Hexagram 58: Joy
兌Duì
Good company, good conversation.
The passages below are historical language. Their references to fortune, danger, and the exemplary person belong to the text’s world. Our modern explanation is an invitation to reflect on your situation.
The Judgment
Classical Chinese
兌。 亨，利，貞。
Our English rendering
Joy. Success. It is favorable to remain steadfast.
The Image
Classical Chinese
象曰：麗澤兌。君子以朋友講習。
Our English rendering
Lakes are joined: Joy. A person of integrity studies through discussion and practice with friends.
A modern reading
Joined lakes give joy the form of an exchange between places that can receive from one another. The Image makes that exchange concrete in friends who discuss and practice what they are learning. Pleasure here has company and a shared activity. A modern reflection can consider the conversations that leave you more interested, better informed, or willing to try again. The relationship gives learning a setting where attention can be sustained with enjoyment.
The Judgment places steadfastness alongside joy. A satisfying exchange can depend on enough honesty and continuity to support disagreement or correction. With friends or colleagues, you might ask whether the wish to keep things pleasant allows room for a difficult observation. Shared practice offers a way to test what has been said and continue the conversation with something concrete. Joy can grow through the experience of learning together and seeing each other's efforts develop.
A question to sit with
Who could you learn or practice with in a way that leaves room for both enjoyment and honest correction?
Source and method
The Judgment and Image are classical passages from the Book of Changes. The English rendering and modern explanation are Meow Ching’s editorial work. This page covers these two passages; it does not translate the six individual line texts.
Read the classical text on Wikisource · Our sources and method