Hexagram 30 · 离为火

The Clinging Fire

Fire · Li palace

Attachment and clarity; brightness depends on what it clings to.

Meaning

Fire doubled: light that depends on what feeds it. The Clinging concerns attachment, clarity, and the things you depend on.

Decision Framework

Attach to what is right; keep the light steady.

Decision Guidance

The Clinging Fire is the hexagram of dependence and illumination. Fire has no independent existence; it burns on something. Its lesson is that clarity in a situation comes from what you choose to attach to—principles, people, commitments.

The practical reading concerns both kinds of attachment: choose what you rely on with care, and understand that your own brightness depends on maintaining it. The classical caution is against the flare that shows brilliantly and dies quickly. Sustained light comes from steady, well-chosen attachments rather than from intensity.

Judgment — Classical Text

利贞，亨。畜牝牛，吉。

EN Perseverance furthers, success. Raising a cow brings good fortune.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

初九：履错然，敬之无咎。
EN Initial nine: the steps are tangled — be reverent and there is no blame.
六二：黄离，元吉。
EN Six in the second: yellow brightness — supreme good fortune.
九三：日昃之离，不鼓缶而歌。
EN Nine in the third: brightness at the setting sun — not beating the pot and singing brings the sighing of the aged: misfortune.
九四：突如其来如，焚如，死如，弃如。
EN Nine in the fourth: coming suddenly, burning, dying, cast aside.
六五：出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。
EN Six in the fifth: tears flowing, lamenting — good fortune.
上九：王用出征，有嘉折首。
EN Topmost nine: the king goes to war, wins praise and takes heads — no blame.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 30, The Clinging hexagram, Li hexagram meaning, hexagram for clarity