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HEXAGRAM 40 · xiè

Deliverance

Release after strain: loosening the knot without recreating the crisis

雷水解Classical Chinese included
Translation approach

The Chinese source stays visible. Where an editorial close rendering is available, it stays near the wording before Astro I Ching expands into cultural interpretation. Why we separate these layers →

CLASSICAL CHINESE

The source anchor

Read the source first. The English layer below remains accountable to these passages rather than replacing them with a simplified verdict.

卦辞 · Judgment
解:利西南,无所往,其来复吉。有攸往,夙吉。
Close rendering

Release: favorable to the southwest. If there is nowhere that one must go, returning and restoring brings good fortune. If there is somewhere to go, going early brings good fortune.

《大象》 · Image
雷雨作,解;君子以赦过宥罪。
Close rendering

Thunder and rain arise: Release. The noble person therefore pardons errors and forgives offenses.

How to read the middle layer

Close rendering stays near wording and sequence. It is not presented as the only possible translation; the cultural reading below is where Astro I Ching explains image, structure, and practical logic in fuller English.

ASTRO I CHING · CULTURAL READING

Why this hexagram says what it says

Cultural reading of the image

Thunder moves above Water: tension that has been held inside danger begins to open. Xie concerns the release of binding force and the return of movement.

Cultural reading of the judgment

Release is not endless postponement. Parts of life that can return to normal should do so; what remains unresolved still needs attention before pressure condenses again.

SIX LINES · ONE STORY

How the hexagram develops from bottom to top

Line 1 · 初六
Classical Chinese
无咎。
Close rendering

No blame.

Cultural reading

Sometimes release requires no complicated action. When the knot is already loosening, not adding another problem is enough.

Line 2 · 九二
Classical Chinese
田获三狐,得黄矢,贞吉。
Close rendering

Hunting in the field, one catches three foxes and obtains a yellow arrow. Constancy brings good fortune.

Cultural reading

A difficulty can be released only if the hidden source of trouble is identified while sound tools and principles are preserved.

Line 3 · 六三
Classical Chinese
负且乘,致寇至,贞吝。
Close rendering

Carrying a load while riding in a carriage invites robbers to come. Even constancy brings regret.

Cultural reading

When position and ability do not match, outside pressure and internal misplacement magnify one another.

Line 4 · 九四
Classical Chinese
解而拇,朋至斯孚。
Close rendering

Release the burden at the big toe; then companions come and there is trust.

Cultural reading

If the closest attachment remains tied, reliable relationships cannot come near; release first creates relational space.

Line 5 · 六五
Classical Chinese
君子维有解,吉;有孚于小人。
Close rendering

The noble person has release. Good fortune. There is trust even toward petty people.

Cultural reading

Real release often allows unsuitable relationships or habits to fall away naturally instead of requiring force at every point.

Line 6 · 上六
Classical Chinese
公用射隼,于高墉之上,获之,无不利。
Close rendering

A prince shoots a hawk from a high wall and gets it. Nothing is unfavorable.

Cultural reading

Once the dangerous target is clear, the line between tolerance and delay becomes narrow; decisive action can also belong to release.

BRING IT BACK TO LIFE

What this can help you notice

Useful after crisis, conflict, or a blocked process begins to loosen and the priority becomes preventing a return of the old knot.

A common misreading

Deliverance is not the moment every problem disappears. It is the beginning of unbinding, and what can return to normal should do so.

Keep the classical text and the interpretive layer separate: one is the source, the other is Astro I Ching's explanation of how the source can be read.

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