Hexagrams and palaces
Six Harmonies (Liu He)
By Vi Nhật Sơn · Updated
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Six Harmonies (Liu He) — what is it? Six Harmonies: every hexagram in which line 1 combines with line 4 is a Six Harmonies hexagram. It isn't the opposite of Six Clashes; it only informs.
As a concept, every hexagram in which line 1 combines with line 4 is called a Six Harmonies hexagram.
An example, and the Six Harmonies hexagrams
Example:
| Siblings | Zi Water | |||
| Officer line | Xu Earth | |||
| Parents | Shen Metal | Resp. | ||
| Officer line | Chou Earth | |||
| Offspring | Mao Wood | |||
| Wealth | Si Fire | Self |
We can see that the pairs 1 and 4, 2 and 5, 3 and 6 combine with each other by branch.
The Six Harmonies hexagrams are:
- StandstillPi
- PeaceTai
- OppressionKun
- LimitationJie
- The WandererLü
- GraceBi
- EnthusiasmYu
- ReturnFu
For example, in a relationship between two people, Six Clashes shows at once that they will turn on each other; but does Six Harmonies then mean it will last? It does not. Six Harmonies covers only the part where they suit each other in character; with the Response line or the Self line Void, it is still a blade hidden behind a smile.
Six Harmonies is not the opposite of Six Clashes
Six Harmonies is not the opposite state of Six Clashes. In an ordinary hexagram, Six Harmonies does not decide the nature of any matter at all; it only supplies information. For example, with a career, Six Harmonies does not report that the matter will last, but that one has the qualities suited to the work. Likewise with people: Six Harmonies does not report a relationship that can't be broken, but only that the two sides suit each other in many ways — and that has nothing to do with whether the other side will deceive one in the future. Deception or not depends on the nature of the Target line, or on the state of Void. So Six Clashes and Six Harmonies hexagrams should stand on their own, and are nearly always read simply as ordinary hexagrams.
The four effects when Six Clashes and Six Harmonies appear together
What is special about the two states of Six Clashes and Six Harmonies lies exactly in their appearing together, which produces a special effect. There are four special effects with Six Clashes and Six Harmonies:
Six Clashes changing into Six Clashes
This divides into two kinds:
Kind 1: a Pure hexagram changing into a Pure hexagram: here the result of the matter is concluded from the generating and controlling relation between the two hexagrams, referred to the Five Elements. Example: Qian changing into Li — we count the element of the Li hexagram, Fire, as controlling the element of the Qian hexagram, Metal. Here we do not go by the Day and the Month but only by the result of the elements, taking the primary hexagram as the root: if they are equal it is good, but it won't last, since it is still Six Clashes changing into Six Clashes; if it is generated the matter succeeds; if it is controlled the matter fails; if it is neither generated nor controlled it is still all right, but still Six Clashes changing into Six Clashes, so it won't last; and if it is controlled it is dangerous. The problem in this case is that hexagram controls hexagram, and then every factor within the hexagram is controlled, the Self line and the Target line alike, which leads to the matter being spoilt and the person being in danger as well. In this case the most important thing is to end it at once, or to get away and escape.
The second kind: the case where one of the two, or both, is not a Pure hexagram. Then the result is bad from beginning to end, and it is certain to be spoilt however hard one tries; one should look for a new direction and one will get out, but after finding it one must still check again with a new hexagram.
Six Clashes changing into Six Harmonies
In this case we divide the matter into two parts, an earlier and a later; but in practice these two parts are not necessarily equal in time, not necessarily six months of hardship and six months of ease. The final result is always a success, but at the start it will be wearying and hard — in short, bad at first and good later. With this kind of hexagram we do not read the nature of the lines in the primary hexagram to decide the result; rather, the relations among the lines of the primary hexagram only report the present state of the event we are concerned with.
Six Harmonies changing into Six Clashes
This case is the reverse of Six Clashes changing into Six Harmonies: it basically reports that the matter succeeds first and is spoilt later, and the arrangement and the nature of the lines in the primary hexagram all report the present state of the event we are concerned with. In this situation this is a trap that belongs to fate, giving us a fine prospect for what we intend. What is dangerous about this situation is exactly that we don't know at what point the bad thing will begin — which is quite unlike the situation where two points of timing appear as in Double appearance, or where there is a real mark of timing such as the Tomb, Void or Break. So what do we do in this situation? While the bad has not yet come, we end it and begin something new. And note that at this point we read the nature of the Target line to know the potential of the matter we are concerned with, and only then can we decide whether we will go on with this matter by a new way of approaching it, or drop it altogether. And then, whether the new approach works still has to depend on a new hexagram.
Six Harmonies changing into Six Harmonies
In this case the matter asked about will succeed from beginning to end, without any obstacle.
What is tense about the case of Clash and Harmony changing into each other is that there is no point of timing for the event; and then it is on the four cases above that we settle what we are going to do.