Hexagram 16 · ䷏
This is a time when inspired movement can gather people and set large undertakings in motion. It is favorable for political organization and military mobilizati...
Judgment
This is a time when inspired movement can gather people and set large undertakings in motion. It is favorable for political organization and military mobilization.
Image
Thunder rising out of the earth suggests collective energy suddenly coming alive. The ancient kings answered this by giving joy proper form through music, ritual, and reverence.
Lines
If excitement is loudly displayed at the outset, it turns inauspicious. The right steadiness in an excited time is to be firm and clear very early, before the day is done. Looking...
It furthers one to establish feudal lords and to move armies.
This is a time when inspired movement can gather people and set large undertakings in motion. It is favorable for political organization and military mobilization.
Enthusiasm means that the firm receives response and the will is carried out; one moves with obedience, and this is Enthusiasm. Because one moves with obedience, heaven and earth do the same, how much more in establishing lords and moving armies. Heaven and earth move in obedience, therefore sun and moon do not err and the four seasons do not fail. When the sage moves in obedience, punishments are clear and the people submit. Great indeed is the meaning of the time of Enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm is powerful when energy is matched by willing response. Properly ordered excitement aligns human action with the larger rhythms of heaven, earth, and society.
Thunder comes forth from the earth: the image of Enthusiasm. The ancient kings made music to honor virtue, and with splendid offerings they worshiped the Supreme Deity and associated their ancestors with it.
Thunder rising out of the earth suggests collective energy suddenly coming alive. The ancient kings answered this by giving joy proper form through music, ritual, and reverence.
Calling out enthusiasm brings misfortune.
If excitement is loudly displayed at the outset, it turns inauspicious.
Small Image
Calling out enthusiasm brings misfortune because the position is not fitting.
Uncontrolled display at the beginning is a danger.
Firm as a stone. Not to the end of the day. Perseverance brings good fortune.
The right steadiness in an excited time is to be firm and clear very early, before the day is done.
Small Image
Not to the end of the day means one understands what is possible.
Clarity early in the day prevents excess.
Looking upward in enthusiasm brings regret. Hesitation brings regret.
Looking upward for excitement leads to regret. Hesitation only deepens it.
Small Image
Looking upward in enthusiasm brings regret because the place is not right.
Wrongly placed aspiration leads to regret.
The source of enthusiasm is great. Do not doubt. Friends gather around like hair clasped together.
When enthusiasm has a true source, people gather naturally around it. Trust is essential here.
Small Image
Do not doubt; friends gather around means great gain through like minds.
Real enthusiasm attracts real support.
Persistently ill, yet not dying.
Even in a strained or unhealthy condition, life continues if the center is not lost.
Small Image
Persistently ill, yet not dying, because the center is not lost.
The center preserves life even under strain.
Darkened enthusiasm, but if change comes after completion, there is no blame.
At the end, enthusiasm can become dark and spent. If one changes at that point, blame can still be avoided.
Small Image
If change comes after completion, there is no blame because the upper line has been exhausted.
Change is still possible even after enthusiasm is exhausted.
What does Yü / Enthusiasm mean in the I Ching?
This is a time when inspired movement can gather people and set large undertakings in motion. It is favorable for political organization and military mobilizati...
How should I study Hexagram 16 on this page?
Start with the judgment and image, then read the line statements in sequence. If excitement is loudly displayed at the outset, it turns inauspicious. The right steadiness in an excited time is to be firm and clear very early, before the day is done. Looking...
How can this hexagram be applied in a modern reading?
Enthusiasm is powerful when energy is matched by willing response. Properly ordered excitement aligns human action with the larger rhythms of heaven, earth, and society.
Primary text: Zhouyi / I Ching, including the Judgment, Image, line texts, and related commentaries.
Translation basis: public-domain and modern study references, with AI used only as a learning aid.