The Clinging (Fire)
Fire (離 Lí) above, Fire (離 Lí) below
Published July 22, 2026 · By Oriens
I Ching Hexagram 30, 離 (Lí), represents The Clinging (Fire).
SourceZhouyi (周易, The Book of Changes) — hexagram 30 (離 Lí). Chinese source: Chinese Text Project, based on 《武英殿十三經注疏》本《周易正義》 (ctp:book-of-changes/li). Judgment: received Zhouyi hexagram statement (卦辭). English: Translation by Oriens Editorial Translation. Image: Xiang / Image commentary layer (象傳), distinct from the Judgment and line texts. Image and line English: named translation by James Legge, The Yî King (1899), public-domain translation; online reproduction. The named translation is used for the Image and line statements only.
1. Judgment (卦辭 Guàcí)
離：利貞，亨。畜牝牛，吉。
Oriens Editorial Translation: Steadfastness is favorable; success. Keeping a cow brings good fortune.
2. Image (象 Xiàng / Xiang commentary)
明两作,离。大人以继明照于四方。
James Legge: (The trigram for) brightness, repeated, forms Li. The great man, in accordance with this, cultivates more and more his brilliant (virtue), and diffuses its brightness over the four quarters (of the land).
3. Line Statements (爻辭 Yáocí)
Line 1 of 6 (from the bottom):
初九：履錯然，敬之无咎。
James Legge: The first NINE, undivided, shows one ready to move with confused steps. But he treads at the same time reverently, and there will be no mistake.
Line 2 of 6 (from the bottom):
六二：黃離，元吉。
James Legge: The second SIX, divided, shows its subject in his place in yellow. There will be great good fortune.
Line 3 of 6 (from the bottom):
九三：日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之嗟，凶。
James Legge: The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject in a position like that of the declining sun. Instead of playing on his instrument of earthenware, and singing to it, he utters the groans of an old man of eighty. There will be evil.
Line 4 of 6 (from the bottom):
九四：突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。
James Legge: The fourth NINE, undivided, shows the manner of its subject's coming. How abrupt it is, as with fire, with death, to be rejected (by all)!
Line 5 of 6 (from the bottom):
六五：出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。
James Legge: The fifth SIX, divided, shows its subject as one with tears flowing in torrents, and groaning in sorrow. There will be good fortune.
Line 6 of 6 (from the bottom):
上九：王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。
James Legge: The topmost NINE, undivided, shows the king employing its subject in his punitive expeditions. Achieving admirable (merit), he breaks (only) the chiefs (of the rebels). Where his prisoners were not their associates, he does not punish. There will be no error.
For the general method for changing lines and relating hexagrams, see How to Read the I Ching.
4. Modern Interpretation (Oriens commentary)
This is an Oriens interpretation, not part of the Zhouyi text.
The Clinging can prompt a careful question about what sustains brightness: fire clings to its fuel, and clarity clings to something concrete. Read at the figure level, doubled fire describes brilliance that depends on what it attaches to.
The Chinese source and translation provenance are identified above. The Judgment is an Oriens Editorial Translation; the Image and line statements are labeled with James Legge. This keeps the modern reflection separate from both the received text and the named translation.
This reflection promises neither that clarity spreads nor that it endures. Health, financial, legal, employment, and relationship decisions belong within their appropriate professional and personal contexts.
Continue with the Hexagram 30 card and the I Ching guide; these are reading paths, not additional predictions.