Encounter
- Upper Trigram
- Heaven
- Lower Trigram
- Wind
The Judgment
Wind blows beneath heaven, reaching everywhere, and anywhere an unlooked-for meeting may come — Encounter is about coming together, a meeting that arrives suddenly yet carries no small weight. The image here is of a new force quietly entering a situation that had seemed settled: it may be a person, an opportunity, or a temptation. The meeting itself is neither good nor bad; what matters is how you meet it. Encounter asks you to stay clear-eyed: some meetings are good fortune worth seizing; some, fair as they seem, may change the whole picture before you notice, and call for a measure of wariness. The tone here is to meet with restraint: neither coldly missing what is good nor impulsively taking in everything, but seeing clearly what this newcomer is and where it would carry you. That person, that matter now entering your life — have you seen its true weight?
The Six Lines
First line
Like steadying the wheel with a firm bronze brake, holding to what is right is fortunate; let it roll on unchecked, and it goes badly. Even a lean pig, once its restlessness stirs, will dart about wildly. This line is about the value of restraint early: a newly risen force, if left unbridled, seems slight yet can slip out of hand. When the first sign shows, steady it, and do not let it run.
Second line
There is a fish in the kitchen, still kept in hand — no blame, though it is not for entertaining guests. This line is about holding a bond or resource securely to your own side, unflaunted and not let slip away. Some meetings are best taken up quietly and tended well, not rushed into the open or shared around; steady the tie first and judge the measure, so nothing goes awry.
Third line
Walking comes hard, uneasy between advance and retreat; the position holds some danger, yet with watchfulness it need not turn into a real fault. This line is about the hesitation and unease within a meeting, drawn to draw near yet feeling it unwise, neither way smooth. When thus stuck, do not force it; see the risk and slow your step — uncomfortable, but it spares you a larger slip.
Fourth line
The fish in the kitchen is gone; the bond or support that should have been there falls through, and trouble easily arises. This line is about the risk after a connection is lost, often when earlier neglect or slight let the people and resources that belonged near you drift away. Do not take the bonds around you for granted; once hearts are lost and ties are cut, isolation makes everything harder.
Fifth line
Like a melon sheltered under the leaves of a tall willow, keeping talent and virtue hidden and unshown, when the time comes the blessing arrives as if dropped from heaven. This line is about holding your gifts and character in reserve and waiting for the hour; the best meeting need not be forced. Cultivate yourself and keep your real ability within, and the bond or chance that is meant to come will fall to your hand at the right moment.
Top line
Meeting head-on, butting with the horns, brings some humiliation, yet in the end no great fault. This line closes Encounter: it is about the aloof stiffness of one grown too hard at the very end. At the close of a relationship or a situation, too much force and no willingness to yield push people away; it does no great harm, but it loses all grace. Draw in the edge, and the road widens.
Reading the Change
Encounter is about coming together, and about how you meet a new force entering a settled situation; from the first line to the top it runs from restraint early and holding a bond securely, through hesitation within a meeting and the risk of a lost connection, to keeping talent in reserve and the aloof stiffness of too much hardness. It speaks of meeting, and more of the clear-eyed restraint that meets with measure. When a line changes, the judgment — whether to welcome or guard, to advance or draw in — turns at one particular stage. A change low down usually asks you to steady the first sign and not let it run; a change up top speaks to cultivating yourself and waiting for the hour, and to softening a stance grown too hard. Read where the changing line falls, then the resulting hexagram, and you know which way this meeting is developing. See its weight first, then decide how close to draw.