Hexagram 31 of 64
Mutual Attraction
咸 Xián
Upper trigram: 兌 Duì, lake
Lower trigram: 艮 Gèn, mountain
The judgment
亨。利貞。取女吉。
Success. It is fitting to hold firm. Taking a wife brings good fortune.
The Great Image
山上有澤，咸；君子以虛受人。
Above the mountain there is a lake: Mutual Attraction. In the same way, the noble person makes room within and receives others.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初六
咸其拇。
Feeling it in the big toe.
The feeling has reached only the big toe, and the toe moves before the foot does. Ask whether this attraction has gone beyond a first stirring.
Line 2 六二
咸其腓，凶，居吉。
Feeling it in the calf. Misfortune. Staying put brings good fortune.
The calf wants to walk before being told. Consider staying where you are for a while to see whether the urge to rush off is still there later.
Line 3 九三
咸其股，執其隨，往吝。
Feeling it in the thighs. Holding on to what follows. Going brings shame.
The thigh goes where others lead, and the line says going brings shame. Ask whether you are following someone else's wish in this, and whether it is yours too.
Line 4 九四
貞吉悔亡，憧憧往來，朋從爾思。
Holding firm brings good fortune; regret goes. Restless comings and goings. Friends follow your thoughts.
The restless coming and going of thoughts is the picture here, and friends end up following those thoughts. Consider whether you are trying to manage how others feel, and whether you could hold steady and leave them to it.
Line 5 九五
咸其脢，无悔。
Feeling it in the flesh of the back. No regret.
The flesh of the back does not feel much, and the line gives no regret. You may have reached a quiet in your feelings, so ask whether it comes from peace or from distance.
Line 6 上六
咸其輔頰舌。
Feeling it in the jaw, the cheeks, the tongue.
The feeling has climbed all the way to jaw, cheeks and tongue, and all of it is talk. Ask whether what you are saying to someone matches what you have actually done.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is mountain below and lake above, the water held up and absorbed by the rock beneath it. The lower half gives way to the upper and the upper answers it. It stands for being moved by someone, and for the pull between two people or two things.
The judgment calls this success and speaks of taking a wife as good fortune, in the language of its own time about marriage. Beneath that is a plain idea about staying open, and the image asks the noble person to make room within. Ask how much room you have for another person's view.
If your question is about a relationship or a new connection at work, tradition reads this as a time when feelings are real and easy to act on too quickly. The lines move up the body from toe to tongue, and they caution against following an impulse or leaving everything at the level of talk.
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/咸), 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 first line, Wikisource (A) carries an inline alternative reading, 一作母 (母, mother), while keeping 拇 (big toe) as its base text.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.