Hexagram 45 of 64
萃
Gathering Together
Cuì
Upper Trigram
兌
Lake
Joyous, Open
Lake · Youngest Daughter
Lower Trigram
坤
Earth
Receptive, Yielding
Ground · Mother
The Judgment
Gathering Together. Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers to see the great person. This brings success. Perseverance furthers. To bring great offerings creates good fortune. It furthers to undertake something.
The lake rising above the earth — gathering and accumulation. This is a time when people and energies converge. Such convergence requires a worthy center, a clear purpose, and careful preparation for the unexpected.
The Image
Over the earth, the lake — the image of Gathering Together. Thus the superior person renews their weapons in order to meet the unforeseen.
A great gathering requires practical preparation, not just spiritual readiness. Maintain your instruments of discernment and protection against what might arise.
The Six Lines
Line 1
If you are sincere, but not to the end, there is sometimes confusion, sometimes gathering together. If you call out, then after one grasp of the hand you can laugh again. Regret not. Going is without blame.
Sincerity that wavers creates confusion in a gathering. Reach out, reconnect, laugh together — the confusion is temporary.
Line 2
Letting oneself be drawn brings good fortune and remains blameless. If one is sincere, it furthers to bring even a small offering.
Being drawn toward the gathering through genuine resonance — and offering something sincere, however small — creates blameless connection.
Line 3
Gathering together amid sighs. Nothing that would further. Going is without blame. Slight humiliation.
Joining a group where one does not fully belong is awkward and mildly humiliating, but there is no moral fault in trying.
Line 4
Great good fortune. No blame.
When one's gathering serves the greater good rather than personal advantage, good fortune flows without obstruction.
Line 5
If in gathering together one has position, this brings no blame. If there are some who are not yet sincerely in the work, sublime and enduring perseverance is needed.
Leadership in a gathering requires both genuine authority and patient, enduring effort to bring all participants into genuine alignment.
Line 6
Lamenting and sighing, floods of tears. No blame.
Grief at being excluded from the gathering is real and human. It carries no blame. This pain itself signals genuine longing for connection.
For contemplation and self-reflection only. Not a substitute for professional advice.