I Ching · Hexagram 30 The Clinging
Hexagram 30 line 6: The Clinging, yang in the sixth place

I Ching 30.6
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.
Advice. Deal firmly with the root of the fault and gently with those who followed it.
What changes when line 6 moves
Line 6 of Hexagram 30 is yang, a solid line. When it is cast as old yang (a 9) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 55, Abundance: The sun at noon: abundance at its height, with the certainty that noon does not last and the instruction not to grieve about it.
Read together, the reading moves from The Clinging toward Abundance. Fire that burns by clinging to what feeds it: clarity, dependence and the care of a cow. Fire below, thunder above: clarity and movement together, lightning and thunder at full strength. Abundance describes the peak, the moment of greatest fullness. The primary hexagram describes the situation; the changing line is the point of movement in it; the resulting hexagram is where that movement leads. Both hexagrams belong to the reading, and the changing line is the hinge between them.
Line 6 in context
- Love & relationships
- Deal firmly with the root of the fault and gently with those who followed it. In love and relationships, Hexagram 30 reads: 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.
- Career
- Deal firmly with the root of the fault and gently with those who followed it. In career, Hexagram 30 reads: 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.
- Money
- Deal firmly with the root of the fault and gently with those who followed it. In money, Hexagram 30 reads: 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.
- A decision
- Deal firmly with the root of the fault and gently with those who followed it. In decisions, Hexagram 30 reads: 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.
Cast your own reading
The topic is pre-selected. The hexagram is not: the coins decide it.
Ask the I Ching →
