In love
As a couple, Cui stresses reunions and gatherings: celebrations, families reunited, shared projects, with a common goal.
Hexagram 45
I Ching hexagram 45: Gathering Together (Cui)
Cui means gathering together, a group forming: bringing people together around a center, with sincerity and preparation.
- gathering
- center
- preparation
The essentials
Cui at a glance
For you, Cui describes a time when people come together again: uniting takes a clear center and careful preparation.
A strength
An art of bringing people together: giving a shared meaning, and welcoming those who recognize themselves in it.
Something to watch
Neglecting preparation: a large gathering without a solid framework quickly takes on the look of disorder.
- What it advises
- Unite around a clear goal, prepare things seriously, and stay vigilant about the unexpected.
- Its opposite
- 26. The Taming Power of the Great (Da xu)
The situation
Cui places Earth beneath the Lake: water pooling on the ground, the crowd streaming in. The Judgment evokes the king who reaches the shrine of his ancestors, a symbol of a center that gives meaning to everyone.
To this are added the advice to meet an eminent person, to stay upright, to make great offerings, and that every direction is good. Gathering together requires a heart that everyone can refer to, or the crowd disperses.
The hexagram invites you to unite with sincerity, to prepare what is necessary, and to guard against the unexpected.
The image: the Lake above Earth
- AboveLake: joy that is shared
- BelowEarth: the welcome that carries
Earth beneath the Lake: water gathered on the ground. The image serves as a lesson in foresight: keep weapons in order to meet the unexpected.
Consult the I Ching
Throw three coins six times: your hexagram, the lines that change, and the direction they point to.
Free, no account · nothing is sent · no predictions
The six lines
- 1st line (bottom) · brokenA sincerity with no follow-through: the gathering turns to disorder. Calling for help, tears turn into a smile; moving ahead remains without fault.
- 2nd line · brokenLetting yourself be guided: a good outcome, no fault. A complete sincerity makes even a modest offering acceptable.
- 3rd line · brokenSeeking to unite while sighing, without finding any advantage: moving ahead causes no error, only a slight regret.
- 4th line · solidGreat good fortune is required for there to be no fault: the role of go-between is delicate.
- 5th line · solidGathering under a person in a high position: no fault. If some doubt, virtue must be great, lasting, and upright.
- 6th line (top) · brokenSighs and tears: a sorrow that is expressed, without fault. Acknowledging the failure of a gathering is already a step.
Cui in your life
At work
In your activity, Cui favors forming teams, important meetings, and alliances, provided you have a clear center.
The I Ching helps you reflect on how to act: it does not say what is coming.
How is it built?
- Character
- 萃 (cuì)
- Number
- 45 in the King Wen sequence
- Trigrams
- Lake (兌) above, Earth (坤) below
- Inner hexagram
- 53. Development (Jian) (lines 2 to 4 and 3 to 5)
- Read upside down
- 46. Pushing Upward (Sheng)
- Symbol
- ䷬ (U+4DEC)
The English names are the usual renderings of the Chinese characters; the texts rely on the Chinese and on early public-domain translations (Legge, 1882; Philastre, 1885–1893).
Sources
- Wikipedia (English), “List of hexagrams of the I Ching,” read on October 15, 2026: numbers, characters, pinyin, lower and upper trigrams.
- Wikipedia (English), “Bagua,” read on October 15, 2026: lines of the eight trigrams, from bottom to top.
- James Legge (1815–1897), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI, 1882 (Wikisource): public domain.
- Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre (1837–1902), Le Yi King ou Livre des changements de la dynastie des Tsheou, Annales du Musée Guimet, 1885–1893: public domain (the author died more than 70 years ago).
Frequently asked questions about hexagram 45
What does I Ching hexagram 45 mean?
Hexagram 45, Cui, means gathering together: a group forming around a center, with sincerity, preparation, and vigilance.
How are Cui and Sheng related?
Read upside down, Cui becomes hexagram 46, Sheng, Pushing Upward. The group that has formed can then rise together, step by step.