# Hexagram 8: Holding Together

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/8
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
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━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lower trigram:** [Kun 坤](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kun), Earth, the receptive, yielding
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 000010 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Holding together. A moment when uniting with the right people, or the right direction, brings good fortune. Those who come early share in the blessing; those who hesitate arrive to find the door closed. Real fellowship rests on sincerity, not on convenience.

## Image

Water upon the earth, pooling in the valleys. The ancient kings established countless states and drew their rulers close.

## Counsel

Align yourself now with what is true. Do not delay, and do not attach to motives that are not clean. Examine yourself first: are you the kind of person you would want to be joined by? Become that person, and the right company will find you.

## 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:
> Hold to him truly and faithfully: that is no blame.
> Truth, like a full earthen bowl:
> so in the end good fortune comes from without.

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> Hold to him inwardly. Perseverance brings good fortune.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> You hold together with people
> who are not the right ones.

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> Hold to him also outwardly. Perseverance brings good fortune.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> Manifestation of Holding Together.
> The king drives the game only from three sides
> and renounces the game that turns aside in front.
> The citizens need no warning. Good fortune!

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> He finds no head for Holding Together. Misfortune.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [23 Splitting Apart](https://thefreeiching.com/library/23)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [7 The Army](https://thefreeiching.com/library/7)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [14 Great Possession](https://thefreeiching.com/library/14)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [3 Difficulty at the Beginning](https://thefreeiching.com/library/3) |
| Line 2 | [29 The Abysmal](https://thefreeiching.com/library/29) |
| Line 3 | [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39) |
| Line 4 | [45 Gathering Together](https://thefreeiching.com/library/45) |
| Line 5 | [2 The Receptive](https://thefreeiching.com/library/2) |
| Line 6 | [20 Contemplation](https://thefreeiching.com/library/20) |

Previous: [7 The Army](https://thefreeiching.com/library/7). Next: [9 Small Taming](https://thefreeiching.com/library/9). [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 8: Holding Together." https://thefreeiching.com/library/8 (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/8). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.