睽
“Polarising” — King Wen #38
Small differences widen into estrangement. In division, look for the small common ground.
The Judgment 卦辞
小事吉。
Kui indicates that, (notwithstanding the condition of things which it denotes), in small matters there will (still) be good success.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
悔亡；喪馬勿逐，自復；見惡人，無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows that (to its subject) occasion for repentance will disappear. He has lost his horses, but let him not seek for them - they will return of themselves. Should he meet with bad men, he will not err (in communicating with them).
遇主于巷，無咎。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject happening to meet with his lord in a bye-passage. There will be no error.
見輿曳，其牛掣；其人天且劓。無初有終。
In the third SIX, divided, we see one whose carriage is dragged back, while the oxen in it are pushed back, and he is himself subjected to the shaving of his head and the cutting off of his nose. There is no good beginning, but there will be a good end.
睽孤，遇元夫，交孚，厲無咎。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (But) he meets with the good man (represented by the first line), and they blend their sincere desires together. The position is one of peril, but there will be no mistake.
悔亡，厥宗噬膚，往何咎？
The fifth SIX, divided, shows that (to its subject) occasion for repentance will disappear. With his relative (and minister he unites closely and readily) as if he were biting through a piece of skin. When he goes forward (with this help), what error can there be?
睽孤，見豕負塗，載鬼一車，先張之弧，後說之弧；匪寇婚媾，往遇雨則吉。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (In the subject of the third line, he seems to) see a pig bearing on its back a load of mud, (or fancies) there is a carriage full of ghosts. He first bends his bow against him, and afterwards unbends it, (for he discovers) that he is not an assailant to injure, but a near relative. Going forward, he shall meet with (genial) rain, and there will be good fortune.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 38 places lake (兑) beneath fire (离) —joy lifting what it touches below, light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Polarising”:small differences widen into estrangement. In division, look for the small common ground Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 38
What does 睽 (kuí) mean?
Hexagram 38 of the I Ching is named 睽 (kuí), usually rendered "Polarising" in English editions. Its figure pairs lake (兑) below with fire (离) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 38?
离 (Fire) sits above and 兑 (Lake) sits below — the classical picture is joy lifting what it touches beneath light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates.
How is hexagram 38 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 38 gives hexagram 39 — 蹇 (Limping). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 37 — 家人 (Dwelling People). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 63 — 既濟 (Already Fording).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.