Daily I-Ching · Monday, May 18, 2026
訟 Hexagram 6: Conflict
Two forces that cannot share the same ground. The figure counsels that even a just cause is dangerous to push to extremes — compromise early, settle for a partial vindication, consult a wiser head.
Reflect today: Where in the day does the pattern of conflict already show itself, and what single act would answer it well?
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Today's Meaning
Two forces that cannot share the same ground. The figure counsels that even a just cause is dangerous to push to extremes — compromise early, settle for a partial vindication, consult a wiser head. Prevent conflict by scrutinising beginnings; once in it, do not embark on any great venture.
Practice
- Name Conflict. Look for the place where conflict is already shaping the day: Two forces that cannot share the same ground.
- Practice the Image. Let the Image become conduct: in all transactions the superior person considers the beginning carefully.
- Answer Hexagram 6. Before the day ends, make one visible choice that fits Conflict instead of forcing the day to answer your preference.
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The Illustrated Story
Two brothers quarreled over a field their father had left them. Each swore the boundary stone had been moved. They brought the case to the magistrate, who walked the line with them. The stone was where it had always been; each had been remembering a different summer. "Take nine-tenths of what you hoped, and end this," said the magistrate, "or you will both lose the field." The elder agreed. The younger pressed on; in three years he had the field, the debts, and no brother. The man who wins the lawsuit sometimes loses the life the lawsuit was for.
Continue to the full Hexagram 6 page for Judgment, Image, trigrams, and line commentary.
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