Dui · Lake
Overview
— Three-line symbol
Dui stacks two yang lines under one yin line (110). Its natural image is the lake or marsh — water gathered in an open basin. The broken line on top reads as an opening: the open surface of water, and by extension the open mouth. So Dui governs both the lake and speech, and the Shuogua names its virtue with a single word, yue (悦): gladness — pleasure, ease, communication that delights.
In the trigram family Dui is the youngest daughter, the last daughter 'obtained' from Kun — light, sociable, outward-turned. The King Wen arrangement places Dui due west, matched to mid-autumn; the Shuogua says 'Dui is full autumn, in which the ten thousand things rejoice' — harvest time, when ripeness itself is the pleasure. The Fuxi arrangement places Dui in the southeast.
Dui's classical images include the shamaness, mouth and tongue, breaking and splitting apart, hard salty ground, the concubine, the sheep. The list carries both sides of the trigram: words can please and connect, and words can wound and break. Soft outside, firm inside — Dui's friendliness is not weakness. When Dui appears in a reading, attention usually falls on conversation, expression, negotiation, and shared enjoyment, with a standing note of caution about careless talk.
Trigram Virtue
— Shuogua · the defining quality
Gladness (悦 yue)
Yue is delight that rises from inner substance, not flattery. Dui holds two solid lines within and shows one soft line without: firmness first, gentleness on the surface. That is why the tradition says people led with gladness forget their toil. Dui counsels moving things forward through goodwill and open exchange — while watching for the failure mode of pleasing without substance.
Classical Source
— Shuogua zhuan (Explaining the Trigrams)
Line Structure
— Bottom to top
Bottom to top: yang, yang, yin (110). Two solid lines form the base; the one broken line sits on top like an opening — a water surface, a mouth. That is Dui's structural character: enjoyment resting on substance and sincerity. Invert the balance — surface charm over an empty interior — and gladness degrades into flattery and quarrelsome talk.
In a Reading
— As upper · as lower · overall
As the lower (inner) trigram
As the lower (inner) trigram, Dui marks an inwardly glad, communicative state: you want to talk, trade views, and connect, and your motives carry goodwill. Turn that inner warmth into clear expression rather than vague politeness.
As the upper (outer) trigram
As the upper (outer) trigram, Dui marks an environment centered on exchange: negotiation, discussion, social settings, public speech. The mood looks light, but words carry real weight here — what is said, and how, shapes the outcome. Guard against easy promises and loose talk.
Overall
Dui governs joy, speech, and exchange. Meeting it usually points to communication, collaboration, commerce, or shared pleasure — with the reminder that gladness needs substance beneath it. Doubled, Dui forms Hexagram 58, whose theme is exactly this: friends gathering to talk through and practice what they learn.
Hexagrams Containing Dui
— Dui as upper or lower trigram
· English renderings and modern readings are original editorial writing, cross-checked against public-domain and classical commentary lineages.
· Hexagram Cast does not predict, score, schedule, ward, or recommend rituals.
· Modern inputs are reproducible; traditional casts can be audited line by line from the stored coin/yarrow trace.