Clinging Fire
離Li
No. 30 · Fire over Fire
Li (Clinging Fire)
Fire has to cling to wood before it can burn, so Li (Clinging Fire) is about clinging and about light. People also need to attach themselves to the right people and stay on the right path; gentle and careful brings good fortune.
Cast your own hexagramThis hexagram is about attachment and light. How much you can shine depends on what you cling to: the right people, the right platform, the right principles. Stay gentle and steady, patient and calm like someone tending a cow, and it goes well.
Favorable
- Back the right people and platform
- Stay gentle and patient
- Build on it a little every day
- Deal only with the ringleader
Avoid
- Charging in all of a sudden
- Outshining everyone
- Relying on a single source
- Clinging on past the peak
Work and money
- Job search
- Good for joining a larger organization or working under an influential manager, since Li (Clinging Fire) is about clinging to something. Check that the team is sound before you look at the title. The second line's yellow clinging says a balanced position is best.
- Business
- Growth comes through channels, platforms or major clients. Check that a partner is dependable before signing; the yielding clings to what is central and correct. Don't put all your stock with one buyer either; a fire with a single log burns out fast.
- Money
- Your income is tied to the job or partner you depend on, so first check that they are stable and sound. Steady management suits this time; chasing whatever is hot does not.
Love and people
- Single
- Your charm is visible right now, so get out to events and let people meet you. What draws you is likely their polished side. Spend time together a few more times and see how they are day to day before deciding.
- In a relationship
- You are like two fires stacked together: warm, but easy to burn dry. The Judgment favors raising a cow: be patient and gentle like that, compete with each other less, and keep some of your life centered outside the relationship.
- Getting back together
- The fourth line comes suddenly: showing up out of nowhere and pursuing hard is the quickest way to burn out and part again. If you want to reconnect, start with ordinary friendly contact and let them see over time that you have become steadier.
- People and partnerships
- Look for collaborators who light each other up; your light travels through them. The first line has footsteps crossing in confusion: early on things are messy, so be courteous and spell out who does what.
Daily life
- Exams and study
- Favorable for exams where you present or perform, such as interviews, oral exams and portfolios. Two Li stacked together carry the light on: review each day what you have covered so the light doesn't keep cutting out.
- Moving and travel
- Moving or traveling toward bright, lively or southern places suits this time. Li (Fire) also brings heat, so on summer trips use sunscreen and drink water, and on moving day double-check appliances and the stove.
- Body and mind
- You may feel restless, strain your eyes, and find your mind still lit up and racing at night. The fifth line's tears like a downpour: if emotions come, letting yourself cry helps, then talk to someone. If your eyes or body feel off, have a doctor take a look.
Traditional questions
- Something you are waiting for
- News is likely to come through someone else, so it depends on whether the person or office you rely on moves. The third line's setting sun says that if it only arrives after the peak, keep expectations modest and prepare your next step.
- Disputes and lawsuits
- The top line has the king sending out a campaign: if you must take this on, go after only the ringleader and the key evidence, and don't drag everyone involved into it. Stand on what is right and put the facts in plain view.
- Lost things and people
- Likely to be found. Li (Fire) is flame and brightness, hollow in the middle: look by a bright window, under a lamp, near the kitchen stove, or inside hollow containers such as boxes and bags. It is probably somewhere obvious, just covered by something else.
Making a decision
First ask whether the people or conditions you would rely on are dependable and legitimate. If they are, go ahead. Stay modest while you do it, and don't rush to claim credit.
If you are…
Li (Clinging Fire) is about clinging, and you only shine if you attach to the right thing. Check the brand's finances and what current franchisees really earn, and talk to a few existing locations. Even after choosing, keep savings of your own; don't stake everything on head office.
Li (Clinging Fire) is clinging, but when two people stick so close there is no room left for either, the light burns dry. Keep your own friends, work and interests, and the relationship has light. Hang all your weight on them and they get tired while you get anxious.
This is the reading when no line is changing. With changing lines, Zhu Xi’s method says which line to read, and the result page after a casting tells you directly.
利貞。亨。畜牝牛，吉。
Steadfastness pays. Success. Raising a cow brings good fortune.
Fire over Fire: Li (Fire) above and Li (Fire) below. Li is fire, brightness and clinging. Fire has no fixed shape and only burns when it attaches to something. With two Li stacked together, light follows light without a break. This is Li (Clinging Fire).
Nine at the beginning
履錯然，敬之无咎。
Footsteps crossing in confusion. With reverence and care, no blame.
At the start, things are many and messy, and it is easy to put a foot wrong. Slow each step down, be courteous with people, and sort out the order of things first. That is how the trouble passes you by.
Small Image: 履錯之敬，以辟咎也。
Six in the second place
黃離，元吉。
Yellow clinging. Great good fortune.
You stand in a balanced, proper place, and both the people you rely on and the work you do are right. Keep to this moderate way of doing things. It is a very good time.
Small Image: 黃離元吉，得中道也。
Nine in the third place
日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之嗟，凶。
Clinging in the light of the setting sun. If one does not beat the earthen pot and sing, there will be the sighing of the very old. Misfortune.
Something has passed its peak and started to wind down, like a career stage or a project nearing its end. What goes wrong is clinging to it and only sighing. Plan where your focus and your enjoyment will come from next.
Small Image: 日昃之離，何可久也。
Nine in the fourth place
突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。
Suddenly it comes, as if blazing up, as if dying, as if cast away.
A move that comes too fast and too hard, like barging in with force or expanding all at once, burns quickly and goes out quickly, and in the end no one makes room for it. Slow down and don't force your way in.
Small Image: 突如其來如，无所容也。
Six in the fifth place
出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。
Tears flowing like a downpour, grieving and sighing. Good fortune.
You are caught between forceful people and the pressure brings you close to tears. Because you face your worries squarely, handle things with care, and can lean on those above you, it tends to turn out well.
Small Image: 六五之吉，離王公也。
Nine at the top
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。
The king sends him out on campaign. There is praise: he cuts off the chief, and those he takes are not the followers. No blame.
When it is time to clean things up, be decisive. Deal with the ringleader and the root of the problem, and leave the people who simply went along out of it. Target only the source, don't widen the blast, and there is no fault.
Small Image: 王用出征，以正邦也。
離，麗也；日月麗乎天，百穀草木麗乎土，重明以麗乎正，乃化成天下。柔麗乎中正，故亨；是以畜牝牛吉也。
Li (Clinging Fire) means clinging. The sun and moon cling to the sky; the hundred grains, grasses and trees cling to the earth. Double brightness clings to what is right, and so transforms and perfects the world. The yielding clings to the central, correct place, and so there is success. That is why raising a cow brings good fortune.
The Image明兩作，離；大人以繼明照于四方。
Brightness rises twice: this is Li (Clinging Fire). The great person, seeing this, carries the light on without a break and shines it in every direction.
The Sequence: why it comes here陷必有所麗，故受之以離；離者麗也。
The hexagram before, Kan (The Abyss), means falling in. Someone sunk in danger needs something to hold on to before they can get out. So Kan is followed by Li (Clinging Fire), and Li means clinging.
Miscellaneous Notes離上，而坎下也。
Li (Clinging Fire) rises, and Kan (The Abyss) sinks. Han Kangbo explains that fire flares upward and water soaks downward: Li's fire leaps up toward the light, while Kan's water runs to low ground. One rises, the other falls.
Related hexagramsFAQ
What does Li mean for love?
Your charm is visible right now, so get out to events and let people meet you. What draws you is likely their polished side. Spend time together a few more times and see how they are day to day before deciding. You are like two fires stacked together: warm, but easy to burn dry. The Judgment favors raising a cow: be patient and gentle like that, compete with each other less, and keep some of your life centered outside the relationship.
What does Li mean for work?
Good for joining a larger organization or working under an influential manager, since Li (Clinging Fire) is about clinging to something. Check that the team is sound before you look at the title. The second line's yellow clinging says a balanced position is best. A good time to work through a strong platform, team or manager and put yourself where you can be seen. Backing the right people and doing the right work beats grinding alone. Just don't outshine everyone.
With Li, will what I am waiting for come?
News is likely to come through someone else, so it depends on whether the person or office you rely on moves. The third line's setting sun says that if it only arrives after the peak, keep expectations modest and prepare your next step.
With Li, will I find what I lost?
Likely to be found. Li (Fire) is flame and brightness, hollow in the middle: look by a bright window, under a lamp, near the kitchen stove, or inside hollow containers such as boxes and bags. It is probably somewhere obvious, just covered by something else.
A hexagram answers one question; your chart shows the whole of you and your year.
The classical text follows the standard edition of the Zhouyi. The plain readings are Xingge’s own, offered as a reference, not as the final word.