In love
In life as a couple, Dui stresses cheerfulness and complicity: laughing together, speaking freely, staying sincere rather than charming.
Hexagram 58
I Ching hexagram 58: The Joyous (Dui)
Dui, the Joyous (Lake), is the hexagram of shared joy: a sincere pleasure that spreads, provided you stay upright.
- joy
- exchange
- sincerity
The essentials
Dui at a glance
For you, Dui invites a joy that circulates: sincere exchanges, shared pleasure, without letting yourself be carried off by ease.
A strength
A contagious cheerfulness that brings people closer and grows stronger the more it is shared.
Something to watch
Seeking pleasure for its own sake, or trusting someone who flatters in order to do harm.
- What it advises
- Share your joy sincerely, stay true to your values, and be wary of pleasures that flatter too much.
- Its opposite
- 52. Keeping Still (Gen)
The situation
Dui is the lake, water gathered and gladdened. The ancient text sees a pleasure that comes with progress and success, provided you are firm and upright. Joy is worth something when it rests on inner sincerity.
The lines follow the course of this pleasure: first inner harmony, then the joy born of sincerity. Higher up come the traps: surrounding yourself with pleasures until you lose yourself, wavering between two sources of delight, trusting someone who seeks to do harm. Finally, at the top, the joy of leading others and drawing them in.
Dui invites a true cheerfulness, turned toward exchange, and an occasional check on what it feeds.
The image: the Lake above the Lake
- AboveLake: joy that is shared
- BelowLake: joy that is shared
Two lakes joining: water added to water. According to the commentary, friends discuss together and practice together what is right, each strengthening the other along the way.
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) · solidThe pleasure of inner harmony: a fortunate sign. A joy that depends on no one.
- 2nd line · solidThe pleasure born of inner sincerity: good fortune, and grounds for regret disappear.
- 3rd line · brokenSurrounding yourself with everything that delights: the outcome is judged bad, because the joy you seek becomes dependence.
- 4th line · solidHesitating over what should bring joy, without finding rest: you skirt what does harm, but a reason for joy remains.
- 5th line · solidTrusting someone who might do harm: the situation is perilous. Better to check whom you rely on.
- 6th line (top) · brokenThe joy of leading and attracting others: the ancient text judges neither good nor bad, since everything depends on where you lead them.
Dui in your life
At work
On the professional side, Dui favors atmosphere, discussion among peers, and playful collaboration, as long as the goal stays clear.
The I Ching helps you reflect on how to act: it does not say what is coming.
How is it built?
- Character
- 兌 (duì)
- Number
- 58 in the King Wen sequence
- Trigrams
- Lake (兌) above, Lake (兌) below
- Inner hexagram
- 37. The Family (Jia ren) (lines 2 to 4 and 3 to 5)
- Read upside down
- 57. The Gentle (Xun)
- Symbol
- ䷹ (U+4DF9)
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 58
What does hexagram 58 of the I Ching mean?
Hexagram 58, Dui, means the lake and joy that is exchanged: a sincere, contagious pleasure that requires staying upright in order to last.
Which figure counterbalances Dui?
Hexagram 52, Gen, Keeping Still: stopping and restraint. Dui opens up and shares, Gen calms and steadies. The two complement each other.