易玄机

The 64 hexagrams / Hexagram 43

Breakthrough

Hexagram 43 · 夬 Guài

Lake above · Heaven below
坤 palace · 五世

What hexagram 43 says

Water rising to the sky: it must fall. A decision is due, and it should be made openly. Distribute benefits first, and never announce it in anger.

STRUCTURE
A figure built from Heaven (creative, forceful, initiating) below and Lake (joyous, open, reflecting) above.
Below: Heaven (Qian) — creative, forceful, initiating.
Above: Lake (Dui) — joyous, open, reflecting.
decisionexposurebreak

The six lines

Read from the bottom up. The first line is the beginning of the situation, the sixth is its outer edge. The Chinese text is the classical line text; the line below it is a reading of what it is pointing at.

First (bottom)
yang — solid
壮于前趾,往不胜为咎。
Second
yang — solid
惕号,莫夜有戎,勿恤。
Third
yang — solid
壮于頄,有凶。君子夬夬,独行遇雨,若濡有愠,无咎。
Fourth
yang — solid
臀无肤,其行次且。牵羊悔亡。
Fifth
yang — solid
苋陆夬夬,中行无咎。
Top
yin — broken
无号,终有凶。

How to use this hexagram

If you cast this as your primary hexagram, it describes the situation you are in. If it came up as the transformed hexagram, it describes where things are heading once the changing lines have flipped. If you are only looking it up, read the judgment first — the line texts are for specific moments inside the situation, not for the situation as a whole.

Frequently asked

What does I Ching hexagram 43 mean?

Hexagram 43, Breakthrough, is made of Lake above and Heaven below. Water rising to the sky: it must fall. A decision is due, and it should be made openly. Distribute benefits first, and never announce it in anger.

How do I read hexagram 43 in a casting?

Read the primary hexagram first — it describes the situation as it stands. If any of your six lines were changing lines (sixes or nines from the coin tosses), read those lines' texts next: they mark where the situation is moving. The hexagram produced after those lines flip is the transformed hexagram, and it shows where the movement leads.

What are the six lines of hexagram 43?

Hexagram 43 has six lines, read from the bottom up. The texts below are given in order, first line (bottom) to sixth line (top).

Which palace does hexagram 43 belong to?

In the six-line (liuyao) system, hexagram 43 sits in the 坤 palace, fifth generation — the turn is nearly complete. The palace gives the hexagram its ruling element, and from that element the Six Relatives are assigned to each line.