Hexagram 30

The Clinging Fire

Upper Trigram

FireClinging

ElementFireDirectionEastFamilySecond DaughterQualitiesilluminating, dependent, radiant

Lower Trigram

FireClinging

ElementFireDirectionEastFamilySecond DaughterQualitiesilluminating, dependent, radiant

Classical Texts

The Judgment

利貞。亨。畜牝牛。吉。

The Image

明兩作,離。大人以繼明照於四方。

The Lines

Line 1

初九 履錯然。敬之。无咎。

Line 2

六二 黃離。元吉。

Line 3

九三 日昃之離。不鼓缶而歌。則大耋之嗟。凶。

Line 4

九四 突如其來如。焚如。死如。棄如。

Line 5

六五 出涕沱若。戚嗟若。吉。

Line 6

上九 王用出征。有嘉。折首。獲匪其醜。无咎。

The Burning of the Houses of Parliament

The Burning of the Houses of Parliament

J.M.W. Turner, 1834

The Clinging

Flames consume the Palace of Westminster, their orange glow reflected in the black Thames as crowds gather on the riverbank. J.M.W. Turner witnessed this 1834 fire and painted multiple versions, capturing how light clings to darkness—the burning buildings illuminate the night sky, flames mirrored in water below, fire and reflection inseparable. The composition doubles illumination: actual conflagration above, its image below, neither existing independently. The crowd stands mesmerized, held by the spectacle of destruction made visible through its own light.

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This is Li (離), the Clinging—Fire (Li) doubled, clarity depending on what it consumes. The character depicts a bird clinging to something, emphasizing attachment and dependency. Ancient diviners saw this hexagram as fire needing fuel, light requiring darkness to be perceived, clarity that cannot exist alone. Turner's flames embody this paradox: the fire reveals the palace's architecture in brilliant detail even as it destroys the structure. Each element clings to its opposite—light to dark, revelation to consumption, illumination to annihilation. The painting itself clings to that October night, preserving the event through pigment attached to canvas. Turner witnessed the 1834 fire that destroyed much of the Palace of Westminster and painted multiple versions of the event. The paintings show intense flames reflected in the Thames, with crowds gathered on the riverbank. The imagery of fire and its reflections connects to the hexagram's doubled fire trigram, representing clinging and illumination—the way light both reveals and depends on what it attaches to. The Judgment text states: "It furthers one to be persevering. Success. Care for the cow brings good fortune." The cow image suggests docility and nourishment—fire must be tended carefully, fed regularly, or it either dies or rages destructively. Song Dynasty commentary notes that clarity requires constant maintenance; insights fade without sustained attention, understanding dims without ongoing cultivation. Turner's fire burns uncontrolled, magnificent and terrible, showing what happens when the clinging element escapes proper tending. The palace—seat of British parliamentary power—burns because fire spread beyond its hearth. The painting warns and dazzles simultaneously. The Image Text counsels: "Brightness rises twice. The great person perpetuates the light by illuminating the four quarters." Doubled fire suggests light sustaining itself through succession—one flame lighting the next, clarity passed forward through teaching and transmission. Turner painted this scene but also trained his eye through decades of studying light's behavior. In the I-Ching's sequence, the Clinging follows the Abysmal: after water's formless danger (29), fire's form-giving clarity (30) emerges. But clarity demands attachment—to fuel, to substance, to what it illuminates. The Thames mirrors the burning parliament, light clinging to water's surface, each visible only through the other's presence.

Yilin: Forest of Changes

From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 30 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

Yilin artwork for Hexagram 30
時乘六龍,為帝使東,達命宣旨,無所不通。

Riding the six dragons in season; serving as the emperor's envoy to the east. Proclaiming the mandate, declaring the edict; nothing that does not reach through.

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Doubled fire meets itself: pure brilliance sustained. Riding the six dragons in season, one serves as the emperor's envoy to the east, proclaiming mandates and conveying edicts with nothing beyond reach. 'Riding the six dragons in season' quotes directly from the I-Ching's Qian hexagram commentary (Wenyan): the sage rides the six dragons to traverse the heavens. Here the envoy carries imperial light in all directions. From The Clinging to The Clinging, fire renews fire in perpetual succession. The great person 'continues brightness to illuminate the four quarters' — this is the hexagram's own image text made flesh. There is no transformation to manage, only the challenge of sustaining radiance without burnout, which the verse resolves through service: light that travels outward on behalf of another never exhausts itself.

中文注释

明兩作離,離遇離,純明相繼。時乘六龍——出《易經·乾卦·文言》「時乘六龍以御天」。為帝使東——奉天子之命出使東方。達命宣旨,無所不通——宣佈詔令,暢達無阻。從離至離,明兩作,大人以繼明照於四方:離之自身映照。無卦變之張力,唯有光明延續之挑戰。詩以御天之龍為喻,明非自照而是為帝傳光,如使者奉命宣化四方。火之不滅,在於傳遞而非獨燃。