渙Huan · Dispersion
In one sentence
People's hearts, or the situation, have scattered and need to be drawn together again.
Wind blows across the water and it disperses. What is scattering may be people's hearts, or it may be a knot inside your own. Find what can bring everyone back together: a shared belief or goal. Let go of self-interest and small cliques. Dissolving the knot inside you is itself a good thing. The big hurdle can be crossed.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- The team's hearts have scattered, or the work has fallen apart. Rewards and penalties won't pull it back together; you need to find what can gather everyone again: a shared goal, the one thing everybody recognizes. Put down your own self-interest and your small circle first. If people truly come together, the big crossing can be made.
- Love
- Your two hearts have drifted apart somewhat, each living your own life. Find again what you both care about, and gather your hearts back. On the other side, knots and distance that have built up over a long time are ready to be dissolved now; letting what is pent up disperse is a good thing in itself. If you're single, first let that tangle of old matters in your heart disperse.
- Money
- Money scatters easily, like wind blowing across water. Don't sprinkle it a little here and a little there; gather what is spread out onto the one thing that matters most. In a partnership, bring people's hearts together before talking about money, and don't look only to your own small share. What should be spent on shared, proper purposes is not a waste when spent.
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. When people's hearts have scattered, the king goes to the ancestral temple to gather them together again. You can cross the great river; it is favorable to stay true.
The Tuan commentary
渙，亨。剛來而不窮，柔得位乎外而上同。王假有廟，王乃在中也。利涉大川，乘木有功也。
Huan: "success." The firm comes and is not exhausted; the yielding gains its place on the outside and is at one with the one above. "The king comes to his temple": the king is then in the center. "It is favorable to cross the great river": riding on wood brings achievement.
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
風行水上，渙。先王以享于帝立廟。
Wind moves over the water: Huan (Dispersion). The ancient kings made offerings to the Lord on High and established temples.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text用拯馬壯，吉。Rescuing with a strong horse. Good fortune.In plain wordsThings are only beginning to scatter; hurry to the rescue, and there is a strong horse whose strength you can borrow. Good fortune. If your own strength is not enough, go along with the strong person beside you. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text渙奔其机，悔亡。Amid dispersion, one runs to one's support. Regret vanishes.In plain wordsWhen everything is scattering, run to a low table you can lean on: find a stable support, and regret vanishes. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text渙其躬，无悔。Dispersing one's own self. No regret.In plain wordsDissolve that bit of self-interest of yours, and there is nothing to regret. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text渙其群，元吉。渙有丘，匪夷所思。Dispersing one's group. Supreme good fortune. Dispersion gives rise to a hill. It is not what ordinary minds would think of.In plain wordsBreak up your own small circle: great good fortune. Only by dissolving the small group can a great one be gathered, as large as a hill. This is not something ordinary people would think of. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text渙汗其大號，渙王居，无咎。The great proclamation goes out like sweat. The king's stores are dispersed. No blame.In plain wordsIssue the great command the way the body gives off sweat: once out, it is not taken back. Give out the king's accumulated wealth as well, to rescue the people. No blame. More on this line →
Nine at the top
Text渙其血，去逖出，无咎。Dispersing the blood. It is gone, far away, and out. No blame.In plain wordsLet harm go far away, let worry and fear depart, and get well away from the scattering situation. No blame. 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, Huan belongs to the third pentad of Minor Heat, “Young hawks learn to strike” (July 17 to July 22, 2027).