Hexagram 43
The Breaking Point
guài
Reading it as a decision
Five strong lines press up against a single yielding one at the very top — structurally, this is a hexagram at the edge of resolution, where an imbalance that's been building finally has to be named out loud. The classical text calls for making the matter public — stated plainly before the group, not settled through backroom pressure or force — and warns against turning it into open conflict. It's a hexagram of overdue confrontation, not of aggression.
The read here leans away from staying in the standoff itself: holding tension without resolving it tends to get worse the longer it continues, and the better move is through it, not settled into it. Classical line texts lean heavily cautionary — this isn't a moment for a triumphant power move, it's one for a clean, deliberate, above-board resolution.
The classical text
Judgment (卦辭)
夬，揚于王庭，孚號，有厲，告自邑，不利即戎，利有攸往。
Resolute breakthrough is proclaimed openly at the royal court with urgent warning of danger; better to announce it at home than take up arms, favorable to advance.
The six lines (爻辭)
初九：壯于前趾，往不勝為吝。
Strength surges in the leading toes; charging ahead without power enough to win brings regret.
九二：惕號，莫夜有戎，勿恤。
Alert and calling out in caution; even raiders coming by night are nothing to fear.
九三：壯于頄，有凶。君子夬夬獨行，遇雨若濡，有慍，無咎。
Strength hardens the face, bringing trouble; the noble one presses on alone, gets drenched by rain and resents it, yet is not at fault.
九四：臀無膚，其行次且。牽羊悔亡，聞言不信。
Raw and skinless on the buttocks, walking with difficulty; leading a sheep dispels regret, though the warning goes unheeded.
九五：莧陸夬夬中行，無咎。
Cutting away the weed decisively while holding a balanced middle course brings no blame.
上六：無號，終有凶。
No cry of warning is raised, and in the end misfortune follows.
This is a general reference, not a live reading — it doesn't know your situation. iYarrow casts a fresh hexagram for the actual question you're weighing.
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