Hexagram 44
Unexpected Contact
gòu
Reading it as a decision
One new element enters quietly at the bottom of an otherwise settled structure — the classical image is an unplanned meeting, something arriving without being sought. The judgment is unusually direct about proceeding with caution: strength met suddenly shouldn't be assumed to be an ally just because it announces itself early or persuasively. This is a hexagram about the start of something, before its shape or its intentions are known.
The decision-facing read here favors not settling into whatever this new contact is proposing — getting pulled in early tends to cost more than staying at arm's length while it's still unclear what you're dealing with. Classical line texts lean cautionary throughout, which fits a hexagram built around first contact rather than an established relationship.
The classical text
Judgment (卦辭)
姤，女壯，勿用取女。
An encounter where the woman is forceful and dominant; do not take this woman in marriage.
The six lines (爻辭)
初六：系于金柅，貞吉，有攸往，見凶，羸豕踟躅。
Tethered to a metal brake-block, staying put brings fortune while advancing brings trouble, like a scrawny pig pacing restlessly.
九二：包有魚，無咎，不利賓。
A fish is kept wrapped away in the kitchen; no blame, though not to be shared with guests.
九三：臀無膚，其行次且，厲，無大咎。
Skinless on the buttocks, movement is halting and risky, yet no serious fault.
九四：包無魚，起凶。
The wrapped kitchen holds no fish; acting now only stirs up misfortune.
九五：以杞包瓜，含章，有隕自天。
A melon wrapped in willow leaves, its beauty hidden inside, as if a gift fell from the sky.
上九：姤其角，吝，無咎。
The meeting happens only at the horns, a matter for regret, yet no real blame.
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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