Yarrow / Source Notes / 2026-07-17
Yarrow source note · 2026-07-17
A source-first reading note for Hexagram 6, Song (Conflict), with a reference translation, trigram frame, and one reversible observation practice.
Conflict
The lower trigram is 坎 (水), associated in the bundled corpus with 陷; the upper trigram is 乾 (天), associated with 健. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
Conflict. There is sincerity within, yet obstruction breeds apprehension. To halt midway brings good fortune; to press through to the end brings misfortune. It furthers one to see the great man. It does not further one to cross the great water.
See the original-text and authority layers in the complete catalog entry.
"Enmities are better resolved than formed." When in Song (Conflict) one is willing to yield even when in the right, there is an image of "moderately auspicious"; but when Song breeds resentment, the outcome must be "ultimately ominous." The phrase "it is beneficial to see the great person" carries an even greater lesson for the world: when disputes arise, they should not be settled privately but brought before the law—that is the proper path. The Tuan says: Song means the upper trigram is firm and the lower trigram is dangerous; danger within and vigor without—this is Song.
The lower trigram is 坎 (水), associated in the bundled corpus with 陷; the upper trigram is 乾 (天), associated with 健. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
Copy one concrete verb, condition, or image from the reference translation for Hexagram 6. Name one place where it is observable in the situation you are examining. Then choose one small step you can reverse and write the condition that would make you review it.
Do not turn Conflict into a personality label, a guaranteed event, or a verdict about another person. The translation and trigram frame are source layers to examine, not an instruction to surrender judgment.
The reference translation and context are drawn from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. Yarrow keeps that layer separate from optional modern reflection. This page does not claim that Hexagram 6 was cast for your question.