Breakthrough
夬Guai
No. 43 · Lake over Heaven
Guai (Breakthrough)
The moment to make a decision and clear away the last problem standing. The resolve has to be there, but do it in the open and with reasons, not by force alone.
Cast your own hexagramGuai (Breakthrough) says a problem that has dragged on now has to be dealt with. Make the decision in the open and explain your reasons. Know that there is still risk, put your own side in order first, and don't start by tearing everything apart.
Favorable
- Give your reasons in the open
- Put your own side in order first
- Make the call decisively
- Share the rewards with your team
Avoid
- Tearing things apart from the start
- Charging in without a real chance
- Making threats
- Putting the decision off again
Work and money
- Job search
- If you mean to quit, follow the process and say it plainly instead of stewing. The first line warns that going forward without being able to win is a fault: with no next step lined up, don't hand in your notice on impulse.
- Business
- A money-losing product line or a bad partnership can be cut now. The Judgment says announce it first in your own city: brief your team and tidy up internally, and don't open with a war against the other side.
- Money
- A position you should cut or close out can be dealt with now. Act decisively, but don't dump everything in one angry move.
Love and people
- Single
- A situationship that has dragged on too long needs someone to say where they stand. Tell them how you feel and give you both an answer. Just don't demand a decision on the spot; a hard ultimatum tends to scare people off.
- In a relationship
- What has been bothering you should come out. In Guai (Breakthrough), making it known in the court means reasoning in the open: put the issue on the table and stick to the facts, softly. A frank talk is not the same as a fight.
- Getting back together
- Guai (Breakthrough) leans toward a clean ending. If their answer is already clear, the fifth line uproots the purslane: however hard it is to let go, pull it out and take your heart back. If you try once more, say everything in one go.
- People and partnerships
- Someone on the team keeps causing problems, and it has to be handled. The Image speaks of passing rewards down: while you deal with the problem, share the benefits with those who carried the load, so people stay on your side.
Daily life
- Exams and study
- Torn about switching majors or retaking the LSAT? This is a time to decide. The second line is alert and calling out: after deciding, keep a close eye on your progress so a last-minute snag before the test doesn't throw you.
- Moving and travel
- A move or a trip can be decided now; with Qian (Heaven) below, setting out has force behind it. With Dui (Lake) above, take extra care with waterside plans and with getting around in the rain.
- Body and mind
- A pending decision tends to leave you tense and short-tempered. Making the call usually brings relief. Cut back on late nights for now, and if poor sleep drags on or your body feels off, have a doctor look at it.
Traditional questions
- Something you are waiting for
- Fast: the matter has reached the point where it must resolve. Usually it takes you stepping up, following up and asking openly before it lands. Stop and start like the fourth line, and it tends to stall.
- Disputes and lawsuits
- The evidence is on your side, so handle it openly and with reasons. Still, the Judgment notes danger even in sincere crying out. Agree on your account, go through formal channels, and don't let anger push you into threats.
- Lost things and people
- Findable if you search soon; the longer you wait, the worse the odds. Qian (Heaven) points to high, round, metal things and Dui (Lake) to openings and breakage: check upper shelves, metal tins, the sink, open containers. It may be damaged.
Making a decision
You can decide this, and the direction is forward. Just skip the strong-arm approach: explain your reasons and bring your own people on board first.
If you are…
Guai (Breakthrough) says you can decide, but do it openly and with reasons. Gather the contract and the email trail, send a formal notice with a clear deadline, and copy their manager. Don't vent about them online; if they still won't pay, take the legal route.
The third line of Guai (Breakthrough) walks alone and meets the rain: speaking up alone, you may get soaked first and be called a busybody. Post the facts and evidence once, clearly and calmly, without naming and shaming anyone, then stop going back and forth.
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.
揚于王庭，孚號，有厲，告自邑，不利即戎，利有攸往。
Make it known (the petty person's wrongs) openly in the king's court. Cry out with sincerity: there is danger. Announce it first in your own city. It does not pay to take up arms at once. It pays to have somewhere to go.
Lake over Heaven: Dui (Lake) above, Qian (Heaven) below. The lake has risen as high as the sky and is about to burst its banks. Five yang lines push upward to remove the single yin line at the top, so the hexagram is called Guai (Breakthrough), meaning a decisive break.
Nine at the beginning
壯于前趾，往不勝為咎。
Strength in the advancing toes. Going forward without being able to win: this is a fault.
The urge to charge is strongest when you are lowest in rank and least prepared. If you rush out and can't win, the fault is yours. Weigh your odds first, then decide whether to step forward.
Small Image: 不勝而往，咎也。
Nine in the second place
惕號，莫夜有戎，勿恤。
Alert and calling out. Even if armed men come in the night, there is no need to worry.
Keep reminding yourself and your team to be ready, and a sudden problem can be absorbed. Do the risk planning ahead of time so you aren't scrambling when something hits.
Small Image: 有戎勿恤，得中道也。
Nine in the third place
壯于頄，有凶。君子夬夬，獨行遇雨，若濡有慍，无咎。
Strength shows in the cheekbones: misfortune. The noble person is resolved to cut away. Walking alone, one meets the rain, gets soaked and is resented. No blame.
Anger written on your face tends to spoil things. You may have to stay close to the other side for a while and be misread by your own people. As long as you are clear about what you are cutting, it can be explained in the end.
Small Image: 君子夬夬，終无咎也。
Nine in the fourth place
臀无膚，其行次且。牽羊悔亡，聞言不信。
No flesh on the buttocks; walking falters. Let yourself be led along like a sheep, and regret disappears. But hearing these words, one does not believe them.
You can't sit still and you can't move forward. Don't try to lead now; pushing from behind someone else goes much smoother. The catch is that you may not want to hear this advice.
Small Image: 其行次且，位不當也。聞言不信，聰不明也。
Nine in the fifth place
莧陸夬夬，中行无咎。
Cutting away resolutely, as one uproots purslane. Walking the middle path: no blame.
The person or thing that has to go is right beside you, which makes it the hardest to cut emotionally. Once you decide, don't be harsh about it. Handling it fairly is what lets you stand by the decision.
Small Image: 中行无咎，中未光也。
Six at the top
无號，終有凶。
No one left to call out to. In the end, misfortune.
The tide has turned and you are on the side being cleared out; calling for help gets no answer. Rather than holding out to the very end, admitting it early and stepping away on your own keeps the losses smaller.
Small Image: 无號之凶，終不可長也。
夬，決也，剛決柔也。健而說，決而和，揚于王庭，柔乘五剛也。孚號有厲，其危乃光也。告自邑，不利即戎，所尚乃窮也。利有攸往，剛長乃終也。
Guai (Breakthrough) means deciding: the firm cuts away the yielding. Strong and glad, decisive and yet in harmony. Making it known in the king's court: one yielding line rides on top of five firm ones. Crying out with sincerity, there is danger: knowing the danger is what makes it shine. Announcing it first in your own city, it does not pay to take up arms: what relies on force comes to a dead end. It pays to have somewhere to go: as the firm keeps growing, the matter is brought to an end.
The Image澤上于天，夬；君子以施祿及下，居德則忌。
The lake has risen above heaven: this is Guai (Breakthrough). The noble person, seeing this, bestows rewards and favor on those below; to sit on one's virtue and hold it back invites resentment. (Zhu Xi says the meaning of this last phrase is unclear; the common reading is used here.)
The Sequence: why it comes here益而不已，必決，故受之以夬；夬者決也。
Before this comes Yi (Increase). Gains that keep piling up without end is bound to burst at some point, so Yi is followed by Guai (Breakthrough). Guai means bursting open and making a decisive break.
Miscellaneous Notes夬決也，剛決柔也。君子道長，小人道消也。
Guai (Breakthrough) is a decisive break: the firm cuts away the yielding. Five yang lines push upward until only one yin line is left, which shows the way of the noble person growing and the way of the petty person fading.
Related hexagramsFAQ
What does Guai mean for love?
A situationship that has dragged on too long needs someone to say where they stand. Tell them how you feel and give you both an answer. Just don't demand a decision on the spot; a hard ultimatum tends to scare people off. What has been bothering you should come out. In Guai (Breakthrough), making it known in the court means reasoning in the open: put the issue on the table and stick to the facts, softly. A frank talk is not the same as a fight.
What does Guai mean for work?
If you mean to quit, follow the process and say it plainly instead of stewing. The first line warns that going forward without being able to win is a fault: with no next step lined up, don't hand in your notice on impulse. The staffing issue or the messy account that needs handling can be put on the table now. Get your own team aligned first, then work through rules and evidence rather than open conflict.
With Guai, will what I am waiting for come?
Fast: the matter has reached the point where it must resolve. Usually it takes you stepping up, following up and asking openly before it lands. Stop and start like the fourth line, and it tends to stall.
With Guai, will I find what I lost?
Findable if you search soon; the longer you wait, the worse the odds. Qian (Heaven) points to high, round, metal things and Dui (Lake) to openings and breakage: check upper shelves, metal tins, the sink, open containers. It may be damaged.
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.