Hexagram 45 · 泽地萃

Gathering Together

Metal · Dui palace

Assembly around a shared centre; prepare for what follows.

Meaning

A lake above the earth: water collecting in one place. Gathering Together concerns the assembly of people or resources around a common purpose.

Decision Framework

Gather around a clear centre, and prepare.

Decision Guidance

Gathering Together is a favourable reading about assembly. It appears when people, capital or capability are coming together around a purpose, and the collective presence has more force than the individuals alone.

The organising requirement is an obvious centre—a leader, a cause, a shared belief—that everyone present can orient around. Because gathering concentrates both strength and risk, the hexagram adds an unusual note of preparation: assembled energy is volatile, and it is worth spending part of it on being ready for the friction and events that follow.

Judgment — Classical Text

亨。王假有庙，利见大人。

EN Success. The king arrives at the temple; meeting the great person furthers — success, perseverance furthers. Use great offerings; it is favourable to set out.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

初六：有孚不终，乃乱乃萃。
EN Initial six: sincerity that does not last — disorder and gathering; if you cry out, one grasp of the hand brings laughter; do not grieve, going brings no blame.
六二：引吉，无咎，孚乃利用禴。
EN Six in the second: drawn along, good fortune, no blame; with sincerity even a small sacrifice is useful.
六三：萃如嗟如，无攸利。
EN Six in the third: gathering and sighing — nothing furthers; going brings no blame, only small regret.
九四：大吉，无咎。
EN Nine in the fourth: great good fortune, no blame.
九五：萃有位，无咎。
EN Nine in the fifth: gathering in his position — no blame; if there is no sincerity, lasting perseverance brings regret.
上六：赍咨涕洟，无咎。
EN Topmost six: sighing and weeping with tears and snivel — no blame.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 45, Gathering Together hexagram, Cui hexagram meaning, hexagram for community