Lake (Joy)
- Upper Trigram
- Lake
- Lower Trigram
- Lake
The Judgment
Two lakes join and water each other — Lake, the Joy, is about gladness, openness, and people spurring one another on through a joy that is sincere. As lake water nourishes all things, so does joy: real gladness flows and is catching, drawing people close and making them willing to do good work together. The joy this hexagram speaks of is not flattery or a forced smile, but a true inner gladness first, then shared naturally with others. It reminds you that to act and to lead with joy carries further than driving people with a grim face — hearts open to warmth, not to pressure squeezed out of them. But the Lake has its shadow too: if joy becomes fawning and pleasing outward, or slides into indulgence that turns no one away, then the gladness loses its root. So the Lake asks for joy that is glad and upright — a true gladness from within outward, with discernment, neither obsequious nor overflowing. Ask yourself: is my joy from the heart, or a bid to win someone's approval?
The Six Lines
First line
Harmonious, sincere joy — this is fortunate. This first line of the Joy is about the purest gladness, sought from nothing outside. The steadiest joy comes from inner peace, not from being pleased by anyone; when you are at ease within yourself first, that undirected gladness is just what lets those around you relax too.
Second line
Joy that springs from sincerity — this is fortunate, and regret disappears. This line is about gladness built on good faith. The joy that truly lasts has mutual trust beneath it; treat people with sincerity and play no games, and the solid gladness of that openness lets a moment's doubt and regret quietly melt away.
Third line
Joy pursued outward, courted and solicited, brings danger instead. This line is about the hidden peril of grasping for pleasure from without. If gladness turns into endlessly begging others for approval, trading flattery for a kind face, it becomes a bottomless pit; draw your gaze back, ask first whether you are steady enough within, and do not hand the key to your joy entirely to others.
Fourth line
Weighing back and forth between different joys, unsettled for a time; but by holding to principle and keeping the harmful temptations at bay, you reach a true gladness. This line is about the choice between temptation and the right path. Faced with many stirring options, it is worth pausing to discern; shut out the ones that look sweet but wound, and the joy that remains is clean and will keep.
Fifth line
To misplace your sincerity on people or things that are eroding you carries danger. This line is a warning of joy and trust given to the wrong keeping. Sincerity is good, but the object matters too; when you find yourself pouring your heart again and again into a draining relationship, that is not devotion but a loss of discernment — draw the trust back and give it to those who are worth it.
Top line
Joy that is drawn out and lured on by another holds something to watch for. This line closes the Joy, about pleasure led on by outside pull, past your own choosing. When gladness becomes being led along and unable to stop, take note whether this joy still belongs to you; true gladness is something you can freely choose, not something you are pulled into.
Reading the Change
Lake, the Joy, is about gladness and openness, and people spurring one another on through sincere delight. From the first line to the top it runs from peaceful joy sought from nothing outside and gladness built on sincerity, through the peril of pleasing outward and the choice between temptation and the right path, to the warning of trust given to the wrong keeping, and finally joy led on by outside pull. The joy it means is not flattery but a true gladness from within outward, held with discernment. When a line changes, the emphasis — to settle within, to hold to sincerity, or to discern — shifts at that stage. A change low down mostly asks you to root your joy back in the heart; a change up top speaks of discerning whom you trust and not being led along. Read where the changing line falls, then the resulting hexagram, and you know where this joy is flowing.