líAlso known as “The Clinging” (Wilhelm/Baynes) and “Lî” (Legge)
claritybrightnessattachment
In plain words
Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
The attitude it asks for
Shine by illuminating others, and keep your dependence — on fuel, on people — conscious and gracious.
Lî indicates that, (in regard to what it denotes), it will be advantageous to be firm and correct, and that thus there will be free course and success. Let (its subject) also nourish (a docility like that of) the cow, and there will be good fortune.
Commentary on the Judgment
離，麗也；日月麗乎天，百穀草木麗乎土，重明以麗乎正，乃化成天下。柔麗乎中正，故亨；是以畜牝牛吉也。
Lî means being attached to. The sun and moon have their place in the sky. All the grains, grass, and trees have their place on the earth. The double brightness (of the two trigrams) adheres to what is correct, and the result is the transforming and perfecting all under the sky.
The weak (second line) occupies the middle and correct position, and gives the indication of 'a free and successful course;' and, moreover, 'nourishing (docility like that of) the cow' will lead to good fortune.
The Image
明兩作離，大人以繼明照于四方。
(The trigram for) brightness, repeated, forms Lî. The great man, in accordance with this, cultivates more and more his brilliant (virtue), and diffuses its brightness over the four quarters (of the land).
爻辭 The six lines
When one line moves, the hexagram becomes another:
上九Nine at the top
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。
The topmost line, undivided, shows the king employing its subject in his punitive expeditions. Achieving admirable (merit), he breaks (only) the chiefs (of the rebels). Where his prisoners were not their associates, he does not punish. There will be no error.
Its symbolism
王用出征，以正邦也。
'The king employs him in his punitive expeditions:'—the object is to bring the regions to a correct state.
The third line, undivided, shows its subject in a position like that of the declining sun. Instead of playing on his instrument of earthenware, and singing to it, he utters the groans of an old man of eighty. There will be evil.
Its symbolism
日昃之離，何可久也。
'A position like that of the declining sun:'—how can it continue long?
Shown in the classical Chinese with James Legge's English (1882).
Questions about this hexagram
What does Hexagram 30, Brightness (Fire), mean?
Fire upon fire: brightness that clings to what feeds it. Success through correctness and clarity; tend the flame like a docile cow — gently and continuously.
Which trigrams form Brightness (Fire)?
離 above 離 — fire over fire. Its nuclear hexagram (lines 2–5) is 大過 Great Excess.
What happens when a line of Brightness (Fire) changes?
A moving line turns the hexagram into another one; the list above shows all six. With several moving lines, the guide to changing lines explains which text to read.
How do I get Brightness (Fire) in a reading?
Build six lines from the bottom up with three coins or yarrow stalks; the pattern — - - — — - - — is Brightness (Fire). You can also cast a reading here — the lines are decided by code, the text is this page's.