解
“Taking-Apart” — King Wen #40
Release. The knot loosens — forgive quickly, return to the ordinary, and move on.
The Judgment 卦辞
利西南。無所往，其來復吉。有攸往，夙吉。
In (the state indicated by) Jie advantage will be found in the south-west. If no (further) operations be called for, there will be good fortune in coming back (to the old conditions). If some operations be called for, there will be good fortune in the early conducting of them.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
無咎。
The first SIX, divided, shows that its subject will commit no error.
田獲三狐，得黃矢；貞吉。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject catch, in hunting, three foxes, and obtain the yellow (= golden) arrows. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
負且乘，致寇至，貞吝。
The third SIX, divided, shows a porter with his burden, (yet) riding in a carriage. He will (only) tempt robbers to attack him. However firm and correct he may (try to) be, there will be cause for regret.
解而拇，朋至斯孚。
(To the subject of) the fourth NINE, undivided, (it is said), 'Remove your toes. Friends will (then) come, between you and whom there will be mutual confidence.'
君子維有解，吉，有孚于小人。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows (its subject), the superior man (= the ruler), executing his function of removing (whatever is injurious to the idea of the hexagram), in which case there will he good fortune, and confidence in him will be shown even by the small men.
公用射隼于高墉之上，獲之，無不利。
In the sixth SIX, divided, we see a feudal prince (with his bow) shooting at a falcon on the top of a high wall, and hitting it. (The effect of his action) will be in every way advantageous.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 40 places water (坎) beneath thunder (震) —water finding its way through hard gaps below, movement breaking out of stillness above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Taking-Apart”:release. The knot loosens — forgive quickly, return to the ordinary, and move on Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 40
What does 解 (jiě) mean?
Hexagram 40 of the I Ching is named 解 (jiě), usually rendered "Taking-Apart" in English editions. Its figure pairs water (坎) below with thunder (震) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 40?
震 (Thunder) sits above and 坎 (Water) sits below — the classical picture is water finding its way through hard gaps beneath movement breaking out of stillness.
How is hexagram 40 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 40 gives hexagram 37 — 家人 (Dwelling People). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 39 — 蹇 (Limping). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 63 — 既濟 (Already Fording).
Ask your own question
Reading about hexagram 40 is looking it up. Casting it — shaking the tube, watching your own coins fall — is how an answer becomes yours.
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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.