Transformation · lines 2, 3, and 5

Gathering with Equals becomes Opposites

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Fire above, a lake below: the two pull in different directions, and three lines move to bring them there. 13 Gathering with Equals speaks of kindred spirits and trust, of large projects built together. 38 Opposites, the resulting hexagram, speaks of being among people very different from you whom you still have to work with, so that only small things can be achieved for now. Holding both, this is fellowship across difference. Don't expect the easy agreement of like minds. Don't give in either, and don't try to make everyone the same. Keep your own nature and let others keep theirs, and look for the shared project where each can contribute from where they stand. Small results are honest results here. Joining with others while staying distinct is the skill this change asks you to practice.

What to read, in order

Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.

  1. The judgment of 13 Gathering with Equals

    It's a time of meetings with people of a high nature like yours, with whom you can carry out important tasks and projects. Relationships built on trust and mutual support take shape. Large, innovative projects are favored.

    Community in the open country. Success. It is favorable to cross the great river. The constancy of the noble person is favorable.

  2. The judgment of 38 Opposites

    You're in a situation of opposition: the people around you are different from you, yet you need to share with them. This means that what you can achieve for now is small. Even so, don't give in. It matters that both you and they keep your own nature and contribute from there to a shared project.

    In small matters, good fortune.

  3. Line 2 of 13 Gathering with Equals

    If you join with people who try to exclude others, the projects won't move forward.

    Community within the clan. Distress.

  4. Line 3 of 13 Gathering with Equals

    If you let distrust grow in your relationships and let the people in them hide things from each other, your actions will fail.

    Hiding soldiers in the brush, climbing the high hill. For three years, no rising.

  5. Line 5 of 13 Gathering with Equals

    The big differences seem impossible to bridge; still, with patience and a willing heart, union returns.

    Community: first wailing and cries, then laughter. The great armies manage to meet.

The trigrams

Below Fire Lake
Above Heaven Fire

The way back

38 Opposites → 13 Gathering with Equals
lines 2, 3, and 5

Other transformations of Gathering with Equals

Make your own cast

The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.

Toss the coins