Hexagram 59 — Dispersing
King Wen #59 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Dissolution of blockage. Like wind over water, sweep away separation and regroup.
What Hexagram 59 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 59 places water (坎) beneath wind (巽) — water finding its way through hard gaps below, gentle influence working inward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Dispersing”: dissolution of blockage. Like wind over water, sweep away separation and regroup. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
風行水上，渙；先王以享于帝立廟。
(The trigram representing) water and that for wind moving above the water form Hwân. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, presented offerings to God and established the ancestral temple.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Wind moves over water: dispersal. Ancient kings made offerings to the Lord on High and founded temples.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 59 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Dispersing describes dissolution of blockage. Like wind over water, sweep away separation and regroup — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: water finding its way through hard gaps, held inside a larger setting of gentle influence working inward. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Dispersing about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: dissolution of blockage. Like wind over water, sweep away separation and regroup. 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 59
What does 渙 (huàn) mean?
Hexagram 59 of the I Ching is named 渙 (huàn), usually rendered "Dispersing" in English editions. Its figure is built from water (坎) below and wind (巽) above — water finding its way through hard gaps beneath gentle influence working inward.
Is hexagram 59 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 59 is warm: it contains 2 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), and 2 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 59 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Dispersing points to dissolution of blockage. Like wind over water, sweep away separation and regroup. The figure pairs water (坎) beneath wind (巽) — water finding its way through hard gaps meeting gentle influence working inward — 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 59 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Dispersing through the figure itself: water (坎) below, wind (巽) above — water finding its way through hard gaps held inside gentle influence working inward. The plain reading: Dissolution of blockage. Like wind over water, sweep away separation and regroup. 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 59 mean?
A cast of hexagram 59 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 59 gives hexagram 55, 豐 (Abounding). 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 59 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 59 gives hexagram 55 — 豐 (Abounding). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 60 — 節 (Articulating). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 27 — 頤 (Swallowing).
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，王假有廟，利涉大川，利貞。
Huan intimates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and success. The king goes to his ancestral temple; and it will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to be firm and correct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
用拯馬壯，吉。
The first SIX, divided, shows its subject engaged in rescuing (from the impending evil) and having (the assistance of) a strong horse. There will be good fortune.
渙奔其機，悔亡。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject, amid the dispersion, hurrying to his contrivance (for security). All occasion for repentance will disappear.
渙其躬，無悔。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject discarding any regard to his own person. There will be no occasion for repentance.
渙其群，元吉；渙有丘，匪夷所思。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject scattering the (different) parties (in the state); which leads to great good fortune. From the dispersion (he collects again good men standing out, a crowd) like a mound, which is what ordinary men would not have thought of.
渙汗其大號，渙王居，無咎。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject amidst the dispersion issuing his great announcements as the perspiration (flows from his body). He scatters abroad (also) the accumulations in the royal granaries. There will be no error.
渙其血去逖出，無咎。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject disposing of (what may be called) its bloody wounds, and going and separating himself from its anxious fears. There will be no error.
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.