In love
A sincere closeness is highlighted: say things simply, commit with loyalty and without calculation, day after day.
Hexagram 8
I Ching hexagram 8: Holding Together (Bi)
Bi, Holding Together, is the hexagram of coming closer: people gather around what is sincere, and there should be no delay.
- union
- sincerity
- loyalty
The essentials
Bi at a glance
For you, Bi invites you to build frank bonds: examine your own worth, then join with those who share the same impulse.
A strength
The art of bringing together and coming together: sincere bonds, kept up over time, that make each person stronger.
Something to watch
Joining without examination, or too late: joining someone who does not deserve it, or letting the moment pass, costs both.
- What it advises
- Examine your own constancy, then join without delay with those who deserve trust, sincerely.
- Its opposite
- 14. Possession in Great Measure (Da you)
The situation
Bi speaks of drawing closer. The ancient text sees good fortune in it, but first asks for a return to yourself: is your virtue great, continuous, firm? If so, no mistake is to be feared.
Those who hesitated end up coming, and those who arrive too late fare badly. Nothing is promised; the hexagram simply describes a time when bonds form and when it is better not to stay on the sidelines.
The union it speaks of rests on sincerity, not on interest. It needs a center, someone or something to gather around, and the trust that sustains it.
The image: Water above Earth
- AboveWater: the risky passage
- BelowEarth: the welcome that carries
Water upon Earth: it seeps in and blends with the ground without leaving a gap. The commentaries associate it with the figure of the first kings, who wove close ties with the lords of their principalities.
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) · brokenJoining with sincerity, like an earthen pot full of its contents: simple faithfulness draws other benefits in the end.
- 2nd line · brokenThe bond starts from within: hold steady, stay yourself; this is judged a good omen.
- 3rd line · brokenJoining with people you should not be associated with: the hexagram warns against this wrong kind of closeness.
- 4th line · brokenJoining the person outside, higher placed, with uprightness: the omen is good.
- 5th line · solidThe king hunts leaving three sides open: the game that flees is not pursued. His people are not hurried: union happens freely.
- 6th line (top) · brokenArriving without having taken the first step, without being at the head: the ancient text sees a bad omen in this delay.
Bi in your life
At work
Alliances and partnerships are favored, provided you choose your partners with care and commit clearly.
The I Ching helps you reflect on how to act: it does not say what is coming.
How is it built?
- Character
- 比 (bǐ)
- Number
- 8 in the King Wen sequence
- Trigrams
- Water (坎) above, Earth (坤) below
- Inner hexagram
- 23. Splitting Apart (Bo) (lines 2 to 4 and 3 to 5)
- Read upside down
- 7. The Army (Shi)
- Symbol
- ䷇ (U+4DC7)
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 8
What does hexagram 8 of the I Ching mean?
Hexagram 8, Bi, means holding together: a time to draw closer to others with sincerity and loyalty, first examining your own motives.
Which hexagram is the counterpart of Bi?
It is hexagram 14, Da You, Possession in Great Measure. Where Bi seeks gathering, Da You describes abundance. The two are read as mirrors.