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Hexagram 8 of 64

I Ching hexagram 8 ☵☷ Holding Together

I Ching hexagram 8, Holding Together, is water above, earth below. In brief: union around a shared center. Its one solid line stands in place 5, counting from the bottom; the other five are broken.

Lines, bottom up
⚋⚋⚋⚋⚊⚋ 000010 · 1 = solid
Trigrams
Water over Earth Kan ☵ / Kun ☷
Every line changed
№ 14 Great Possession
In Legge, 1882
p. 73 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: 14, Great Possession, 7, The Army and 23, Splitting Apart.

Also with Water above: 3, Difficulty at the Beginning, 5, Waiting and 29, The Abysmal.

Also with Earth below: 2, The Receptive, 12, Standstill and 16, Enthusiasm.

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

I Ching Hexagram 8: Holding Together

Upper trigram

☵

Water (Kan) above

Danger and depth.

FamilyMiddle son
ElementWater

Lower trigram

☷

Earth (Kun) below

Receptive yielding.

FamilyMother
ElementEarth

What the text says, in plain terms

The Judgement and the Image of hexagram 8

The Judgement

A time for joining together around a center. People gather to someone who is sincere and consistent; those who hesitate too long are left outside.

The Image

Water spread over the earth, flowing together into one body. The lesson is to build close ties and alliances that bind a community.

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 8 in James Legge’s translation

The Judgement
“Pî indicates that (under the conditions which it supposes) there is good fortune. But let (the principal party intended in it) re-examine himself, (as if) by divination, whether his virtue be great, unintermitting, and firm. If it be so, there will be no error. Those who have not rest will then come to him; and with those who are (too) late in coming it will be ill.”
The Image
“(The trigram representing) the earth, and over it (that representing) water, form Pî. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, established the various states and maintained an affectionate relation to their princes.”

The lines

  1. Line 1 · bottom The first line, divided, shows its subject seeking by his sincerity to win the attachment of his object. There will be no error. Let (the breast) be full of sincerity as an earthenware vessel is of its contents, and it will in the end bring other advantages.
  2. Line 2 In the second line, divided, we see the movement towards union and attachment proceeding from the inward (mind). With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
  3. Line 3 In the third line, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with such as ought not to be associated with.
  4. Line 4 In the fourth line, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with the one beyond himself. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
  5. Line 5 The fifth line, undivided, affords the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment. (We seem to see in it) the king urging his pursuit of the game (only) in three directions, and allowing the escape of all the animals before him, while the people of his towns do not warn one another (to prevent it). There will be good fortune.
  6. Line 6 · top In the topmost line, divided, we see one seeking union and attachment without having taken the first step (to such an end). There will be evil.
James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 73 — 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.

Holding Together for a decision

Commit to a group, partner or cause, and do it now rather than later. Check that the center you are joining deserves the loyalty — then do not keep wavering.

I Ching 8 in love and relationships

A favorable sign for commitment and belonging. The hexagram warns against delaying so long that the moment passes.

Hexagram 8 at work

Partnerships, networks and team building. Choose collaborators whose values are steady and show up for them reliably.

The six lines of hexagram 8

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

Hexagram 8: Water over Earth
Hexagram 8, Holding Together, line by line from the bottomlineplace · answer1Line 1 · yin, brokenout of placeno answer from 42Line 2 · yin, brokenin its placeanswered by 53Line 3 · yin, brokenout of placeno answer from 64Line 4 · yin, brokenin its placeno answer from 15Line 5 · yang, solidin its placeanswered by 26Line 6 · yin, brokenin its placeno answer from 3LowerKunEarthUpperKanWaterKing Wen sequence · read bottom to topastrohot.com

One line is yang and five are yin. Four of the six stand in their proper place, and the pair 2–5 answers.

What the two trigrams do to each other

Inner and outer

Earth below — receptive yielding — is the private, inner side of hexagram 8.

Water above — danger and depth — is the world that side meets.

The five-element relation

Earth below controls Water above. The inner position restrains the outer, which reads as holding back circumstance rather than being carried by it.

Read as a family

The middle son sits above and the mother below. A child over a parent — an inversion of the expected order, and usually read as a situation where the junior position carries the initiative.

Calculated from the lines

Hexagrams connected to hexagram 8

Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart

Nuclear hexagram

23 · Splitting Apart

What is happening beneath the surface.

Lines 2–4 give Kun (Earth) as the lower trigram, lines 3–5 give Gen (Mountain) as the upper.

Hexagram 14, Great Possession

Opposite hexagram

14 · Great Possession

The situation turned inside out.

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

Hexagram 7, The Army

Inverse hexagram

7 · The Army

The situation seen from the other side.

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

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

The image

Water above, Earth below.

Water over Earth: danger and depth meeting receptive yielding.

← 7 · All 64 · 9 →

4 Youthful Folly 5 Waiting 6 Conflict 7 The Army 9 Small Taming 10 Treading 11 Peace

Sources

  1. James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 73

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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