Hexagram 8 of 64 · King Wen order
比Holding Together
Bǐ · ䷇ · above: Water ☵ 坎 Kǎn · below: Earth ☷ 坤 Kūn
It focuses on the necessity of union and mutual support based on sincerity and a clear central leader.A one-line gloss written for this site (AI-assisted). Everything below it is the classical text.
The Judgment 卦辭
吉。原筮元永貞，無咎。不寧方來，後夫凶。
Pî indicates that (under the conditions which it supposes) there is good fortune. But let (the principal party intended in it) re-examine himself, (as if) by divination, whether his virtue be great, unintermitting, and firm. If it be so, there will be no error. Those who have not rest will then come to him; and with those who are (too) late in coming it will be ill.
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. 'Pi indicates that there is good fortune:'—(the name) Pi denotes help; (and we see in the figure) inferiors docilely following (their superior).
2. 'Let (the principal party intended in it) reexamine himself, (as if) by divination, whether his virtue be great, unintermitting, and firm;—if it be so, there will be no error:—all this follows from the position of the strong line in the centre (of the upper trigram). 'Those who have not rest will come to him:'—high and low will respond to its subject. 'With those who are (too) late in coming it will be ill:'—(for them) the way (of good fortune here indicated) has been exhausted.
The Image 象
地上有水，比；先王以建萬國，親諸侯。
(The trigram representing) the earth, and over it (that representing) water, form Pî. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, established the various states and maintained an affectionate relation to their princes.
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 初六
The first line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
有孚比之，無咎。有孚盈缶，終來有他，吉。
The first SIX, divided, shows its subject seeking by his sincerity to win the attachment of his object. There will be no error. Let (the breast) be full of sincerity as an earthenware vessel is of its contents, and it will in the end bring other advantages.
Small Image: From 'the seeking union with its object' shown in the first SIX, (divided),there will be other advantages.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning.
Line 2 六二
The second line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
比之自內，貞吉。
In the second SIX, divided, we see the movement towards union and attachment proceeding from the inward (mind). With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
Small Image: 'The movement towards union and attachment proceeds from the inward (mind):'—(the party concerned) does not fail in what is proper to himself
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 29, The Abysmal.
Line 3 六三
The third line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
比之匪人。
In the third SIX, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with such as ought not to be associated with.
Small Image: 'Union is sought with such as ought not to be associated with:'—but will not injury be the result?
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 39, Obstruction.
Line 4 六四
The fourth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
外比之，貞吉。
In the fourth SIX, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with the one beyond himself. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
Small Image: 'Union is sought (by the party intended here) with one beyond himself, and (in this case) with a worthy object:'—he is following (the ruler) above him.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 45, Gathering Together.
Line 5 九五
The fifth line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
顯比，王用三驅，失前禽。邑人不誡，吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, affords the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment. (We seem to see in it) the king urging his pursuit of the game (only) in three directions, and allowing the escape of all the animals before him, while the people of his towns do not warn one another (to prevent it). There will be good fortune.
Small Image: 'The good fortune belonging to the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment' appears in the correct and central position (of the fifth line, undivided). (The king's) neglecting (the animals) confronting him (and then fleeing), and (only) taking those who present themselves as it were obediently, is seen in 'his allowing the escape of those in front of him.' 'That the people of his towns do not warn one another (to prevent such escape),' shows how he, in his high eminence, has made them pursue the due course.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 2, The Receptive.
Line 6 上六
The sixth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
比之無首，凶。
In the topmost SIX, divided, we see one seeking union and attachment without having taken the first step (to such an end). There will be evil.
Small Image: 'He seeks union and attachment without taking the first (step to such an end):'—there is no possibility of a (good) issue.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 20, Contemplation.
Related hexagrams
lines 2-4 below, 3-5 aboveOpposite 錯卦14. Possession in Great Measure 大有
every line changedInverse 綜卦7. The Army 師
turned upside down
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.