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I Ching hexagram 6 ☰☵ Conflict

I Ching hexagram 6, Conflict, is heaven above, water below. In brief: opposition that cannot be resolved by force. Counting from the bottom, its solid lines sit in places 2, 4, 5 and 6 and its broken lines in 1 and 3.

Lines, bottom up
⚋⚊⚋⚊⚊⚊ 010111 · 1 = solid
Trigrams
Heaven over Water Qian ☰ / Kan ☵
Every line changed
№ 36 Darkening of the Light
In Legge, 1882
p. 69 Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16

Legge, The Yî King, 1882.

Paired with it line by line — changed, turned over or read from the inner lines: 36, Darkening of the Light, 5, Waiting and 37, The Family.

Also with Heaven above: 1, The Creative, 10, Treading and 12, Standstill.

Also with Water below: 4, Youthful Folly, 7, The Army and 29, The Abysmal.

To draw a hexagram of your own, cast the I Ching with three coins.

I Ching Hexagram 6: Conflict

Upper trigram

☰

Heaven (Qian) above

Creative force.

FamilyFather
ElementMetal

Lower trigram

☵

Water (Kan) below

Danger and depth.

FamilyMiddle son
ElementWater

What the text says, in plain terms

The Judgement and the Image of hexagram 6

The Judgement

A conflict where you may well be in the right, yet pressing it to the end still causes harm. The wise course is to seek a fair mediator and stop halfway rather than fight to victory.

The Image

Heaven and water moving in opposite directions. The lesson is to think carefully at the start of any undertaking so that the seeds of conflict are not planted.

A summary of meaning written for this site, not a translation — James Legge’s 1882 translation of the full text follows below. How the Judgement and the Image are read, and which translations to use →

Primary source

Hexagram 6 in James Legge’s translation

The Judgement
“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.”
The Image
“(The trigram representing) heaven and (that representing) water, moving away from each other, form Sung. The superior man, in accordance with this, in the transaction of affairs takes good counsel about his first steps.”

The lines

  1. Line 1 · bottom 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.
  2. Line 2 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.
  3. Line 3 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.
  4. Line 4 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.
  5. Line 5 The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject contending;—and with great good fortune.
  6. Line 6 · top 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.
James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 69 — read the original text. Words in parentheses are Legge’s own: in his preface he explains that they supply what the original writer left unsaid. “Undivided” and “divided” are his terms for yang and yin lines, counted from the bottom. The Image comes from the second appendix of the book, the Treatise on the Symbolism.

Conflict for a decision

Avoid escalating. Get a neutral opinion, settle for a fair compromise and do not begin a major new venture while the dispute is open. Being right does not guarantee that fighting is worth it.

I Ching 6 in love and relationships

Arguments where both sides feel justified. The advice is to stop trying to win and look for terms both people can live with.

Hexagram 6 at work

Disputes, negotiations and legal matters. Mediation and clear agreements at the outset serve better than a long contest.

The six lines of hexagram 6

Read from the bottom up. This figure runs yin yang yin yang yang yang — what each position means.

Hexagram 6: Heaven over Water
Hexagram 6, Conflict, line by line from the bottomlineplace · answer1Line 1 · yin, brokenout of placeanswered by 42Line 2 · yang, solidout of placeno answer from 53Line 3 · yin, brokenout of placeanswered by 64Line 4 · yang, solidout of placeanswered by 15Line 5 · yang, solidin its placeno answer from 26Line 6 · yang, solidout of placeanswered by 3LowerKanWaterUpperQianHeavenKing Wen sequence · read bottom to topastrohot.com

4 yang and 2 yin lines. One of the six stands in its proper place, and the pairs 1–4 and 3–6 answer.

What the two trigrams do to each other

Inner and outer

Water below — danger and depth — is the private, inner side of hexagram 6.

Heaven above — creative force — is the world that side meets.

The five-element relation

Metal above generates Water below, so the movement runs downward — the outer situation is feeding the inner one. Support arrives from outside rather than being generated within.

Read as a family

The father sits above and the middle son below. A parent over a child, which the tradition reads as guidance, authority or constraint depending on the rest of the figure.

Calculated from the lines

Hexagrams connected to hexagram 6

Hexagram 37, The Family

Nuclear hexagram

37 · The Family

What is happening beneath the surface.

Lines 2–4 give Li (Fire) as the lower trigram, lines 3–5 give Xun (Wind) as the upper.

Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light

Opposite hexagram

36 · Darkening of the Light

The situation turned inside out.

Change all six lines and Heaven over Water becomes Earth over Fire.

Hexagram 5, Waiting

Inverse hexagram

5 · Waiting

The situation seen from the other side.

Turn the figure upside down and Heaven over Water becomes Water over Heaven.

None of these are assigned by an author — each follows from the arrangement of lines.

The image

Heaven above, Water below.

Heaven over Water: creative force meeting danger and depth.

← 5 · All 64 · 7 →

2 The Receptive 3 Difficulty at the Beginning 4 Youthful Folly 5 Waiting 7 The Army 8 Holding Together 9 Small Taming

Sources

  1. James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 69

Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.

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