The name 名
Guài 夬 is cognate with jué 決: a river breaking through its dyke. From that image comes the sense of decisive breakthrough. What has accumulated past bearing must finally give way, and the decision can no longer be put off.
The image 象
Heaven below, the Lake above: water raised higher than the sky, like a reservoir about to burst its wall. Five yang lines push up from beneath against a single yin perched at the top, five exemplary people combining to remove one petty person who still holds a lofty seat. One step beyond Dàzhuàng 大壯, it is the waxing-and-waning hexagram of the third lunar month, the end of spring.
Layers of images 層
A gua can be read on several levels at once: the trigrams as members of a family (father, mother, eldest to youngest sons and daughters), the six lines as ranks in an organisation (from newcomer to ruler), and as forces of nature and animals. Each extra level adds meaning to the line texts.
Read as a family
Below is Qián, the father; above is Duì, the youngest daughter. Five yang lines hold up the structure, and only one yin line sits on top, as if all the household’s strength were below while the youngest perches above, keeping her place with a clever tongue (Duì is the mouth). Everyone joins to ask her to step down; right is on their side, but the method must still be open and measured, not mere force.
Line 3, “strength in the cheekbones brings misfortune… walking alone he meets rain, gets wet and is resented”: lines 2–4 and 3–5 are both nuclear Qián, strength upon strength, and only Line 3 corresponds with the top yin. While everyone means to remove her, this line alone has a private tie to her; it goes alone, gets soaked, and its comrades resent it. Only a clear stance avoids being misread.
Line 4, “no flesh on the buttocks, walking haltingly; lead the sheep and regret vanishes”: Duì is the sheep. An old story says a judge facing a hard case would bring out a ram, and whomever it butted was guilty, so the sheep came to stand for decision. Line 4, yang in a yin place, can neither sit still nor walk well; rather than force things alone, it should follow the group the way one leads a sheep, and regret disappears.
Line 5, “the purslane is cut and cut again; walking the middle, no blame”: the ruler’s seat is right beside the top line, closest to the one to be removed. Purslane is a soft weed that grows back easily, so it must be cleared again and again. A ruler dealing with someone close is easily too harsh or too soft, hence the stress on the middle way: decisive but not excessive.
Inverted, Guài becomes Gòu: again five yang and one yin, but the yin sits at the opposite end. In Guài it is at the top, about to be removed; in Gòu it is at the bottom, just walking in. As soon as one problem is cleared, the next is sprouting below: after removing one petty person, remember to watch the door.
Lines 2–4 and 3–5 of Guài are both Qián, so its nuclear hexagram is pure Qián. Inside it is all strength, and that is exactly the danger: too much force easily becomes rule by force. The judgment says “it does not favour taking up arms,” a reminder that decision should come through open declaration and reason, not violence.
In sequence 序
益而不已，必決，故受之以夬； 夬者決也。
The Xugua: increase that never stops must burst, so Guài follows Yì 益, Increase; Guài means to break through. Gain piled on gain eventually spills over like a river over its banks, and Guài is that breaking point.
The judgment 辭
夬：揚于王庭，孚號，有厲，告自邑，不利即戎，利有攸往。
Proclaim it in the king's court; cry out in good faith, for there is danger; announce it from your own city; it does not pay to take up arms; it is favorable to go forward. The lone yin sits above the ruler, in the court itself. To remove such a person, his faults must first be made public so that the act is legitimate; otherwise he will not go, or will leave a tangle of secrets behind. The advantage already lies with the five, so force is needless. Keep advancing and the last yin gives way, leaving pure Qián 乾.
Commentary on the judgment 彖
彖曰：夬，決也，剛決柔也。健而說，決而和，揚于王庭，柔乘五剛也。孚號有厲，其危乃光也。告自邑，不利即戎，所尚乃窮也。利有攸往，剛長乃終也。
The Tuan reads Guài as the firm resolving the yielding, and adds: strong yet pleased, resolute yet harmonious. The will must be firm, but the means can be mild, since the advantage is already secured. Bringing the danger into the light lets everyone see that no injustice is done; and when the firm has fully grown it comes to an end, so even this triumph is only a phase.
The great image 象
象曰：澤上于天，夬；君子以施祿及下，居德則忌。
“The lake above heaven: Guài. The noble person bestows benefits on those below, and shuns presuming upon his own virtue.” Water held high should fall as rain on everyone, so rewards are shared downward. Yet to advertise generosity as virtue invites flattery; a truly virtuous person remembers that he is ordinary and has flaws of his own.
The six lines 爻
Ruling line In a hexagram of five yang and one yin, the rare line defines the whole, so the top yin is the ruling line; the judgment's court and outcry are about it. The line with real power to act against it is the fifth, directly beneath.
The path of the six lines, bottom to top
Line 1 charges ahead at the start, all strength in the toes, and without enough power it is bound to fail. Line 2 stays alert and guarded even at night, so there is nothing to fear. Line 3, at the top of the lower trigram, alone has a private tie to the top line; going alone it is misread and must hold a firm stance. Line 4, entering the upper trigram, can neither sit nor walk at ease and had best follow the group rather than push. Line 5, right beside the yin, cuts decisively while keeping to the middle. The top line, the one being removed, finds that no cry helps; the end is misfortune.
初九壯于前趾，往不勝為咎。
In plain words
Strength in the advancing toes; to go forward without being able to prevail is a fault.
Close reading
Yang in a yang place, correctly positioned at the base of Qián, it itches to move. But it has no resonance with the fourth line, and four yang lines stand between it and the target at the top. Dàzhuàng's first line spoke of strength in the toes; here it is the advancing toes, the urge sharper still. The Xiao Xiang is blunt: to go when one cannot win is one's own fault.
If you drew this line
The time is not ripe and your strength is not enough. Like the hidden dragon, hold still; striking now only wastes the effort.
九二惕號，莫夜有戎，勿恤。
In plain words
Alert and calling out; there may be armed raiders in the night, but have no anxiety.
Close reading
Yang in a yin place, not correctly positioned, yet central in the lower trigram, firm but tempered; it has no resonance with the fifth. Because the movement runs upward, the line borrows from the third line of Qián, vigilant at nightfall: 莫 is dusk, 惕 that vigilance, while the outcry and the arms echo the judgment. The Xiao Xiang gives the reason for calm: it has found the middle way, so an alarm does not throw it into disorder.
If you drew this line
Stay watchful and prepared, but not alarmed. Hold to the middle and even an alarm in the night will not harm you.
九三壯于頄，有凶。君子夬夬，獨行遇雨，若濡有慍，无咎。
In plain words
Strength showing in the cheekbones brings misfortune. The noble person, resolute and resolute again, goes alone and meets the rain; drenched, he is resented, yet there is no blame.
Close reading
Yang in a yang place at the top of Qián, this line has the most force, and of the five yang lines it alone resonates with the top yin, so it is the one most bound, and most eager, to deal with the common adversary. Strength in the cheekbones is intent written on the face; once the plan shows, it fails. Going alone toward its counterpart, yin and yang meet beneath the Lake and rain falls; companions who see it in contact with the enemy suspect collusion. The Xiao Xiang promises that resolve held firm is in the end without blame.
One level deeper
Line 3, “strength in the cheekbones brings misfortune… walking alone he meets rain, gets wet and is resented”: lines 2–4 and 3–5 are both nuclear Qián, strength upon strength, and only Line 3 corresponds with the top yin. While everyone means to remove her, this line alone has a private tie to her; it goes alone, gets soaked, and its comrades resent it. Only a clear stance avoids being misread.
If you drew this line
If you mean to accomplish something, keep your counsel and your composure. Contact with the other side may make allies suspicious; bear it calmly, keep your stance clear, and it will be cleared up.
Liu Bei drops his chopsticks
Late in the Eastern Han, when Cao Cao dominated the court, the general Dong Cheng claimed to have received a secret edict from Emperor Xian, sewn into a sash, ordering Cao's death, and Liu Bei joined the plot. Before they acted, Cao remarked to Liu over a meal that the only true heroes in the realm were Liu and himself. Liu dropped his spoon and chopsticks. Soon afterwards he left the capital at the head of troops; the plot was later discovered and Dong Cheng and the others were executed. A hidden purpose nearly showed on a face at a single remark, and the scheme failed once it leaked: strength in the cheekbones, and misfortune.
九四臀无膚，其行次且。牽羊悔亡，聞言不信。
In plain words
No skin on the buttocks, walking falteringly. Let yourself be led like a sheep and regret vanishes, but you will not believe what you hear.
Close reading
Yang in a yin place, misplaced, it cannot sit at ease; with no resonance from the first line, it can neither stay nor go. The Lake trigram is the sheep: if it would consent to be led instead of insisting on its own plan, regret would disappear. Yet the third line resonates with the top yin and the fifth stands next to it, each tied to the ruling line, while the fourth has nothing to hold on to. Its hearing is dull, says the Xiao Xiang, so good advice does not get through.
One level deeper
Line 4, “no flesh on the buttocks, walking haltingly; lead the sheep and regret vanishes”: Duì is the sheep. An old story says a judge facing a hard case would bring out a ram, and whomever it butted was guilty, so the sheep came to stand for decision. Line 4, yang in a yin place, can neither sit still nor walk well; rather than force things alone, it should follow the group the way one leads a sheep, and regret disappears.
If you drew this line
When your footing is awkward and your means insufficient, follow someone trustworthy rather than forcing your own plan, and above all, truly listen to the advice you are given.
九五莧陸夬夬，中行无咎。
In plain words
Resolute and resolute again, like the mountain goat; walking the middle way, no blame.
Close reading
Yang in a yang place, central and correct, in the ruler's seat and directly beneath the top yin, which rides upon it. The task of removing that line falls here, so this line too is resolute, resolute. 莧陸 is read as a slender-horned mountain goat, taking up the sheep of the fourth line; in old lore the goat could butt the guilty, hence its decisiveness. Yet the Xiao Xiang says the middle is not yet shining: even from the throne it achieves only blamelessness, because the yin cannot be removed at once.
One level deeper
Line 5, “the purslane is cut and cut again; walking the middle, no blame”: the ruler’s seat is right beside the top line, closest to the one to be removed. Purslane is a soft weed that grows back easily, so it must be cleared again and again. A ruler dealing with someone close is easily too harsh or too soft, hence the stress on the middle way: decisive but not excessive.
If you drew this line
You hold the position and the responsibility. Be decisive and centered, neither harsh nor indulgent. The matter is not finished; aim for blamelessness and let the time ripen.
At odds with a superior
Someone working at a newspaper, unable to get along with a superior and thinking of quitting, drew this line. In Guài the lone yin at the top is already on its way out as the lines rise from below, a sign that the deadlock need not last; the task was simply to stay centered and upright. Whether that superior was really a petty person is a matter of perspective, and someone difficult in one matter may prove a benefactor in another. Besides, if one cannot endure a hard boss, how will one carry heavier burdens later? Walking the middle means keeping one's own path straight and staying close to people of integrity.
上六无號，終有凶。
In plain words
No more crying out; in the end, misfortune.
Close reading
Yin in a yin place, correctly positioned and resonating with the third line, yet perched above five firm lines at the very top of the Lake, the mouth. It would cry out, but crying no longer helps. The Xiao Xiang says it cannot last: this misfortune is fixed by time and position. The five are rising, the hexagram is ending, and the yin must step down, not necessarily for any fresh misdeed.
If you drew this line
The tide has turned; arguing or pleading will not change it. Leaving with grace is wiser than clinging on.
Stories 典
Gao Yao and the goat that knew the guilty
Tradition holds that under the sage-king Shun, Gao Yao served as minister of justice. In the Mencius, Tao Ying poses a hard case: if Shun's father killed a man, what then? Mencius answers that Gao Yao would simply arrest him. Gao Yao is law embodied. Wang Chong's Lunheng records a further tale: a one-horned goat could sense guilt by nature, and when a case was doubtful Gao Yao had it butt the accused; it struck the guilty and spared the innocent. It sounds risky today, for what if the goat charged at random? Yet the legend shows the old belief that the goat could expose wrongdoing, and how hard right and wrong are to settle, when each party pleads sincerely and believes itself in the right. Guài takes the goat as its emblem of resolve, asking for firmness joined with care in exactly such a world.
From knotted cords to writing
The Great Commentary says that in high antiquity people governed by knotting cords, and later sages replaced them with written tallies, by which officials kept order and the people could see clearly, an idea drawn from Guài. The upper trigram is the mouth, speech; the lower is metal; words incised in metal, and writing is born. With writing, experience can be handed down, orders have a record, and people can check whether today is better than yesterday. Guài's call to proclaim the matter in the court belongs to the same spirit: a decision stands only when it is written plainly and set out in the open.
Insight 悟
Guài is about the last mile. When things are going your way, two errors tempt: softness, thinking the lone opponent need not be finished off, and haste, wanting to use force at once. The judgment points to a third path: open and legitimate, firm yet gentle. The Zuozhuan says evil must be pulled up by the root lest it grow again, but once the outcome is settled the means can be mild. Those above should share benefits without parading their virtue. And the six lines show that the same effort yields very different results depending on position and timing: wait when it is time to wait, endure when it is time to endure, withdraw when it is time to withdraw.