咸

31. Mutual influence

xián · Wind ☴ over Thunder ☳

Natural attraction — an influence born without words.

The Noble One's Path

A lake atop a mountain. The Noble One empties himself of prejudice, in order to truly receive another person — a necessary condition for Ren.

The Lesson

Let things happen naturally. True influence flows from authenticity, not from forceful persuasion.

A question to sit with

Am I trying to force closeness, or am I letting it come on its own?

Related hexagrams

In the I Ching no hexagram stands alone. Each one enters into relationships with others, and those relationships show the situation seen from the other side, in its opposite, and in its hidden tendency.

44. Unexpected encounter

姤

易

The classical deep dive for this hexagram — the Judgment and the Image after Richard Wilhelm — along with the texts of all six changing lines, is in the book. Get the book

卦

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