比
Bǐ · Holding Together
Water finds every low place. A bond forms where people are willing to be close.
The judgment
比：吉。 原筮元永貞，無咎。 不寧方來，後夫凶。
Holding together is lucky. Ask again and again whether the bond is constant; then there is no blame. The unsettled come over, but whoever comes too late is unlucky.
Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex08.judgment.
The image
象曰：地上有水，比。先王以建萬國，親諸侯。
Water on the earth: holding together. The old kings used it to establish many states and keep the lords close.
Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex08.image.
Belonging is built early and honestly; the one who joins only after it is safe is left outside.
The six lines
Each line is a stage, from the bottom of the hexagram to the top. Open any line to read it in plain English.
初六 有孚比之，無咎。 有孚盈缶，終來有他，吉。 Join with sincerity and there is no blame. When the jar is full of trust, others arrive on their own: good fortune.
Join with sincerity and there is no blame. When the jar is full of trust, others arrive on their own: good fortune.
六二 比之自內，貞吉。 The bond comes from the inside, not from advantage. Stay true and it is lucky.
The bond comes from the inside, not from advantage. Stay true and it is lucky.
六三 比之匪人。 You are keeping company with the wrong people. This line does not say how it ends; it says look at who you are close to.
You are keeping company with the wrong people. This line does not say how it ends; it says look at who you are close to.
六四 外比之，貞吉。 You join with someone outside your own circle. Stay true and it is lucky: the right ally is not always the nearest.
You join with someone outside your own circle. Stay true and it is lucky: the right ally is not always the nearest.
九五 顯比，王用三驅，失前禽。 邑人不戒，吉。 The bond is open and visible. The king hunts on three sides and lets the game in front escape; the people are not put on alert, and it is lucky.
The bond is open and visible. The king hunts on three sides and lets the game in front escape; the people are not put on alert, and it is lucky.
上六 比之無首，凶。 Holding together with no head, no direction, no one to answer to. A bond without a center comes apart.
Holding together with no head, no direction, no one to answer to. A bond without a center comes apart.