睽Kui · Opposition
In one sentence
You are out of step with each other. Big things will not work; small ones still can.
Two people (or two sides) think in opposite ways and suspect each other, like fire burning upward and water flowing down. Do not force agreement; cooperate on small things first. Seek common ground and let the differences stand. Most misunderstandings will slowly clear up.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- You and your colleagues, your boss or your partners are thinking in opposite directions right now, and suspecting each other as well. Big things cannot get done. Do not force agreement; cooperate on small matters first and do what can be done together. Keep hold of where your goals are the same, and where methods differ let each do it their own way. The misunderstandings will most likely clear up slowly.
- Love
- The two of you are out of step, like fire burning upward and water flowing down, and you suspect each other too. This is not the time for big matters: committing for life, a showdown, hold off on both. Get along well in small things and allow the other person to be different from you; the misunderstandings can most likely be cleared up slowly. The same goes for someone you have just met: start with small exchanges.
- Money
- Right now you and others see money differently and do not trust each other, so it is not the time to partner on anything big. Small business and small dealings are fine, with the accounts kept clear. Do not insist that the other side do it your way, and do not let suspicion push you into saying something final.
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 wordsWhen people are at odds, big things cannot be done; in small matters, good fortune.
The Tuan commentary
睽，火動而上，澤動而下；二女同居，其志不同行；說而麗乎明，柔進而上行，得中而應乎剛；是以小事吉。天地睽，而其事同也；男女睽，而其志通也；萬物睽，而其事類也；睽之時用大矣哉！
Kui: fire moves and goes up; the lake moves and goes down. Two women live together, but their purposes do not go the same way. Joyful, and clinging to brightness; the yielding advances and moves upward, holds the center and answers the firm. That is why "in small matters, good fortune." Heaven and earth are opposed, yet their work is the same. Man and woman are opposed, yet their purposes connect. All things are opposed, yet their workings are alike. Great indeed is the use of the time of Kui.
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
上火下澤，睽。君子以同而異。
Fire above, lake below: Kui (Opposition). The noble one is at one with others, yet remains distinct.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text悔亡。喪馬勿逐，自復。見惡人，无咎。Regret vanishes. The horse is lost: do not chase it, it returns by itself. Meet the disagreeable person: no blame.In plain wordsRegret vanishes. If the horse is lost, do not go after it; it will come back on its own. When someone you dislike comes to see you, see them all the same. That is how you stay clear of blame. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text遇主于巷，无咎。Meeting one's lord in a lane. No blame.In plain wordsYou meet the person you were looking for in a narrow lane. When the main road is blocked, bend a little and take a roundabout way to meet. No blame. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text見輿曳，其牛掣，其人天且劓。无初有終。One sees the cart dragged back, the ox hauled at, the driver with head shaved and nose cut off. No beginning, but there is an end.In plain wordsYou see the cart being dragged backward, the ox being hauled forward, the driver with his head shaved and his nose cut off. You are held in check from in front and from behind, and the other party is deeply suspicious. A bad beginning, but in the end you come together. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text睽孤，遇元夫，交孚，厲无咎。Alone in opposition. One meets a person of real worth, and they trust each other. Danger, no blame.In plain wordsEveryone has turned away and you stand all alone. Then you meet a good person, and you treat each other with sincerity. There is danger, but no blame. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text悔亡。厥宗噬膚，往何咎。Regret vanishes. The clansman bites through soft flesh. Going forward, what blame could there be?In plain wordsRegret vanishes. Someone of your own clan is as easy to get close to as biting into a piece of soft meat. Go forward. What blame could there be? More on this line →
Nine at the top
Text睽孤，見豕負塗，載鬼一車。先張之弧，後說之弧。匪寇婚媾，往遇雨則吉。Alone in opposition. One sees a pig covered in mud, a cart full of ghosts. First the bow is drawn, then the bow is set down. Not a robber but a suitor. Going forward, meeting rain brings good fortune.In plain wordsAll alone and full of suspicion: you see a pig plastered with mud, you see a cartload of ghosts. First you draw the bow to shoot, then you lower it — it turns out they are no robbers; they have come to join with you in marriage. Go forward, and meeting a fall of rain brings good fortune: the suspicions are all washed away. 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, Kui belongs to the third pentad of Minor Cold, “Pheasants begin to call” (January 15 to January 19, 2027).