I-Ching Hexagram 59
渙 Dispersion
Also known as Dissolution
Rigidities breaking up, ice melting, hard factionalism giving way to flow. The hexagram counsels using the dispersing moment to reunite around something larger — a sacred purpose, a common endeavour.
dispersion · dissolution · scattering
The Story
In spring the ice broke on the river. For a week, chunks of it floated down, smashed into the banks, jammed at the bends. A village had been in a quiet feud for a decade; the chief went down to the river, watched the ice, and then called both sides together. "Look," he said. "What was hard is dissolving. Let ours dissolve too. Let us pledge something larger than the quarrel." That day they pledged a new temple together. The feud did not entirely vanish, but it never again had the ground to stand on. Dissolution, used wisely, becomes reunion.
The Judgment
Success. The king approaches their temple. It furthers one to cross the great water. Perseverance furthers.
The Image
The wind drives over the water: the image of dispersion. Thus the kings of old sacrificed to the Lord and built temples.
Interpretation
Rigidities breaking up, ice melting, hard factionalism giving way to flow. The hexagram counsels using the dispersing moment to reunite around something larger — a sacred purpose, a common endeavour. What is hard must be dissolved to be remade.
Trigrams
The Six Lines
- First (Bottom) He brings help with the strength of a horse. Good fortune. Rapid intervention at the first sign of splintering.
- Second At the dissolution he hurries to that which supports him. Remorse disappears. Seek out the structural support in a scattering time.
- Third He dissolves his self. No remorse. Letting go of ego-investment in a crumbling situation.
- Fourth He dissolves his bond with his group. Supreme good fortune. Dispersion leads to accumulation. That is something that ordinary people do not think of. Leaving the clique to serve the wider whole — rare, and excellent.
- Fifth His loud cries are as dissolving as sweat. Dissolution! A king abides without blame. A ruler's great proclamation melts the resistance; correct.
- Sixth (Top) He dissolves his blood. Departing, keeping at a distance, going out, is without blame. Remove oneself from a life-threatening situation; no shame.