I Ching · King Wen 38
Hexagram 38: Opposition
䷥ 睽 Kuí · also called Diverging, Estrangement, Polarising · The Clinging above The Joyous
Fire and lake pulling apart: estrangement, and the small gains still possible when opposites understand their difference.
estrangementdifferencemisunderstandingsmall gainsindividuality
The meaning of Hexagram 38
Lake below, fire above: fire rises and water sinks, two sisters living together who cannot agree. Opposition describes divergence, misunderstanding, people at cross purposes. The tradition's judgement is modest: in small matters, good fortune. Nothing large can be done while the parties are pulling apart, but small things can, and the image offers the deeper point: the wise person retains individuality even among the like-minded. Difference is not the same as enmity. The reading says the estrangement is real, that it cannot be forced closed, and that the lines describe how misunderstandings dissolve when they are met with patience rather than suspicion.
The image. Fire above, the lake below; the wise person, amid all fellowship, retains individuality.
- Advice
- Accept the divergence, keep your own ground without hostility, and work on small things until understanding returns.
- Warning
- Suspicion turns a difference into an enmity; the lines show how much is lost by reading an ally as an enemy.
over
Structure: ☱ The Joyous (Lake) below, ☲ The Clinging (Fire) above. Nuclear hexagram 63, After Completion. Every line reversed: 39, Obstruction.
Hexagram 38 for love and relationships
You are at cross purposes and the pull is apart. Do not force closeness. Work on small things, let misunderstandings clear, and accept that difference is not the end of a bond. The lines end with suspicion dissolving and a reunion.
Hexagram 38 for career
Colleagues or partners diverging, priorities in conflict. Large joint projects will not work now; small cooperative steps can. Keep your own position clear without hostility and let the misreadings correct themselves.
Hexagram 38 for money
Disagreement about money or direction. Keep the stakes small until alignment returns. Do not let the difference become suspicion; that is what the hexagram warns turns an opposition into a rupture.
Hexagram 38 for decisions
Choose small, reversible steps rather than the big joint decision. The reading rules out large undertakings while the parties are opposed and supports modest progress on what can be agreed.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Isolated through opposition, one sees one's companion as a pig covered with dirt, as a wagon full of devils. One draws the bow, then lays it aside. Not a robber but a suitor. Going, rain falls, and good fortune comes.
Suspicion at its height, seeing an approaching friend as a monster, and then the recognition that dissolves it. The bow is drawn and lowered; the rain of release falls. The line is the whole hexagram resolved in a single scene.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 54, The Marrying Maiden. Read line 6 →
Remorse disappears. The companion bites through the wrappings. If one goes to him, how could it be a mistake?
A misunderstanding stripped away: the ally reveals themselves through the coverings that made them look otherwise, and the way to them is open. The line says to go; there is no error in it.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 10, Treading. Read line 5 →
Isolated through opposition, one meets a like-minded person with whom one can associate in good faith. Danger, but no blame.
Alone amid the estrangement, and then finding one person of the same mind. Trust between the two of them is what makes the danger survivable. The line values the single honest ally.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 41, Decrease. Read line 4 →
The wagon dragged back, the oxen halted, a man's hair and nose cut off. Not a good beginning, but a good end.
Everything goes wrong: obstruction, humiliation, injury. The line is unsparing about the start and firm about the end: hold to the person or purpose that is right, and the opposition lifts.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 14, Great Possession. Read line 3 →
One meets his lord in a narrow street. No blame.
An accidental meeting with the person you have been estranged from, in an informal setting. The formal channels are blocked; the chance encounter is not. The line approves of using it.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 21, Biting Through. Read line 2 →
Remorse disappears. If you lose your horse, do not run after it; it will come back. If you see evil people, guard against mistakes.
Something that belongs with you drifts away, and chasing it would drive it further. Let it return by itself. And meet those you distrust with caution rather than hostility; that is how errors are avoided.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 64, Before Completion. 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 38 mean?
- Fire and lake pulling apart: estrangement, and the small gains still possible when opposites understand their difference. Lake below, fire above: fire rises and water sinks, two sisters living together who cannot agree. Opposition describes divergence, misunderstanding, people at cross purposes. The tradition's judgement is modest: in small matters, good fortune. Nothing large can be done while the parties are pulling apart, but small things can, and the image offers the deeper point: the wise person retains individuality even among the like-minded. Difference is not the same as enmity. The reading says the estrangement is real, that it cannot be forced closed, and that the lines describe how misunderstandings dissolve when they are met with patience rather than suspicion.
- What does Hexagram 38 mean for love?
- You are at cross purposes and the pull is apart. Do not force closeness. Work on small things, let misunderstandings clear, and accept that difference is not the end of a bond. The lines end with suspicion dissolving and a reunion.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 38 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 64, Before Completion; line 2 gives Hexagram 21, Biting Through; line 3 gives Hexagram 14, Great Possession; line 4 gives Hexagram 41, Decrease; line 5 gives Hexagram 10, Treading; line 6 gives Hexagram 54, The Marrying Maiden. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 39, Obstruction.