夬Guai · Resolution
In one sentence
There is something that should be cleared away, and the time has come to decide.
Five parts good against one part bad; only the final decisive step remains. But that last step is still dangerous. Bring the matter into the open and state it clearly; win everyone's support. Put your own side in order first. Do not open with a head-on clash. Be decisive, but not impulsive.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- At work there is a person or a problem that should have been cleared out long ago, and the time to decide has come. Put the matter on the table and state it clearly, win everyone's support, and do not act behind closed doors. Put your own side in order first; do not open with a head-on clash. The last step is still dangerous. Be decisive, but not rash.
- Love
- There is something in the relationship that needs to be ended: a bad habit, a person who should not be kept around, or the relationship itself. Stop putting it off. Say it openly and clearly, and do not try to settle it with shouting and harsh words. Clean up your own side first. Be decisive, but not rash.
- Money
- There is a leak in your money that needs cutting off: a bad debt, a harmful expense, or someone you should no longer do business with. Make up your mind and cut it, with the accounts laid out in the open. Put your own side in order first; do not open with an ugly break. Only the last step remains, and you still need to be careful.
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 wordsState his faults openly in the court and rally everyone in full sincerity, yet keep a sense of danger in your heart. Begin by putting your own side in order; relying on force alone is not advisable. In this way, it is favorable to act.
The Tuan commentary
夬，決也，剛決柔也。健而說，決而和，揚于王庭，柔乘五剛也。孚號有厲，其危乃光也。告自邑，不利即戎，所尚乃窮也。利有攸往，剛長乃終也。
Guai means deciding: the firm decides against the yielding. Strong and joyful; decisive, yet in harmony. "Proclaim it in the king's court": one yielding line rides on five firm ones. "Call out in sincerity; there is danger": it is this sense of peril that brings light. "Announce it to one's own town. It is not favorable to take up arms": what one prizes would then be exhausted. "It is favorable to have somewhere to go": the firm grows, and so it comes to its end.
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
澤上于天，夬。君子以施祿及下，居德則忌。
The lake rises to heaven: Guai (Resolution). The noble one dispenses bounty to those below, and shuns resting on virtue.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text壯于前趾，往不勝為咎。Strength in the forward toes. Going without being able to win becomes blame.In plain wordsStrength put into the toes that step forward. You are at the bottom, showing off your strength and rushing ahead; you go, you cannot win, and it turns into blame. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text惕號，莫夜有戎，勿恤。Alert, calling out. Armed attack late at night: do not worry.In plain wordsStay alert at heart and call out loudly to warn everyone to be on guard. Even if the enemy attacks in the middle of the night, there is no need to worry. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text壯于頄，有凶。君子夬夬獨行，遇雨若濡，有慍，无咎。Strength in the cheekbones: there is misfortune. The noble one, utterly resolved, walks alone, meets rain and is as if soaked; there is resentment. No blame.In plain wordsThe anger is written all over your face: misfortune. The noble one is resolute within and goes on alone; even if rained on along the way and soaked through, misunderstood and resented by companions, in the end there is no blame. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text臀无膚，其行次且。牽羊悔亡，聞言不信。No skin on the buttocks; walking falters. Lead the sheep, and regret vanishes. Hearing these words, one does not believe.In plain wordsNo flesh on your buttocks: you cannot sit still, and you walk haltingly, inching along. Like someone herding sheep, let others walk in front and follow behind them, and regret will vanish — sadly, you will hear this and still not believe it. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text莧陸夬夬，中行无咎。Pulling up purslane, utterly resolved. Walking the middle way, no blame.In plain wordsLike pulling up purslane, make up your mind and make a clean break. You are too close to that bad thing; be decisive, yet not excessive. Keep to the middle way and there is no blame. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text无號，終有凶。No one to call to. In the end there is misfortune.In plain wordsThere is no one left even to cry out to for help; in the end, misfortune. The faction has scattered, and the road has run out. 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, Guai belongs to the second pentad of Grain Rain, “Doves beat their wings” (April 25 to April 29, 2027). It is also one of the twelve sovereign hexagrams, standing for the third month of the traditional calendar: five yang below one yin, yang nearly full.
The twelve sovereign hexagrams → The 24 solar terms, 72 pentads and their hexagrams →