Hexagram 6 changing to 59: Conflict to Dispersion

Where it starts: 6 Conflict

A dispute you are sincere in but cannot win outright: meet halfway, and take advice before going further. Water below, heaven above: the two move in opposite directions and cannot meet. Conflict describes a disagreement that has hardened, where you may be in the right and still cannot carry it through by force. The tradition is specific: sincerity matters, obstruction is real, stopping halfway brings good fortune and pushing to the end brings misfortune. It recommends seeing the great person, meaning someone impartial who can arbitrate, and it says plainly that this is not the time to cross the great water, not the time for large undertakings.

Where it goes: 59 Dispersion

Wind over water dissolving what has frozen: egotism, rigidity and division scattered, and people gathered again around what is sacred. Water below, wind above: wind moving over water, breaking up the ice and scattering the mist. Dispersion describes the dissolving of what has hardened: selfishness that separates people, blockages in feeling, factions in a group. The tradition's judgement is that the king approaches his temple, that it furthers to cross the great water, and that persistence furthers. The dispersion of division is followed by a gathering around something shared and sacred. The reading says the time is for dissolving what divides, in yourself first, and that large undertakings become possible once the ice has broken.

The lines that move

1. Line 4

   Unable to win, one turns back and accepts fate. Changing one's attitude brings peace.

   The stronger party who realises that pressing the advantage would be wrong. Turning back voluntarily, and changing how you regard the dispute, brings a settled peace that winning would not have. Stand down from a fight you could win but should not.

What is changing. The situation of Conflict is moving toward Dispersion. Stop the dispute halfway, seek an impartial view, and start nothing large until it is settled. As the change completes: Dissolve what divides, beginning with your own rigidity, and gather people again around what is shared.

love and relationships

Now: An argument in which both of you feel right. Winning it is not available. The reading asks you to stop before the point of no return, to bring in a fair outside view if you need one, and to look at how the disagreement began. Then: Something frozen between you is ready to thaw. Dissolve your own hardness first: the pride, the grievance, the position you have been holding. Then gather again around what you share. The reading is favourable to reconciliation and to the large step afterwards.

career

Now: A conflict with a colleague, client or employer. Do not escalate to the end. Document your position, stay sincere, seek a neutral arbiter, and settle at the halfway point where you can. Then: Breaking up factions, thawing a frozen team, dissolving the egotism that has separated people. The reading favours the leader who does this by gathering people around a shared purpose rather than by force, and it supports a large undertaking once the division is gone.

money

Now: A dispute over money, or a deal going sour. The reading warns against litigation to the finish and against new ventures while the dispute is open. Settle if you can; do not expand while you fight. Then: Dispersing accumulated blockages: stuck capital, hoarded resources, rigid arrangements. The reading favours letting resources flow toward a shared purpose, and supports the big move once they do.

decisions

Now: Do not decide in the heat of the conflict, and do not commit to anything large while it runs. The choice that lets you stop halfway with dignity is the better one. Then: Choose the option that dissolves division and reunites people around something they hold in common. The reading supports crossing the great water after the ice breaks; decide in that order.