離Brightness (Fire)
líAlso known as “The Clinging” (Wilhelm/Baynes) and “Lî” (Legge)
In plain words
Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
The attitude it asks for
Shine by illuminating others, and keep your dependence — on fuel, on people — conscious and gracious.
Structure
Related hexagrams
Nuclear28 · 大過 Great Excessdà guòInverse: its own inverse
Opposite29 · 坎 The Pit (Water)kǎnPaired with29 · 坎 The Pit (Water)kǎn卦辭 The Judgment
離：利貞，亨。畜牝牛，吉。Lî indicates that, (in regard to what it denotes), it will be advantageous to be firm and correct, and that thus there will be free course and success. Let (its subject) also nourish (a docility like that of) the cow, and there will be good fortune.
離，麗也；日月麗乎天，百穀草木麗乎土，重明以麗乎正，乃化成天下。柔麗乎中正，故亨；是以畜牝牛吉也。Lî means being attached to. The sun and moon have their place in the sky. All the grains, grass, and trees have their place on the earth. The double brightness (of the two trigrams) adheres to what is correct, and the result is the transforming and perfecting all under the sky. The weak (second line) occupies the middle and correct position, and gives the indication of 'a free and successful course;' and, moreover, 'nourishing (docility like that of) the cow' will lead to good fortune.
明兩作離，大人以繼明照于四方。(The trigram for) brightness, repeated, forms Lî. The great man, in accordance with this, cultivates more and more his brilliant (virtue), and diffuses its brightness over the four quarters (of the land).
爻辭 The six lines
When one line moves, the hexagram becomes another:
- 上九Nine at the top
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。
The topmost line, undivided, shows the king employing its subject in his punitive expeditions. Achieving admirable (merit), he breaks (only) the chiefs (of the rebels). Where his prisoners were not their associates, he does not punish. There will be no error.
Its symbolism 王用出征，以正邦也。
'The king employs him in his punitive expeditions:'—the object is to bring the regions to a correct state.
- 六五Six in the fifth place
出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。
The fifth line, divided, shows its subject as one with tears flowing in torrents, and groaning in sorrow. There will be good fortune.
Its symbolism 六五之吉，離王公也。
'The good fortune attached to the fifth line, divided,' is due to its occupying the place of a king or a prince.
- 九四Nine in the fourth place
突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。
The fourth line, undivided, shows the manner of its subject's coming. How abrupt it is, as with fire, with death, to be rejected (by all)!
Its symbolism 突如其來如，无所容也。
'How abrupt is the manner of his coming!'—none can bear with him.
- 九三Nine in the third place
日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之嗟，凶。
The third line, undivided, shows its subject in a position like that of the declining sun. Instead of playing on his instrument of earthenware, and singing to it, he utters the groans of an old man of eighty. There will be evil.
Its symbolism 日昃之離，何可久也。
'A position like that of the declining sun:'—how can it continue long?
- 六二Six in the second place
黃離，元吉。
The second line, divided, shows its subject in his place in yellow. There will be great good fortune.
Its symbolism 黃離元吉，得中道也。
'The great good fortune (from the subject of the second line) occupying his place in yellow' is owing to his holding the course of the due mean.
- 初九Nine at the beginning
履錯然，敬之无咎。
The first line, undivided, shows one ready to move with confused steps. But he treads at the same time reverently, and there will be no mistake.
Its symbolism 履錯之敬，以辟咎也。
'The reverent attention directed to his confused steps' is the way by which error is avoided.
Shown in the classical Chinese with James Legge's English (1882).
Read 離 Brightness (Fire) for a question about
古籍
From the classics
Two of the Ten Wings speak of every hexagram: the Sequence (Xù Guà) says why it follows the one before, the Miscellany (Zá Guà) sums it up in a phrase. Here is what they say of 離 lí · Brightness (Fire).
陷必有所麗，故受之以離；離者麗也。Falling, one is sure to cling to something; therefore Lí follows. Lí means clinging.
iching.tools translation (from the Chinese)
離上，而坎下也。Lí goes up, and Kǎn goes down.
iching.tools translation (from the Chinese)
The classical Chinese is the authoritative text. Translations are iching.tools' own from the Chinese unless another translator is named; several attributions are traditional rather than historical (託名).
Questions about this hexagram
- What does Hexagram 30, Brightness (Fire), mean?
- Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
- Which trigrams form Brightness (Fire)?
- 離 above 離 — fire over fire. Its nuclear hexagram (lines 2–5) is 大過 Great Excess.
- What happens when a line of Brightness (Fire) changes?
- A moving line turns the hexagram into another one; the list above shows all six. With several moving lines, the guide to changing lines explains which text to read.
- How do I get Brightness (Fire) in a reading?
- Build six lines from the bottom up with three coins or yarrow stalks; the pattern — - - — — - - — is Brightness (Fire). You can also cast a reading here — the lines are decided by code, the text is this page's.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).