Hexagram 38 — Polarising
King Wen #38 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Small differences widen into estrangement. In division, look for the small common ground.
What Hexagram 38 Means 白话解读
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.
The Image 象傳
上火下澤，睽；君子以同而異。
(The trigram representing) fire above, and that for (the waters of) a marsh below, form Khwei. The superior man, in accordance with this, where there is a general agreement, yet admits diversity.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Fire above, marsh below: opposition. The wise keep unity while accepting difference.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 38 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Polarising describes small differences widen into estrangement. In division, look for the small common ground — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: joy lifting what it touches, held inside a larger setting of light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Polarising about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: small differences widen into estrangement. In division, look for the small common ground. When lines move in your cast, read them against this base — the moving lines show which part of the figure is awake for you, and the changed hexagram shows where it is heading.
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 is built from lake (兑) below and fire (离) above — joy lifting what it touches beneath light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates.
Is hexagram 38 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 38 is warm: it contains 2 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), and 4 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached (the text notes possible regret 悔 where the moment is mishandled).
What does hexagram 38 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Polarising points to small differences widen into estrangement. In division, look for the small common ground. The figure pairs lake (兑) beneath fire (离) — joy lifting what it touches meeting light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates — which is the traditional picture of how this energy behaves between two people. For how to phrase a love question before casting, see our guide to asking the I Ching about love.
What does hexagram 38 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Polarising through the figure itself: lake (兑) below, fire (离) above — joy lifting what it touches held inside light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. The plain reading: Small differences widen into estrangement. In division, look for the small common ground. The text carries 2 mentions of 吉 (good fortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 38 mean?
A cast of hexagram 38 can produce moving lines. Each of the six lines has its own statement (爻辭) in the classical text below, read from the bottom up, and a moving line is read as the part of the figure that is awake for your question. When a line moves it turns into its opposite, and the whole figure becomes a second hexagram: changing every line of 38 gives hexagram 39, 蹇 (Limping). Every line also has a page of its own on this site — Line 1 through Line 6 under this hexagram — with the classical Chinese and Legge's translation side by side.
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).
Cast it yourself
Shake the tube, watch your own coins fall.
- The hexagram's classical meaning — judgment and all six lines
- Moving lines marked — but not read for you
- No account, no email, nothing to pay
Get the reading, not just the text
Same cast, read all the way through:
- Every line read for you — what each moving line means inside your question
- The changed hexagram — where your situation is heading, and how to read the turn
- A closing that answers you directly — act, wait, or say it out loud
New to casting? How it works · All 64 hexagrams
Related Hexagrams 錯綜互
The Classical Text 經文
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.
Line by Line 逐爻细读
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text.2 The Image (象傳) is an ancient text in the public domain; its plain-English gloss here is original to The Hexagrams, not a quotation from any copyrighted edition. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.