Dispersion
- In Chinese
- 渙 huàn
- Above
- The Gentle, wind
- Below
- The Abysmal, water
Did you get this hexagram?
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Mark my castWhat hexagram 59 means
Hexagram 59 is wind moving over water. Legge says the name “denotes a state of dissipation or dispersion”, and that it describes first of all minds drawn away from what is right and good.
The judgment is favorable. In Legge it speaks of “progress and success”, sends the king to his ancestral temple and finds it “advantageous to cross the great stream”.
None of the six lines ends in a warning. The first and the fourth end in good fortune, and the other four end without repentance or without error.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
渙亨。王假有廟。利涉大川，利貞。
DISPERSION. Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers one to cross the great water. Perseverance furthers.
success things flow and come throughit furthers it is favorable
The image
風行水上，《渙》。先王以享于帝，立廟。
The wind drives over the water: The image of DISPERSION. Thus the kings of old sacrificed to the Lord And built temples.
What the commentaries say
Legge explains the picture behind the name. “Wind moving over water seems to disperse it, and awakes naturally in the beholder the idea of dissipation.”
He also says where the dispersion leads and what the hexagram is for. The alienation of minds goes on to disorder, and “an attempt is made to show how it should be dealt with and remedied”.
The commentary on the judgment reads the king's visit to the temple as the sign of a steady mind. In its words “the king's (mind) is without any deflection”. For the success it points to the lines themselves, and Legge sums that up as “the strong lines occupying the central places”.
Legge reads the temple as sincerity. The king goes there “to meet with the spirits of his ancestors”, and it is the sincerity of his filial piety that moves them. “Let filial piety--in our language, let sincere religion--rule in men's minds, and there will be no alienation in them from what is right and good or from one another.”
The same old commentary gives the crossing of the great stream a picture. The subject of the hexagram “rides in (a vessel of) wood (over water), and will do so with success”.
The commentary on the image turns the wind over the water into an act of worship. The ancient kings “presented offerings to God and established the ancestral temple”. Wilhelm has that they “sacrificed to the Lord And built temples”.
The six lines
First line
用拯馬壯，吉。
He brings help with the strength of a horse. Good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The trouble is still small here. Legge notes that “the evil has not yet made great progress, and that dealing with it will be easy”. The subject of the line is weak and cannot cope alone, so he finds help in a strong horse. Legge reports that the horse is understood as a figure for the strong second line. The line ends in good fortune, which the commentary puts down to “the natural course (pursued by its subject)”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 61, Inner Truth
Second line
渙奔其机，悔亡。
At the dissolution He hurries to that which supports him. Remorse disappears.
remorse disappears regret fades away
This is a strong line in the lower trigram, whose attribute in Legge's note is peril. The text shows its subject “hurrying to his contrivance (for security)”, and Wilhelm has “He hurries to that which supports him”. Legge reads that he looks to the first line below him and “takes shelter in union” with it. The text closes with “All occasion for repentance will disappear”, and the commentary adds that “he gets what he desires”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 20, Contemplation
Third line
渙其躬，无悔。
He dissolves his self. No remorse.
no remorse there is nothing to regret
The subject of this line lets go of regard for himself. The commentary gives the direction of that move, since “his aim is directed to what is external to himself”. Wilhelm puts the line in four words, “He dissolves his self.”
Legge fears a self-regard that would keep this weak line from serving, but its subject “discards that regard, and will do nothing to be repented of”. He also notes a change of style in the Chinese text at this point and quotes another commentator for it. “Here and henceforth the scattering is of what should be scattered, that what should not be scattered may be collected.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 57, The Gentle
Fourth line
渙其群，元吉。渙有丘，匪夷所思。
He dissolves his bond with his group. Supreme good fortune. Dispersion leads in turn to accumulation. This is something that ordinary men do not think of.
supreme good fortune it goes very well, from the root
Legge sees a minister here, next to the ruler in the fifth place. He “brings dissentient partizanship to an end”, and then gathers those who had been divided “into a great body so that they stand out conspicuous like a hill”. Wilhelm words the first act differently, “He dissolves his bond with his group”, and then reads “Dispersion leads in turn to accumulation.” The line ends in “great good fortune”, and the commentary calls the minister's virtue and service “brilliant and great”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 6, Conflict
Fifth line
渙汗其大號，渙王居，无咎。
His loud cries are as dissolving as sweat. Dissolution! A king abides without blame.
no blame there is no mistake in it
This is the ruler's own line. Legge says he acts “by his proclamations, and by his benevolence”. The announcements go out like sweat from the body, and what was stored in the royal granaries is scattered abroad. Legge passes on another translator's note on the sweat, “As sweat cures fevers, so do proclamations cure rebellions.” The commentary finds no error and says “this is due to the correctness of the position”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 4, Youthful Folly
Sixth line
渙其血，去逖出，无咎。
He dissolves his blood. Departing, keeping at a distance, going out, Is without blame.
no blame there is no mistake in it
The top line gets away from harm. Its subject is rid of “its bloody wounds” and separates himself from “its anxious fears”. The commentary says “he is far removed from the danger of injury”. Legge explains that its partner, the third line, sits at the top of the trigram of peril, and that the leaving is done “in the spirit of the hexagram”, so no blame attaches to it.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 29, The Abysmal
Hexagram 59 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 59 unchanging, what remains is the judgment, with its success, its king at the temple and its crossing of the great stream, and the image of the ancient kings who made offerings and established the temple.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 59 mean?
It describes dispersion, first of all of minds drawn away from what is right and good, and how that is remedied. The judgment speaks of “progress and success”, and Legge says the hexagram tries “to show how it should be dealt with and remedied”.
What does hexagram 59 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 59 that is success, the king at his temple, the crossing of the great stream, and the offerings of the ancient kings.
What does hexagram 59 changing to 6 mean?
It is hexagram 59 with its fourth line moving. That line shows the parties scattered and ends in “great good fortune”, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 6.
What does hexagram 59 changing to 29 mean?
It is hexagram 59 with its top line moving. That line shows its subject leaving harm behind, “far removed from the danger of injury”, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 29.
Is hexagram 59 a good sign?
The judgment speaks of success, and none of the six lines ends in a warning. It also sets a condition, “It will be advantageous to be firm and correct.”
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Hwân in James Legge. Dispersion in Wilhelm and Baynes.
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