Hexagram 30 of 64 · King Wen order
離The Clinging, Fire
Lí · ䷝ · above: Fire ☲ 離 Lí · below: Fire ☲ 離 Lí
Light, consciousness, and dependence; fire must cling to fuel to burn, just as humans must cling to the right principles to shine.A one-line gloss written for this site (AI-assisted). Everything below it is the classical text.
The Judgment 卦辭
利貞，亨。畜牝牛，吉。
Lî indicates that, (in regard to what it denotes), it will be advantageous to be firm and correct, and that thus there will be free course and success. Let (its subject) also nourish (a docility like that of) the cow, and there will be good fortune.
James Legge, The Yî King (1882), the Text. Words in (parentheses) are Legge's own additions.
Commentary on the Judgment 彖傳 (Tuan, the first Wing)
1. Li means being attached to. The sun and moon have their place in the sky. All the grains, grass, and trees have their place on the earth. The double brightness (of the two trigrams) adheres to what is correct, and the result is the transforming and perfecting all under the sky.
2. The weak (second line) occupies the middle and correct position, and gives the indication of 'a free and successful course;' and, moreover, 'nourishing (docility like that of) the cow' will lead to good fortune.
The Image 象
明兩作離，大人以繼明照于四方。
(The trigram for) brightness, repeated, forms Lî. The great man, in accordance with this, cultivates more and more his brilliant (virtue), and diffuses its brightness over the four quarters (of the land).
Legge's Great Image (Appendix II). The Chinese above also carries the Small Images of the six lines.
The six lines 爻辭
Read from the bottom (line 1) to the top (line 6). Each line: the Chinese, Legge's translation, and the Small Image commentary on it.
Line 1 初九
The first line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
履錯然，敬之無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows one ready to move with confused steps. But he treads at the same time reverently, and there will be no mistake.
Small Image: 'The reverent attention directed to his confused steps' is the way by which error is avoided.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 56, The Wanderer.
Line 2 六二
The second line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
黃離，元吉。
The second SIX, divided, shows its subject in his place in yellow. There will be great good fortune.
Small Image: 'The great good fortune (from the subject of the second line) occupying his place in yellow' is owing to his holding the course of the due mean.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 14, Possession in Great Measure.
Line 3 九三
The third line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之嗟，凶。
The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject in a position like that of the declining sun. Instead of playing on his instrument of earthenware, and singing to it, he utters the groans of an old man of eighty. There will be evil.
Small Image: 'A position like that of the declining sun:'—how can it continue long?
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 21, Biting Through.
Line 4 九四
The fourth line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows the manner of its subject's coming. How abrupt it is, as with fire, with death, to be rejected (by all)!
Small Image: 'How abrupt is the manner of his coming!'—none can bear with him.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 22, Grace.
Line 5 六五
The fifth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows its subject as one with tears flowing in torrents, and groaning in sorrow. There will be good fortune.
Small Image: 'The good fortune attached to the fifth SIX, divided),' is due to its occupying the place of a king or a prince.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 13, Fellowship with Men.
Line 6 上九
The sixth line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，無咎。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows the king employing its subject in his punitive expeditions. Achieving admirable (merit), he breaks (only) the chiefs (of the rebels). Where his prisoners were not their associates, he does not punish. There will be no error.
Small Image: 'The king employs him in his punitive expeditions:'—the object is to bring the regions to a correct state.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 55, Abundance.
Related hexagrams
lines 2-4 below, 3-5 aboveOpposite 錯卦29. The Abysmal 坎
every line changed
A hexagram is a mirror, not a command: read it to reflect, never to obey. Sources: James Legge (tr.), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (Oxford, 1882; 2nd ed. 1899), public domain; the Chinese text from Project Gutenberg ebook #25501 (易經), public domain. The trigram facts and the related hexagrams are computed from the line pattern. The gloss, selection and arrangement are CC-BY-SA-4.0 (PlayfulProcess). Data: github.com/PlayfulProcess/recursive-iching.