Hexagram 38: Opposition

Line 1

Remorse disappears. If you lose your horse, do not run after it. It comes back of itself. When you see evil people, guard yourself against mistakes. Even in times of opposition, one can act in such a way that one remains free from mistakes, so that remorse disappears. When opposition begins, one must not wish to force unity; thereby one would only achieve the opposite, just as a horse retreats farther and farther if one runs after it. If it is our horse, one may quietly let it go: it comes back of itself. So too a person who belongs to us and who for the moment has become estranged from us through a misunderstanding will return of his own accord if he is left alone. On the other hand, it is necessary to be cautious when evil people who do not belong to us push their way in—likewise through a misunderstanding. Here it is important to avoid mistakes: do not wish to remove them by force, which would all the more provoke hostility, but simply endure them. They will withdraw of their own accord.

Line 3

One sees the wagon dragged back, the oxen halted, the man's hair and nose cut off. Not a good beginning, but a good end. Sometimes it looks as if everything has conspired against one; one sees oneself checked and held back in progress, one sees oneself insulted and injured (the cutting off of hair and nose was a severe, dishonoring punishment). But one must not let oneself be misled; instead, despite these oppositions, one must hold fast to the person with whom one knows oneself to be united. Thus, in spite of the bad beginning, the end will finally turn out well.

Line 4

Isolated through opposition, one meets a companion of like mind with whom one can associate in good faith. Despite the danger, no blame. If one is in a company from which one is separated by an inner opposition, one falls into isolation. But if in such a situation one meets a person who originally, by his whole being, belongs to one, to whom one can give one's complete trust, then one overcomes all the dangers of isolation. Our will succeeds, and one becomes free of blame.

Line 6

Isolated through opposition, one sees one's companion as a pig covered with dirt, as a wagon full of devils. First one draws the bow against him, then one lays the bow aside. He is not a robber; he will woo in due time. As one goes, rain falls; then good fortune comes. Here the isolation is conditioned by misunderstandings, not by external circumstances, but by inner states. One misunderstands one's best friends, considers them unclean like a dirty pig and dangerous like a wagon full of devils. One assumes a defensive posture. But finally one recognizes one's error, lays the bow aside, and realizes that the other comes with the best intentions to seek close alliance. Thus the tension is resolved. The union dissolves the opposition, just as falling rain dispels the sultry oppressive heat before a thunderstorm. Everything goes well, for opposition turns into its opposite precisely at its peak.