Hexagram 38: Opposition

Caravaggio's dramatic canvas shows the young David holding the severed head of Goliath, painted sometime between 1599 and 1607. The boy's face carries no triumph, only troubled contemplation as he gazes at the giant's head—which art historians believe is Caravaggio's self-portrait. Light strikes David from the left while darkness surrounds the scene, emphasizing the stark opposition between youth and age, victor and vanquished, the living and the dead. The painting captures fundamental polarity made flesh: beauty and horror, innocence and experience, the small overcoming the large through means the large cannot anticipate.

This is Kuí (睽), Opposition. The character depicts two eyes looking in opposite directions, seeing different things. Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Fire (Lí) sits above Lake (Duì)—flames rising upward while water flows down, two forces that cannot merge, that move in contrary directions despite sharing space. Caravaggio's painting embodies this structure: David and Goliath represent opposed principles that cannot reconcile, victor and victim locked in permanent separation despite—or because of—their intimate connection through violence.

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The Judgment text acknowledges the reality without resolution: "Opposition. In small matters, good fortune." Zhou Dynasty court diviners understood that opposition differs from conflict—it describes forces that naturally diverge rather than forces competing for the same territory. Ancient practitioners noted this hexagram appeared when consultation revealed fundamental incompatibility, when family members held irreconcilable views, when partners discovered their paths led separate directions. The text promises success only in small matters because opposition cannot be overcome through grand gestures or decisive action—only through acknowledging divergence and working within its constraints.

The Image Text offers unexpected counsel: "Above, fire; below, the lake: the image of Opposition. Thus amid all fellowship the superior man retains his individuality." The ancient text does not seek to eliminate opposition but to understand its function. In the I-Ching's sequence, Kuí follows Jiā Rén (The Family): after establishing unity within the household, one encounters the external world's fundamental diversity. Caravaggio's self-portrait as the defeated giant suggests a deeper truth—we contain our own oppositions, carry within ourselves the conflicts we encounter without. The painting captures not resolution but recognition, the moment when opposition becomes visible and must be acknowledged rather than denied or destroyed.