# Hexagram 6: Conflict

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/6
Last updated: 2026-10-07

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

- **Upper trigram:** [Qian 乾](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/qian), Heaven, the creative, strong
- **Lower trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 010111 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Conflict is present. Two forces press against each other, each convinced of its own justice. Victory won by force here becomes tomorrow's defeat. The way through is not to overpower but to find where the misunderstanding lies and meet it honestly.

## Image

Heaven turning upward, water flowing downward. Two forces moving in opposite directions. The superior person considers the beginnings of all they undertake, so that conflict is avoided before it arises.

## Counsel

Do not push the dispute further. Seek a trusted mediator, or simply step back from the fight. Examine what you contributed to the tension; address that honestly rather than insisting the other must change. Compromise now is not defeat: it is wisdom.

## The six lines

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

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> If one does not perpetuate the matter,
> there is a little gossip.
> In the end good fortune comes.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> One cannot engage in conflict; one returns home and withdraws.
> The people of his town, three hundred households,
> remain free of guilt.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> To nourish oneself on ancient virtue gives perseverance.
> Danger. In the end good fortune comes.
> If you should enter the service of a king,
> seek no works.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> One cannot engage in conflict;
> one turns back and submits to destiny,
> changes oneself and finds peace in perseverance.
> Good fortune!

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> To bring the conflict before him brings sublime good fortune.

### Line 6

> A nine at the top means:
> Even if a leather belt is conferred on one,
> by the end of a morning it will be torn from them three times.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [37 The Family](https://thefreeiching.com/library/37)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [5 Waiting](https://thefreeiching.com/library/5)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [36 Darkening of the Light](https://thefreeiching.com/library/36)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [10 Treading](https://thefreeiching.com/library/10) |
| Line 2 | [12 Standstill](https://thefreeiching.com/library/12) |
| Line 3 | [44 Coming to Meet](https://thefreeiching.com/library/44) |
| Line 4 | [59 Dispersion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/59) |
| Line 5 | [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64) |
| Line 6 | [47 Oppression](https://thefreeiching.com/library/47) |

Previous: [5 Waiting](https://thefreeiching.com/library/5). Next: [7 The Army](https://thefreeiching.com/library/7). [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 6: Conflict." https://thefreeiching.com/library/6 (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/6). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.