讼 Conflict
Upper trigram: Heaven (the sky) · Lower trigram: Water (water)
Open dispute — know when to press and when to stop.
Modern interpretation
The conflict is real, but escalation is optional. State your case once, clearly, then seek mediation or a fair judge. Ask yourself honestly: is winning this fight worth what it will cost the relationship?
The Judgment · 卦辞
有孚窒惕，中吉，终凶。利见大人。不利涉大川。
“Sung intimates how, though there is sincerity in one's contention, he will yet meet with opposition and obstruction ; but if he cherish an apprehensive caution, there will be good fortune, while, if he must prosecute the contention to the (bitter) end, there will be evil. It will be advantageous to see the great man ; it will not be advantageous to cross the great stream.” — James Legge, The Yî King (1882)
The six lines · 爻辞
Read from the bottom line upward. Each line pairs the received Chinese text with Legge's English translation.
不永所事，小有言，终吉。
“The first line, divided, shows its subject not perpetuating the matter about which (the contention is). He will suffer the small (injury) of being spoken against, but the end will be fortunate.”
不克讼，归而逋。其邑人三百户，无眚。
“The second line, undivided, shows its subject unequal to the contention. If he retire and keep concealed (where) the inhabitants of his city are (only) three hundred families, he will fall into no mistake.”
食旧德，贞厉，终吉。或从王事，无成。
“The third line, divided, shows its subject keeping in the old place assigned for his support, and firmly correct. Perilous as the position is, there will be good fortune in the end. Should he perchance engage in the king's business, he will not (claim the merit of) achievement.”
不克讼，复既命渝。安贞吉。
“The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject unequal to the contention. He returns to (the study of Heaven's) ordinances, changes (his wish to contend), and rests in being firm and correct. There will be good fortune.”
讼，元吉。
“The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject contending ; and with great good fortune.”
或锡之鞶带，终朝三褫之。
“The topmost line, undivided, shows how its subject may have the leathern belt conferred on him (by the sovereign), and thrice it shall be taken from him in a morning.”
About changing lines
In a real I Ching reading, hexagrams are built by casting coins or yarrow stalks six times, bottom line first. Some lines come out “old” (unstable) — an old yin or old yang flips into its opposite, producing a second hexagram that shows where the situation is heading. The changing lines are the moving parts of your answer: read their individual line statements above, and they point to the direction of change.
Ask a question and cast the coins — free, with a plain-English interpretation grounded in the classical text.
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