Hexagram 30
离为火
The Clinging
Upper Trigram
☲
离 (火)
Lower Trigram
☲
离 (火)
Palace
离 Palace
Shi / Ying Lines
Shi: Line 6 · Ying: Line 3
The 离 trigram (火) sits above the 离 trigram (火), forming 离为火. This hexagram belongs to the 离 Palace.
Judgment (卦辞)
The Clinging. Perseverance furthers. Care of the cow brings good fortune.
Image (象辞)
That which is bright rises twice: the image of Fire.
Line Texts (爻辞)
The footprints run crisscross. If seriously intent, no blame. (履错然)
Yellow light. Supreme good fortune. (黄离)
In the light of the setting sun, men beat the pot and sing. (日昃之离)
Its coming is sudden; it flames up, dies down. (突如其来如)
Tears in floods, sighing and lamenting. Good fortune. (出涕沱若)
The king uses him to march forth and chastise. (王用出征)
In-Depth Analysis
Hexagram 30, Li (The Clinging), is Fire doubled - brightness upon brightness, clarity illuminating clarity. This is the hexagram of light, consciousness, and what we cling to for meaning and identity. The judgment says perseverance furthers; care of the cow brings good fortune - the cow is the gentle, nurturing animal that sustains life. The lines trace the arc of light from morning to evening: dawn footprints run crisscross, noon sun blazes, evening brings melancholy, night falls. The hexagram teaches that light depends on what it clings to - like fire depends on fuel - and that clarity requires careful tending.
Historical Stories
📜 The Enlightenment: humanity clung to reason as its source of light, and the fire of rational inquiry transformed civilization. But Li also warns that evening follows noon - excess rationalism has its shadows.
📜 Marie Curie's devotion to science: she clung to her research with such intensity that it literally consumed her. Her radium burns were the physical manifestation of Li - light that both illuminates and clings.
Practical Applications
Career: What are you clinging to as your source of meaning? Work, status, recognition? Examine your fuel.
Relationships: Healthy attachment (Li) is not the same as anxious clinging. Fire needs fuel, but it also needs space to breathe.
Personal Growth: Your consciousness depends on what you attend to. Choose your objects of attention wisely - they become you.