Hexagram 58 — Open
King Wen #58 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
The lake beside the lake. Shared joy and open speech carry weight with others.
What Hexagram 58 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 58 places lake (兑) beneath lake (兑) — joy lifting what it touches below, joy lifting what it touches above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Open”: the lake beside the lake. Shared joy and open speech carry weight with others. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
麗澤，兌；君子以朋友講習。
(Two symbols representing) the waters of a marsh, one over the other, form Tui. The superior man, in accordance with this, (encourages) the conversation of friends and (the stimulus of) their (common) practice.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Marsh joined to marsh: joy. The wise discuss and study together with their friends.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 58 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Open describes the lake beside the lake. Shared joy and open speech carry weight with others — 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 joy lifting what it touches. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Open about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: the lake beside the lake. Shared joy and open speech carry weight with others. 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 58
What does 兌 (duì) mean?
Hexagram 58 of the I Ching is named 兌 (duì), usually rendered "Open" in English editions. Its figure is the doubled trigram lake (兑) — joy lifting what it touches above and below.
Is hexagram 58 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 58 is warm: it contains 2 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), 1 of 凶 (misfortune). 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 58 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Open points to the lake beside the lake. Shared joy and open speech carry weight with others. The figure pairs lake (兑) beneath lake (兑) — joy lifting what it touches meeting joy lifting what it touches — 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 58 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Open through the figure itself: lake (兑) below, lake (兑) above — joy lifting what it touches held inside joy lifting what it touches. The plain reading: The lake beside the lake. Shared joy and open speech carry weight with others. The text carries 2 mentions of 吉 (good fortune) and 1 of 凶 (misfortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 58 mean?
A cast of hexagram 58 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 58 gives hexagram 52, 艮 (Bound). 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 58 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 58 gives hexagram 52 — 艮 (Bound). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 57 — 巽 (Ground). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 37 — 家人 (Dwelling People).
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
亨，利貞。
Dui intimates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and attainment. (But) it will be advantageous to be firm and correct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
和兌，吉。
The first NINE, undivided, shows the pleasure of (inward) harmony. There will be good fortune.
孚兌，吉，悔亡。
The second NINE, undivided, shows the pleasure arising from (inward) sincerity. There will be good fortune. Occasion for repentance will disappear.
來兌，凶。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject bringing round himself whatever can give pleasure. There will be evil.
商兌未寧，介疾有喜。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject deliberating about what to seek his pleasure in, and not at rest. He borders on what would be injurious, but there will be cause for joy.
孚于剝，有厲。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject trusting in one who would injure him. The situation is perilous.
引兌。
The topmost SIX, divided, shows the pleasure of its subject in leading and attracting others.
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.