# Hexagram 38: Opposition

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/38
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Li 離](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/li), Fire, the clinging, clarity
- **Lower trigram:** [Dui 兌](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/dui), Lake, the joyous, open
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 110101 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Opposition. Two things that should complement each other are at odds. Differences that could be productive are hardening into estrangement. Forced agreement will not heal this; only small, patient acts of honest understanding bridge what argument cannot. Begin with yourself.

## Image

Fire above, the lake below. The superior person, while keeping in the general current, preserves their individuality.

## Counsel

Do not try to win the argument. Look for what is true in the other's position, even if the form of it is irritating. Small gestures of genuine openness (a question honestly asked, a concession sincerely made) do more here than grand attempts at resolution. Patience.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A nine at the beginning means:
> Remorse vanishes.
> If you lose your horse, do not run after it.
> It will come back of itself.
> If you see evil people, guard against mistakes.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> One meets one's lord in a narrow alley.
> No blame.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> One sees the wagon dragged back,
> the oxen held fast,
> a person's hair and nose cut off.
> No good beginning, but a good end.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> Made solitary through opposition,
> one meets a like-minded person
> with whom one can associate in faithfulness.
> Despite the danger, no blame.

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> Remorse vanishes.
> The companion bites through the wrapping.
> If one goes to them, how could it be a mistake?

### Line 6

> A nine at the top means:
> Made solitary through opposition, one sees one's companion
> as a mud-covered pig,
> as a wagon full of devils.
> First one draws the bow at them,
> then one puts the bow aside.
> He is no robber; he would woo in due time.
> In going, rain falls, then good fortune comes.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [63 After Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/63)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [37 The Family](https://thefreeiching.com/library/37)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64) |
| Line 2 | [21 Biting Through](https://thefreeiching.com/library/21) |
| Line 3 | [14 Great Possession](https://thefreeiching.com/library/14) |
| Line 4 | [41 Decrease](https://thefreeiching.com/library/41) |
| Line 5 | [10 Treading](https://thefreeiching.com/library/10) |
| Line 6 | [54 The Marrying Maiden](https://thefreeiching.com/library/54) |

Previous: [37 The Family](https://thefreeiching.com/library/37). Next: [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 38: Opposition." https://thefreeiching.com/library/38 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/38). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.