Hexagram 44: Coming to Meet
Gou · 姤
The Judgment
The maiden is powerful. One should not marry such a maiden. After being eliminated, darkness unexpectedly obtrudes again from within and below. The inferior element seems harmless and inviting—you imagine you may dally with it and come to no harm. The inferior rises only because the superior doesn't regard it as dangerous and lends it power. If resisted from the first, it could never gain influence. But meeting can also be important: when elements predestined to be joined come together halfway, the world prospers. The meeting must be free of ulterior motives.
The Image
Wind blows beneath heaven, reaching everywhere. The ruler is far from the people but sets them in motion by means of commands. Influence exercised from above.
「天下有風，姤。」風吹遍天下，無處不到。君主離人民很遠，但通過命令來推動他們。影響力從上面施展。這種距離感有時候是必要的。
The Six Lines
Check it at once with a brake of bronze. Persistence brings good fortune. Let it take its course and experience misfortune. Even a lean pig has it in him to rage around. An inferior element that has wormed its way in must be energetically checked immediately. Its insignificance should not tempt you to underrate it—a young pig, once grown strong, reveals its true nature.
There is a fish in the tank. No blame. Does not further guests. The inferior element is kept under gentle control, not overcome by violence. Nothing evil is to be feared. But don't let it come in contact with those further away—once free, it would unfold its evil aspects unchecked.
No skin on his thighs, walking comes hard. If mindful of the danger, no great mistake is made. Temptation to fall in with the evil offering itself. Fortunately, circumstances prevent this. Painful indecision in behavior, but clear insight into danger avoids more serious mistakes.
No fish in the tank. This leads to misfortune. Insignificant people must be tolerated to keep them well disposed—then they're at your disposal when needed. Become alienated, fail to meet them halfway, and they turn their backs. Your own fault.
A melon covered with willow leaves. Hidden lines. Then it drops from heaven. A strong, superior person tolerates and protects the inferiors in their charge without laying stress on their own firm lines of order. No tiresome admonitions—trust in the transforming power of an upright personality. Fate is favorable; inferiors respond like ripe fruit.
He comes to meet with his horns. Humiliation, but no blame. When withdrawn from the world, you may hold yourself aloof from all that is low and rebuff it brusquely. You're reproached for being proud and distant, but since active duties no longer hold you, this doesn't greatly matter. Bear the dislike of the masses with composure.
Artwork & Treatise
Supper at Emmaus
Caravaggio, 1601
A tavern outside Jerusalem, evening light through the window. Caravaggio freezes the instant when two disciples suddenly recognize their dinner companion—the risen Christ, three days dead, now breaking bread before them. One man throws his arms wide in shock, the other grips his chair as if to rise. Christ sits calmly in the center, the innkeeper watches uncomprehending. The 1601 painting captures the moment before recognition becomes belief, when the hidden reveals itself.
{artwork_reasoning}
This is Gòu (姤), Coming to Meet, a hexagram that describes unexpected encounter with what was concealed. The character suggests meeting or coupling, often with connotations of surprise or temptation. The trigram structure places Heaven (Qián) above Wind (Xùn): creative force meeting subtle penetration, something powerful approaching from below. In divination practice, ancient texts associated this hexagram with the summer solstice, when the first yin line returns after maximum yang—a small dark force beginning to infiltrate the light. Caravaggio's chiaroscuro technique embodies this meeting of opposites: divine presence clothed in human ordinariness, the sacred emerging within the mundane inn.
The Judgment text warns: "Coming to Meet. The maiden is powerful. One should not marry such a maiden." The text uses the metaphor of an assertive young woman approaching unbidden—something that comes to meet you rather than you seeking it. The counsel advises caution with what arrives unexpectedly, what presents itself uninvited. At Emmaus, the disciples encounter what they neither sought nor expected—death reversed, the impossible made present. Their dramatic gestures capture the shock of such a meeting. Zhou Dynasty diviners saw this hexagram when hidden enemies revealed themselves, when concealed problems surfaced, when what seemed gone returned unexpectedly. The hexagram addresses recognition more than the thing recognized—the moment when you suddenly see what was there all along.
The Image Text observes: "Under heaven, wind: the image of Coming to Meet. Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands and proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven." Wind moves beneath the sky, reaching everywhere yet remaining invisible until it stirs what it touches. Caravaggio's Christ sits in ordinary human form, his divine nature invisible until the gesture of breaking bread triggers recognition. In the I-Ching sequence, Gòu follows Guài (breakthrough): after the decisive confrontation comes the unexpected encounter, what emerges in the aftermath. The disciples walk with their companion for hours before the breaking of bread reveals who walks beside them—coming to meet describes this delay between presence and recognition, the moment when hidden reality suddenly declares itself.
Yilin Verse
河伯大呼，津不可渡。往復爾故，乃无大悔。
Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — Unchanging verse for 姤 (Gòu)
Character-by-Character Breakdown
Classical Chinese text with pinyin and English meanings