I Ching · King Wen 30
Hexagram 30: The Clinging
䷝ 離 Lí · also called Fire, Radiance, Clarity · The Clinging above The Clinging
Fire that burns by clinging to what feeds it: clarity, dependence and the care of a cow.
claritydependencebrightnesscareendurance
The meaning of Hexagram 30
Fire below, fire above: light doubled, the sun rising twice. The Clinging is the hexagram of clarity and of dependence: fire is bright, and fire exists only by holding onto what it burns. The tradition's judgement is that persistence furthers and that caring for the cow brings good fortune, the cow being docility, the receptive quality that lets brightness endure without consuming everything. The reading says you have, or need, clarity, and that clarity survives by attaching itself to something sound and by not flaring too hot. Illumination that forgets what it depends on burns out.
The image. Brightness rises twice; the great person perpetuates the light and illuminates the four quarters.
- Advice
- Keep your light steady by tending what it depends on.
- Warning
- Brightness that burns without care for its fuel goes out suddenly and takes what it clung to with it.
overStructure: ☲ The Clinging (Fire) below, ☲ The Clinging (Fire) above. Nuclear hexagram 28, Great Excess. Every line reversed: 29, The Abysmal.
Hexagram 30 for love and relationships
Attachment is the theme, and the reading is not against it: fire must cling to something. Ask what you are clinging to and whether it can sustain you. Warmth that is steady and cared for lasts; passion that flares and consumes does not.
Hexagram 30 for career
Clarity of thought and the ability to make things visible to others. Attach yourself to sound work and sound people. The reading warns against brilliance that burns through its own resources and against restlessness dressed as insight.
Hexagram 30 for money
Be clear-eyed about what you depend on. Income that clings to a stable source lasts; a flare of gain that consumes its own fuel does not. Care for the cow: tend the steady thing.
Hexagram 30 for decisions
Decide with clarity, and choose the option that keeps you attached to something that can feed you. The bright, dramatic choice that has nothing to cling to burns out.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
The king sends him out to punish. Best to kill the leaders and capture the followers. No blame.
Clarity used to correct a wrong, with discrimination: the root is dealt with firmly, the rest treated with mercy. Punishment that distinguishes the ringleader from the led. The line approves of that precision.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 55, Abundance. Read line 6 →
Tears in floods, sighing and lamenting. Good fortune.
Genuine grief, and a turning point because of it. Someone in a position of responsibility who feels the weight of things fully, and is changed by it. The line finds fortune in real sorrow honestly felt.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 13, Fellowship. Read line 5 →
Its coming is sudden; it flames up, dies down, is thrown away.
A flash of brilliance with nothing behind it: intense, brief, discarded. The line describes energy that consumes itself immediately because it has no steadiness. Restlessness masquerading as fire.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 22, Grace. Read line 4 →
In the light of the setting sun, people either beat the pot and sing or lament the coming of old age. Misfortune.
Facing the end of something, a day, a phase, a life, with either forced gaiety or despair. Both are misfortune. The line asks for the third option, which it does not name: seeing the sunset clearly, without either mask.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 21, Biting Through. Read line 3 →
Yellow light. Great good fortune.
Clarity at its most balanced: the light of midday, yellow being the colour of the mean. Neither too dim nor too fierce. The line describes moderation in brightness, and it is among the most fortunate in the book.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 14, Great Possession. Read line 2 →
Footprints run crisscross. If one is serious, no blame.
The first light of morning and a confusion of impressions and impulses. Seriousness is the remedy: composure at the start of the day keeps the scattered footprints from becoming a wasted one.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 56, The Wanderer. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 30 mean?
- Fire that burns by clinging to what feeds it: clarity, dependence and the care of a cow. Fire below, fire above: light doubled, the sun rising twice. The Clinging is the hexagram of clarity and of dependence: fire is bright, and fire exists only by holding onto what it burns. The tradition's judgement is that persistence furthers and that caring for the cow brings good fortune, the cow being docility, the receptive quality that lets brightness endure without consuming everything. The reading says you have, or need, clarity, and that clarity survives by attaching itself to something sound and by not flaring too hot. Illumination that forgets what it depends on burns out.
- What does Hexagram 30 mean for love?
- Attachment is the theme, and the reading is not against it: fire must cling to something. Ask what you are clinging to and whether it can sustain you. Warmth that is steady and cared for lasts; passion that flares and consumes does not.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 30 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 56, The Wanderer; line 2 gives Hexagram 14, Great Possession; line 3 gives Hexagram 21, Biting Through; line 4 gives Hexagram 22, Grace; line 5 gives Hexagram 13, Fellowship; line 6 gives Hexagram 55, Abundance. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 29, The Abysmal.