Hexagram 8: Holding Together
比Bǐ
Choosing who to stand beside.
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
比。 吉。原筮，元永貞，無咎。不寧方來，後夫凶。
Our English rendering
Holding Together. Good fortune. Examine the divination anew: with a sound foundation and enduring steadfastness, there is no blame. Those who are unsettled now come. For the latecomer, misfortune.
The Image
Classical Chinese
象曰：地上有水，比。先王以建萬國，親諸侯。
Our English rendering
Water lies upon the earth: Holding Together. The former kings therefore established the many states and drew their lords into close relations.
Translation note: Yuan shi can be understood as an initial divination or a renewed examination of it. 'Examine the divination anew' is the reading used here. The following yuan, a beginning or foundational quality, is rendered 'a sound foundation'. The final phrase concerns a person who arrives late.
A modern reading
Water spread over earth makes contact across a surface. The Image brings that relationship into an ancient political world, where separate states remain connected through their lords. Association here has an arrangement: people or groups draw near around something that can hold them together. In a present situation, consider what the association is built on. A clear purpose and dependable obligations can give joining a meaning beyond the simple wish to belong.
The Judgment calls for examination before lasting attachment, while also describing unsettled people arriving and a late arrival meeting misfortune. Its historical omen language makes timing part of the association. A contemporary reflection might ask whether a group's commitments are still being formed or have already been settled. Understanding that stage helps you judge what you are joining, what voice you can have in it, and which responsibilities would follow your decision.
A question to sit with
What lasting obligation would you accept by joining the person or group you are considering?
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