Fire upon fire, light rising twice: a hexagram of brightness and of what it clings to. Things go through when one clings to what is correct, with gentle compliance.
Both trigrams are Li ☲, fire, whose quality is brightness and clinging (麗). Zhu Xi reads li as “to cling”: in each trigram a yin line rests between two yang lines and clings to them, and its image is fire. Whatever one clings to, correctness is what counts, and the judgment pairs it with the gentleness of a cow.
Judgment (卦辭)
The text attached to the whole hexagram, read when no line is changing.
離，利貞，亨。畜牝牛，吉。
Li: it is fitting to stay correct and firm; then there is success. Raising a cow brings good fortune.
Zhu Xi glosses li as “to cling”: in each trigram a yin line clings between two yang lines. Its image is fire, yin in substance and yang in its working. Whatever something clings to, he says, what matters is that it be correct, and if one can be correct, things go through. A cow is a soft, compliant animal, and the text links keeping one to good fortune, so gentle compliance joins correctness as the condition.
Image (大象)
The Image commentary (象傳) reads the whole hexagram from its two trigrams.
明兩作，離。大人以繼明照于四方。
Light rises, then rises again: Li. The great person carries the light on and lets it shine in all four directions.
The two fire trigrams are light rising once and then again; Zhu Xi's only gloss is that 作 means “to rise.” The great person takes light that keeps arising, one after another, as the model for a brightness carried on without a break, reaching in every direction.
Lines (爻辭)
From the bottom line to the top. In the line names, nine (九) marks a yang line and six (六) a yin line.
Line 1, yang (初九)changing line in the shared reading
履錯然，敬之，无咎。
Steps tangled this way and that. With reverent care, no blame.
The first line (初九) is firm and at the base of the bright trigram, eager to move up, and its footsteps cross and tangle as it starts out. Zhu Xi turns the image into a warning for whoever receives it: meeting that eagerness with reverent care is what keeps it free of blame. Early steps are where caution counts most.
Line 2, yin (六二)changing line in the shared reading
黃離，元吉。
Yellow, clinging at the center. Great good fortune.
Yellow, Zhu Xi notes, is the color of the center. The soft second line (六二) clings to the middle of the lower trigram and stands correctly there, a yin line in a yin place, which is clinging in its best form. The text gives it great good fortune. What one holds to matters as much as how firmly one holds.
Line 3, yang (九三)changing line in the shared reading
日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之嗟，凶。
Brightness as the sun declines. If one does not beat on a pot and sing, there will be the sighing of great age. Misfortune.
Between the two fire trigrams, the third line (九三) stands where the first light is about to give out, like the sun past noon. Beating on an earthen pot and singing is Zhu Xi's picture of resting content in the ordinary course of things and finding joy in it. Without that, one cannot settle into one's place and is left lamenting age, which the text calls misfortune.
Line 4, yang (九四)changing line in the shared reading
突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。
Abruptly it arrives, blazing, dying, cast aside.
As the lower fire ends and the upper fire is about to take over, the fourth line (九四) forces its way in with hard strength. Zhu Xi says no more than that, and the text supplies the image: a sudden arrival that flares, dies out and is thrown away. Brightness pushed this hard burns itself up before it can shine.
Line 5, yin (六五)changing line in the shared reading
出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。
Tears flowing in streams, sighing in sorrow. Good fortune.
Soft and central in the ruler's seat, the fifth line (六五) is not in its proper place and is pressed by strong lines above and below. Zhu Xi says that worry and fear this deep, tears and sighing, are what lead to good fortune here, and he gives it as a warning that whoever meets the line should be like this. The good outcome comes through anxious care, not despite it.
Top line, yang (上九)changing line in the shared reading
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。
The king goes out on campaign. There is praise: he strikes down the chief and does not take the followers. No blame.
At the top of the figure, firm brightness reaches far. In Zhu Xi's reading the king's authority makes itself felt, yet punishment does not spread beyond those who deserve it: the leader is dealt with, and the rank and file are spared. That restraint is the reason for no blame. Light that reaches far, in this line, also knows where to stop.
If you drew this hexagram
Which text to read depends on how many lines are changing. With none, read the judgment; with one, read that line; with more, follow Zhu Xi's rules in the Yixue qimeng.
Text: Zhu Xi, Yuanben Zhouyi benyi (原本周易本義), Siku Quanshu Wenyuange copy, as transcribed by the Kanseki Repository (KR1a0031), corrected and punctuated by K-magpie. Translation and explanation: written by AI (Claude) from Zhu Xi's commentary and checked against the text and commentary. Sources and the list of corrections are on the Today's Hexagram page.
Characters corrected in this hexagram — Line 3, yang (九三): 日昊之離 → 日昃之離