Hexagram 45 Cui, Lake over Earth: Gathering Meaning and Message
Hexagram 45 is about the moment when people and resources come together, and how to keep a gathering whole. Here are its text, six lines, and what it may say about love, work, money and health.
Contents
Hexagram 45, Lake over Earth: Gathering (Cui), is the 45th of the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. It is made of Dui (lake) above and Kun (earth) below, and it speaks about water pooling on the ground: the moment when people and resources come together in one place.
Hexagram 45 (Cui) at a Glance
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Number | 45 of 64 |
| Name | Lake over Earth: Gathering (Cui) |
| Image | ☱ over ☷ (a lake above the earth) |
| Inner (lower) trigram | Kun ☷, earth |
| Outer (upper) trigram | Dui ☱, lake |
| Element | Metal (belongs to the Dui house) |
| Overall tone | Success, if you stay steady |
| Key phrase | Success; the king comes to the temple; it is favorable to see the great person |
| Yang lines | 2 of 6 (lines 4 and 5) |
| Opposite hexagram (every line flipped) | Hexagram 26, Mountain over Heaven: Great Accumulation (Da Chu) |
| Reversed hexagram (turned upside down) | Hexagram 46, Earth over Wind: Ascending (Sheng) |
The Original Text and Its Meaning
This part gives the classical wording of Hexagram 45 in English, with a plain explanation. If you only care about how the hexagram applies to daily life, feel free to skim it and jump to the later sections.
The Judgment
Gathering: success. The king comes to the ancestral temple. It is favorable to see the great person. Success; perseverance is favorable. To offer a great sacrifice brings good fortune. It is favorable to have somewhere to go.
In plain words: Cui means coming together, and it points to success. The king visits the ancestral temple, it helps to meet a person of stature, success follows, and steadiness is favorable. A generous offering is good, and going forward is favorable. The Judgment shows that to draw others together you need a place (the temple), someone worth trusting (the great person), and sincerity (the large offering). When those three are present, the gathering tends to hold.
The Image
Lake above the earth: this is Gathering. In the same way, the noble person puts weapons in order, to guard against the unexpected.
In plain words: a lake resting on the ground is the image of Cui. Following it, the noble person keeps weapons in repair and prepares for what cannot be foreseen. At first this may sound contradictory: a hexagram about gathering that mentions defense? But the logic is clear. When many people come together in one place, small conflicts can grow into big ones. A wise person knows that the calmest moment is exactly when to prepare for the worst case.
The Six Lines
The six lines of Cui describe six different ways of approaching a gathering. Read from the bottom up: the first line is at the very bottom and the sixth is at the top.
| Line | Classical text | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Line 1 (six at the beginning) | There is sincerity, but it does not last to the end. There is confusion, then gathering. If you call out, one handclasp turns to laughter. Do not worry. Going on brings no fault. | Sincerity that wavers leaves you unsettled at the start, but a call and a handclasp turn it into laughter, so do not worry and go on without fault |
| Line 2 (six in the second place) | Being drawn brings good fortune. No fault. If there is sincerity, even a simple offering is favorable. | Being guided is good, and with sincerity even a modest offering helps |
| Line 3 (six in the third place) | Gathering, sighing. Nothing furthers. Going on brings no fault, only slight regret. | Wanting to gather but sighing about it brings no gain, going on is without fault, with slight regret |
| Line 4 (nine in the fourth place) | Great good fortune. No fault. | Very good, no fault |
| Line 5 (nine in the fifth place) | Gathering, with a position. No fault. If there is not yet trust, be sublime and lasting in perseverance, and regret vanishes. | Gathering from a high seat is without fault, and if trust is not there yet, hold to great and lasting virtue and regret goes away |
| Line 6 (six at the top) | Sighing and weeping, tears and snot. No fault. | Sighing and weeping, with no fault |
Reading the Six Lines in Everyday Terms
The six lines of Hexagram 45 are six situations a person may meet on entering any kind of gathering: joining a new team at work, joining a community, building a group, or even fitting into a partner's family. Here is each line in everyday language.
Line 1: Trust not yet firm, easily shaken. You want to join a group but your resolve is thin. The moment you step in, everything feels strange and you want to quit. The line's advice: if you truly want in, speak up. At first you may feel awkward, but once you reach out first, things tend to settle. Reserve fades when you take the initiative, not when you wait to be invited.
Get the HOROS app
Zi Wei Dou Shu, the I Ching and your daily fortune, wherever you go.
Line 2: Guided by someone trustworthy. This is the position of someone who joins a group through an introduction or with a guide. You do not need to show off or bring a large gift. Sincerity and honesty are enough, and even a small contribution is noticed. This stage is favorable because someone is vouching for you. Use it, and do not wait until you have to manage on your own before regretting it.
If you want to cast a hexagram and read the answer, you can try it on HOROS.
Line 3: Wanting in, and being held at a distance. You have tried to fit in but have not been accepted yet. It is sad and disappointing, and you may even ask yourself whether you are worth it. The line says going on is without fault but brings slight regret. Meaning: keep going, but do not expect to be let in right away. This stage asks for patience and the ability to bear standing at the edge for a while.
Line 4: The one who draws people together. Line 4 is a Yang line, in the outer trigram, right beside the seat of the leader, and it plays the role of the connector. You are the one who organizes the party, starts the group, and keeps the team from falling apart. The line says "great good fortune, no fault" because someone who brings people together without self-interest tends to be trusted. The condition: you do not do it for yourself. You do it for the whole group.
Line 5: The leader of the gathering. Sitting in the highest seat, you are the one everyone gathers around. But the line carries a warning: if trust has not been won yet, do not rush to use your authority. Hold to great and lasting virtue. When you lead through steadiness instead of pressure, people tend to come back on their own. The words "regret vanishes" at the end show a good result, but it means passing through a stretch when nobody yet trusts you.
Line 6: Left out in the middle of the gathering. This is the person who arrives late or stands outside it all. Everyone has already come together and you still feel out of place, sad to the point of tears. It sounds bleak, yet the line still says "no fault." These are the tears of someone sincere. You hurt because you really want to belong, and that sincerity tends, sooner or later, to be answered.
What Hexagram 45 May Say About Everyday Life
Love
Casting Cui on a love question often points to a time of coming together, or of two people moving to a closer commitment. Meeting each other's families, introducing friends, moving in together, or holding a wedding may all go well in this period. The hexagram also reminds that gathering needs sincerity as its base. If it is only for show and the heart is not in it, the relationship can crack right when you seem closest. Love that keeps its word tends to last.
Career
On career, Hexagram 45 leans toward work that calls for cooperation and teamwork. It may be a good time to build a team, hire, or widen your network. If you are working alone, consider looking for a partner. If you manage a team, focus on keeping your good people instead of only recruiting more. The Image's reminder to "guard against the unexpected" applies here: as a team grows, internal conflict becomes more likely. A careful person sets shared rules before trouble breaks out.
Money
Casting Cui on money often points to pooling funds, raising money, or concentrating resources. Joint investments, group funds, and community projects may do well when people trust each other. By contrast, investing alone or hiding capital without sharing may find it harder to go smoothly. One point worth noting: when a lot of money is flowing in, that is exactly when transparent management matters most. Cui reminds that any gathering lacking transparency is at risk of falling apart.
Health
On health, Cui suggests keeping a steady, flowing routine. A lake on the ground is a picture of something that can pool and sit. Practical habits help: light movement every day, regular water through the day, simple meals, and getting up from your seat often instead of sitting still for hours. The body, like a lake, needs somewhere for the water to flow out so it does not become a stagnant pond. Rest well too, and let the pace of your day stay even.
Closing Thought: Be a Place People Want to Come To
If the spirit of this hexagram had to be put in one picture, it is the lake on the ground: wherever there is a low spot, water flows toward it. A gathering does not come from force. It comes from making a place worth finding. The classic text's reminder, "perseverance is favorable, guard against the unexpected," shows that Cui always has two sides: knowing how to bring people together, and knowing how to keep that gathering from breaking apart.