Hexagram 44 of 64
姤 Gòu · Coming to Meet
上 乾 Heaven (Qián) over 下 巽 Wind (Xùn)
When you meet it, look well before you speak.
Judgment
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, judgment. English translation in preparation.
Image
In short: wind under heaven.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, Great Image. Short gloss by Koyonari; full translation in preparation.
Commentary
Gòu is wind under heaven: wind arising from below, an encounter happening suddenly. Gòu speaks of looking clearly when you meet: do not rush to label it, nor rush to turn away; let it show its shape first. The people and matters appearing today have not yet settled into form; premature judgments will likely have to change.
Koyonari commentary.
The Six Lines
“Tied to a bronze brake: perseverance brings good fortune. If one goes anywhere, misfortune appears: a lean pig leaps and kicks.” Binding it with a sturdy metal carriage stopper brings good fortune through holding to what is right; letting it advance reveals danger. The metal stopper is a device for stopping a carriage, and the pig is lean and weak. Here fú means certainly, and the final expression means restless jumping. Even a weak pig remains restless, illustrating that a newly emerging, weak force cannot be left unchecked.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 1. Koyonari translation.
“Tied to a bronze brake: the yielding way pulls forward.” The line statement speaks of fastening it to a bronze brake because the yielding yin pulls forward, requiring a bronze brake (a carriage stop) to restrain it. Another view takes qiān as tethering, meaning yielding yin ought naturally to be restrained.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 2. Koyonari translation.
“Fish in the kitchen bag: no blame. Not favorable for guests.” A fish in the bundle brings no blame, meaning no fault, but serving it to guests is unfavorable. The fish represents the first line, a weak yin line. The second line can contain and restrain it without fault for now, but letting it reach outsiders such as guests is unfavorable.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 3. Koyonari translation.
“Fish in the wrapping: duty reaches not to guests.” The text notes fish in the wrapping, which by duty should not reach guests. The fish denotes Initial Six’s single yin, which Nine in the second place wraps with firm yang, preventing it from affecting others.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 4. Koyonari translation.
“Skin flayed from the buttocks, walking haltingly. Danger, yet no great blame.” The buttocks seem injured and stripped of skin, making sitting uncomfortable and walking hesitant and difficult. The expression for halting movement describes difficulty in making progress; danger denotes a perilous situation. Though the circumstances are difficult and dangerous, no great blame means there is no major fault.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 5. Koyonari translation.
“Walking falteringly: walking is not yet pulled along.” Walking with hesitation occurs because one has not yet attached to someone to rely on, making advance or retreat uncertain. Another view holds that Nine in the third place has not yet been entangled by Initial Six, so despite danger, no great blame ensues.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 6. Koyonari translation.
“No fish in the kitchen bag: misfortune arises.” The fourth line originally corresponds to the first, but the fish is now in the second line's bundle. An empty bundle means losing someone to encounter: those above have become distant from those below. In the phrase about misfortune arising, qǐ means initiating action. Wáng Bì reads it as misfortune if action is taken now; Chéng Yí reads it as danger about to arise. The readings are similar.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 7. Koyonari translation.
“The misfortune of having no fish: distancing oneself from the people.” The line statement says that having no fish in the wrapping brings misfortune because Nine in the fourth place, as an upper minister, distances itself from the common people below; losing their backing and reliance, misfortune naturally arises.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 8. Koyonari translation.
“Wrapping melons in willow leaves, concealing inner luster: something falls from heaven.” Wrapping and protecting a melon with qǐ wood symbolizes someone in a high position embracing those below. Holding beauty within means keeping fine virtues inside; something falling from heaven means that something descends from the sky. This passage connects inner virtue with an encounter arising from heaven's will.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 9. Koyonari translation.
“Nine in the fifth place holds beauty within: central and correct. Something falls from heaven: the will does not abandon destiny.” Concealing inner virtue comes from being central and upright; something descends from heaven because the will never abandons heaven’s mandate.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 10. Koyonari translation.
“Meeting with its horns: regret, yet no blame.” Meeting others as if with a hard horn makes closeness and harmony difficult. At the top of Gòu, firmness has reached its extreme, hence humiliation, here conveying constraint and something regrettable. Yet there is still no blame, meaning no fault. A troubled encounter and the presence of fault are judged separately here.
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 11. Koyonari translation.
“Encountering at the horns: at the top, exhausted, there is hardship.” Meeting at the horns occurs because Top Nine is at the utmost top and has reached the limit of exhaustion, thus bringing hardship (lìn, a slight cause for regret).
Zhouyi, hexagram 44, line 12. Koyonari translation.