Hexagram 38: Opposition

Hexagram 38, Opposition (Kuí, 睽), is formed of the upper trigram Fire (离) over the lower trigram Lake (兑). Below is the classical judgment, the six line texts, and how to read this hexagram in a reading.

The Judgment

Trigrams

The outer (upper) trigram Fire describes the situation as it meets the world; the inner (lower) trigram Lake describes its inner disposition. Together they set the theme of Opposition.

The Six Lines

• 初九 · Line 1 Remorse vanishes. The strayed horse returns by itself — do not chase. Meeting hostile people, no blame.悔亡；丧马勿逐，自复；见恶人，无咎。
• 九二 · Line 2 Meeting one's lord in a narrow lane. No blame.遇主于巷，无咎。
• 六三 · Line 3 The cart dragged back, the ox halted, the driver branded: a bad beginning, a good end.见舆曳，其牛掣；其人天且劓。无初有终。
• 九四 · Line 4 Isolated by opposition, one meets a kindred spirit: mutual trust. Danger, no blame.睽孤，遇元夫，交孚，厉无咎。
• 六五 · Line 5 Remorse vanishes. Your kin bites through the veil — what blame in going?悔亡，厥宗噬肤，往何咎？
• 上九 · Line 6 Isolated, one sees a mud-caked pig and a cartload of ghosts; the bow is drawn, then laid aside — not a raider but a suitor. Go: rain falls, and good fortune comes.睽孤，见豕负涂，载鬼一车，先张之弧，后说之弧；匪寇婚媾，往遇雨则吉。

Reading Hexagram 38 for Your Question

When Opposition appears without changing lines, the judgment above stands as the whole answer. When you cast changing lines (a 6 or a 9), read those line texts first — they are the most specific guidance — then look to the relating hexagram they form for where the situation is heading. For love, career, or a decision, apply the theme of Opposition to your own circumstances rather than reading it as a fixed prediction.