matters depend on mutual trust and mutual response; working with people you get along with goes smoothly. Be sincere with people, listen with an open mind to what the other side wants, and do not use tricks to outmaneuver them. But do not pay out on a moment's impulse, and do not believe someone just because they speak movingly. Feelings are feelings; the way you go about it must be right.
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 wordsThings go through, and it is favorable to stay true. Taking a wife brings good fortune. When hearts respond to each other, things naturally go through; but if the feeling is not right, nothing is right.
The Tuan commentary
咸，感也。柔上而剛下，二氣感應以相與，止而說，男下女，是以亨利貞，取女吉也。天地感而萬物化生，聖人感人心而天下和平；觀其所感，而天地萬物之情可見矣！
Xian means influence. The yielding is above and the firm below. The two forces influence and respond to each other, and so join. Stillness and gladness; the man places himself below the woman. Therefore "success. It is favorable to stay true. Taking a wife brings good fortune." Heaven and earth influence each other, and all things take form and are born. The sage influences people's hearts, and all under heaven is in harmony and at peace. Contemplate what influences, and the true nature of heaven, earth and all things can be seen.
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
山上有澤，咸。君子以虛受人。
A lake on the mountain: Xian (Mutual Influence). The noble one receives people with an empty, open heart.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text咸其拇。The influence is in the big toe.In plain wordsThe feeling is in the big toe. There is only the first hint of a sensation; you want to move but can't yet. Neither good nor bad. More on this line →
Six in the second place
Text咸其腓，凶。居吉。The influence is in the calf. Misfortune. Staying put brings good fortune.In plain wordsThe feeling is in the calf — before you have thought it through, the leg moves first. Misfortune. Stay quietly where you are, and there is good fortune. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text咸其股，執其隨，往吝。The influence is in the thigh. He holds to what he follows. Going on brings humiliation.In plain wordsThe feeling is in the thigh: no mind of your own, moving whenever someone else moves. Go forward like this and you will be embarrassed. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text貞吉悔亡。憧憧往來，朋從爾思。Staying true brings good fortune; regret vanishes. Restlessly going back and forth, only your friends follow your thoughts.In plain wordsStay true and there is good fortune, and regret vanishes. If your mind is unsettled and you scheme back and forth, then only the few who think as you do will respond. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text咸其脢，无悔。The influence is in the upper back. No regret.In plain wordsThe feeling is in the flesh of the back — the back is turned away from the heart, so you cannot move others, but neither are you entangled by private feelings. Nothing to regret. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text咸其輔頰舌。The influence is in the jaws, cheeks and tongue.In plain wordsThe feeling is in the jaws, cheeks and tongue. Trying to move people with your mouth alone, with nothing solid behind it. 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, Xian belongs to the first pentad of Summer Solstice, “Deer shed their antlers” (June 21 to June 25, 2027).