Yarrow paired source note · 2026-07-17

Bi and Da You: Read an Opposite Pair Without Ranking It

Compare Hexagram 8 Bi (Holding Together) with Hexagram 14 Da You (Great Possession) as a line-by-line opposite pair, without turning contrast into prediction.

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8 · Bi · Holding Together

PI (Holding Together) signifies closeness and union: auspicious. Consult the oracle anew; if the supreme and enduring perseverance is upheld, there will be no blame. The restless lands from the four quarters come to submit. For him who comes too late, there is misfortune. The Commentary on the Decision says: Holding Together brings good fortune. Holding Together means mutual support; those below follow obediently.

The Bi hexagram uses water flowing over the earth to symbolize a situation in which hearts and aspirations converge—all under heaven draw close and attach themselves...

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14 · Da You · Great Possession

Possession in Great Measure: supreme success. The Commentary on the Judgment says: In Possession in Great Measure, the yielding line attains the honored place, central and great, and those above and below respond to it. Therefore it is called Possession in Great Measure. Its character is firm and strong, refined and bright. It accords with Heaven and moves with the time. Thus it is supremely successful.

The fire in the heavens is the sun, who brings light to this world and also brings life. Li is fundamentally a yin trigram and carries the image of the feminine.

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What the structural contrast actually says

The local structured corpus records Hexagram 8's opposite as Hexagram 14, and Hexagram 14's opposite as Hexagram 8. Every line changes polarity across this pair. Use that structural fact to compare conditions, not to label one side good and the other bad.

Two-column comparison practice

Make two columns headed Bi and Da You. Under each, copy one phrase from its reference translation and one observable condition from the situation you are studying. Circle the condition that would have to change before the other column became more relevant. Choose one reversible step and a review date.

Common misread to avoid

An opposite pair is not a before-and-after promise. Bi does not automatically become Da You, and the pair does not decide which person or outcome is correct. It is a disciplined contrast for closer observation.

Source boundary

The two reference translations and context notes come from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. The opposite-pair relation comes from the same local corpus. This comparison is not a fresh cast or a forecast.