Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Cui · 萃
The Judgment
Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers one to see the great man. Persistence furthers. Great offerings bring good fortune. It furthers one to undertake something. Where people are gathered, religious forces are needed. But there must also be a human leader as the center. To bring others together, a leader must first be collected within himself. Only collective moral force can unite the world. Great times of unification leave great achievements behind them.
The Image
Over the earth, the lake—if it gathers until it rises above the earth, there's danger of breakthrough. Renew your weapons to meet the unforeseen. Where people gather, strife arises; where possessions collect, robbery occurs. Arm promptly against the unexpected. Human woes come from unexpected events against which we're not prepared. Be ready, and they can be prevented.
「澤上於地，萃。」湖水聚集在地上，如果漲得太高，有決堤的危險。人聚在一起，紛爭會來；財物聚在一起，盜賊會來。所以要整備武器，防範意外。人的禍患往往來自沒有準備的事。準備好了，就能防住。
The Six Lines
Sincere but not to the end—sometimes confusion, sometimes gathering. If you call out, one grasp of the hand from the leader turns away all distress. You waver in decision because you're in a large group and allow yourself to be influenced. Don't be led astray. Attach yourself to the leader.
Letting yourself be drawn brings good fortune and remains blameless. If sincere, even a small offering suffices. Make no arbitrary choice. Secret forces lead together those who belong together. Yield to this attraction. Where inner relationships exist, no great formalities are necessary.
Gathering together amid sighs. Nothing furthers. Going is without blame. Slight humiliation. You want to unite but others have already formed a group—you remain isolated. Ally yourself resolutely with someone nearer the center who can help gain admission. Somewhat humiliating, but not a mistake.
Great good fortune. No blame. Gathering people in the name of your ruler, not striving for personal advantage, working unselfishly for general unity. Success; everything as it should be.
Having position in the gathering brings no blame. If some are not yet sincere, sublime and enduring persistence is needed. Then remorse disappears. Some gather around you not from confidence but merely because of your influential position. Deal with them by gaining their confidence through steadfastness and intensified devotion to duty. Secret mistrust is gradually overcome.
Lamenting and sighing, floods of tears. No blame. You would like to ally yourself with another but your good intentions are misunderstood. This is the right course—it may cause the other to come to their senses, achieving the alliance painfully missed.
Artwork & Treatise
Peasant Wedding
Bruegel, 1567
A Flemish barn, 1567. Pieter Bruegel paints a peasant wedding feast—the bride sits under a paper crown before a green cloth, servers carry platters of custard, a bagpiper waits to play, the crowd packs benches at long tables. The barn door opens to admit more guests. Jugs pour, bread breaks, the gathering swells. Bruegel documents the communal feast where the village comes together around the ritual of marriage.
{artwork_reasoning}
This is Cuì (萃), Gathering Together, the hexagram describing congregation around a central purpose or place. The character depicts grasses collecting, vegetation clustering—organic assembly rather than forced collection. The trigram structure shows Lake (Duì) above Earth (Kūn): joyous expression gathering on receptive ground, water pooling in the hollow. Bruegel's composition centers on the bride and the servers, the crowd radiating outward from this ritual core. In Zhou Dynasty practice, diviners associated this hexagram with harvest festivals, seasonal markets, and ceremonial assemblies—moments when dispersed people collect for shared purpose.
The Judgment text declares: "Gathering Together. Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers one to see the great man. This brings success. Perseverance furthers. To bring great offerings creates good fortune. It furthers one to undertake something." The text emphasizes both the spiritual dimension of gathering (approaching the temple) and the material aspect (bringing offerings). Bruegel's feast contains both elements—the sacrament of marriage and the very material celebration of food, drink, music. The servers carry not sacrificial offerings but custard tarts, yet the gathering retains ritual significance. The wedding creates the occasion; the shared meal accomplishes the gathering. Song Dynasty commentators noted this hexagram when communities assembled for mutual benefit—raising a barn, harvesting fields, celebrating marriages or funerals.
The Image Text states: "The lake over the earth: the image of Gathering Together. Thus the superior person renews weapons to meet the unforeseen." Water naturally collects in low places; people naturally gather where conditions support assembly. Bruegel shows the barn as such a place—shelter creating the possibility of congregation, the architecture enabling the feast. In the I-Ching sequence, Cuì follows Gòu (coming to meet): after the unexpected encounter comes the deliberate gathering, chosen assembly around shared purpose. The wedding feast demonstrates this principle—what begins as two people meeting expands to include family, neighbors, the village community drawn together in the crowded barn.
Yilin Verse
蒙慶受福，有所獲得。不利出城，病人困棘。
Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — Unchanging verse for 萃 (Cuì)
Character-by-Character Breakdown
Classical Chinese text with pinyin and English meanings