Hexagram 30 of 64
Radiance
離 Lí
Upper trigram: 離 Lí, fire
Lower trigram: 離 Lí, fire
The judgment
利貞。亨。畜牝牛，吉。
It is fitting to hold firm. Success. Raising a cow brings good fortune.
The Great Image
明兩作，離；大人以繼明照于四方。
Brightness arises twice: Radiance. In the same way, the great person carries on the brightness and lights the four quarters.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初九
履錯然，敬之无咎。
Footsteps crossing every way. With respect, no blame.
Footsteps cross and tangle at the start of the day. Before you hurry into the confusion, consider taking a moment to treat the first task with respect.
Line 2 六二
黃離，元吉。
Yellow radiance. Supreme good fortune.
Yellow was the color of the center, and the light here is soft and balanced. Ask where moderate warmth might do more than a burst of brilliance.
Line 3 九三
日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之差，凶。
The radiance of the sun going down. Without beating a clay pot and singing, there is the lament of the very old. Misfortune.
The sun is going down and the line says to beat the pot and sing, or else lament follows. Consider how you would like to meet the end of a phase in your life.
Line 4 九四
突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。
Abruptly it arrives: burned, dead, cast aside.
Something flares up out of nowhere and is gone as quickly. Ask whether a sudden enthusiasm or anger of yours has anything to feed on beyond the first blaze.
Line 5 六五
出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。
Tears pour out and there is mournful sighing. Good fortune.
Tears and sighing, and the line calls this good fortune. You may find that letting a real sorrow show makes room for what comes next.
Line 6 上九
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。
The king marches out on campaign. There is merit in cutting off the leader's head. The captives are none of his followers. No blame.
The old text praises taking the enemy's head and sparing the followers, which belongs to the warfare of its time. A modern reader could ask how to deal with the root of a problem and avoid punishing everyone near it.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is fire below and fire above, each half a broken line held between two solid ones. Fire has nothing of its own and must cling to what it burns. It stands for brightness, clarity and the things that light depends on.
The judgment says that holding firm is fitting and that raising a cow brings good fortune. A cow is patient and gentle, an odd match for a flame. Ask what you depend on to keep your own light going, and how you look after it.
If your question is about attention, public work or a relationship that burns hot, tradition reads this as a time to care for what sustains you. The lines caution against the sudden blaze that dies at once and ask for some grace as things wane.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/離), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
Where the sources differ
- In the third line, Wikisource (A) reads 大耋之差, where 差 ordinarily means a difference or a falling short, and Project Gutenberg (B) reads 大耋之嗟 (the lament of the very old). Wikisource carries 一作嗟 as an inline alternative reading while keeping 差 as its base text. The English here follows the sense of 嗟.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.