I Ching · King Wen 45
Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
䷬ 萃 Cuì · also called Massing, Assembly, Clustering · The Joyous above The Receptive
The lake gathering on the earth: people assembling around a centre, with the resources to make the gathering matter.
assemblycommunitycentreofferingpreparedness
The meaning of Hexagram 45
Earth below, lake above: water collecting on the land, a reservoir. Gathering Together describes assembly: people collecting around a leader or a cause, resources pooled, a community formed. The tradition's judgement is that the king approaches his temple, that it furthers to see the great person, that persistence and a great offering bring success. Gathering needs a centre worth gathering around, and it needs sacrifice, meaning that those who assemble must bring something. The image adds preparation: where people gather, unexpected things happen, and the wise person renews their weapons. The reading is favourable to assembly and asks who is at the centre and what is being brought.
The image. The lake over the earth; the wise person renews their weapons to meet the unforeseen.
- Advice
- Gather around a worthy centre, bring a real offering, and be ready for what a gathering stirs up.
- Warning
- A gathering with no true centre, or with people who bring nothing, scatters as fast as it formed.
over
Structure: ☷ The Receptive (Earth) below, ☱ The Joyous (Lake) above. Nuclear hexagram 53, Development. Every line reversed: 26, Great Taming.
Hexagram 45 for love and relationships
Coming together, or bringing people together around the relationship: family, friends, community. The reading favours it, and asks each person to bring a real offering. It warns that gatherings produce the unexpected; be ready.
Hexagram 45 for career
Building a team or a coalition around a sound centre. The reading supports it strongly and asks for two things: a leader worth following and a genuine contribution from everyone. Prepare for what a crowd stirs up.
Hexagram 45 for money
Pooled resources, a fund, a shared venture. Favourable when the centre is trustworthy and the contributions real. Keep reserves for the unforeseen; gatherings have surprises.
Hexagram 45 for decisions
Decide to join or to convene, around a centre you have examined. Bring something to it. The reading supports assembly and asks for preparation against what it stirs.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Lamenting and sighing, floods of tears. No blame.
Someone who wanted to join and was misunderstood, and whose grief at being outside is genuine. The line clears them of blame and suggests that open sorrow, honestly shown, is what finally opens the door.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 12, Standstill. Read line 6 →
If in gathering together one has position, this brings no blame. If there are some not yet sincerely in the work, sublime and enduring persistence is needed; then remorse disappears.
The centre itself: someone with the standing to gather, who finds that not everyone has come sincerely. The remedy is not force but sustained, visible integrity, which eventually wins the doubtful.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm. Read line 5 →
Great good fortune. No blame.
Gathering people not for oneself but for the centre one serves. The one who assembles others in the name of something larger is greatly fortunate; the same assembly made for personal gain would be a danger.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 8, Holding Together. Read line 4 →
Gathering together amid sighs. Nothing that would further. Going is without blame. Slight humiliation.
Wanting to belong and finding no way in; the group has formed and you are outside it. The line's counsel is to attach yourself to someone at the centre, accepting the slight humiliation of asking. Better that than sighing at the edge.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 31, Influence. Read line 3 →
Letting oneself be drawn brings good fortune and remains blameless. If one is sincere, it furthers to bring even a small offering.
Being drawn into the gathering by a natural affinity rather than by pushing yourself in. Sincerity makes even a small contribution acceptable. The line prefers the honest small offering to the impressive empty one.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 47, Oppression. Read line 2 →
Sincere but not to the end; sometimes confusion, sometimes gathering. If you call out, after one grasp of the hand you can laugh again. Do not regret. Going is without blame.
Wanting to join but wavering, pulled by the crowd's confusion. The remedy is to ask for help from the person at the centre; one honest appeal restores the resolve. The line is kind about the wavering.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 17, Following. 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 45 mean?
- The lake gathering on the earth: people assembling around a centre, with the resources to make the gathering matter. Earth below, lake above: water collecting on the land, a reservoir. Gathering Together describes assembly: people collecting around a leader or a cause, resources pooled, a community formed. The tradition's judgement is that the king approaches his temple, that it furthers to see the great person, that persistence and a great offering bring success. Gathering needs a centre worth gathering around, and it needs sacrifice, meaning that those who assemble must bring something. The image adds preparation: where people gather, unexpected things happen, and the wise person renews their weapons. The reading is favourable to assembly and asks who is at the centre and what is being brought.
- What does Hexagram 45 mean for love?
- Coming together, or bringing people together around the relationship: family, friends, community. The reading favours it, and asks each person to bring a real offering. It warns that gatherings produce the unexpected; be ready.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 45 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 17, Following; line 2 gives Hexagram 47, Oppression; line 3 gives Hexagram 31, Influence; line 4 gives Hexagram 8, Holding Together; line 5 gives Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm; line 6 gives Hexagram 12, Standstill. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 26, Great Taming.