兑

I Ching trigram · 2 of 8

Duì ☱ Lake 兑 · The Joyous: the lake, pleasure and the joy that is shared

Duì is one yin line resting on two yang lines, like the open, sparkling surface of a lake over deep water. It stands for joy, pleasure, conversation and friendship, and for the inner strength that makes joy last.

Yin trigram
Element: Metal
Season: Mid-autumn
Doubled: hexagram 58

Element

Metal 金

Direction

West

Family

Youngest daughter 少女

Quality

Joyful 说

Animal

Sheep 羊

Body

Mouth 口

The lines of Duì

Yin Top line · heaven · ruling line

Yang Middle line · humanity

Yang Bottom line · earth

Duì has two solid yang lines below and a broken yin line at the top. Firm inside and soft outside, it pictures a lake: strong and deep beneath, open and gentle on the surface.

In the three sons and three daughters, the single line that differs from the others is the ruling line. In Duì it is the top line, so Duì is the youngest daughter.

What Duì means

Duì is the lake or marsh. Its quality in the Discussion of the Trigrams (说卦传) is 说 (yuè), an old way of writing 悦, joy or pleasure; the same character also means to speak. A lake is joyful: it refreshes everything around it and reflects the sky. Its joy is genuine because it rests on firm foundations.

As the youngest daughter, Duì is linked with charm, humour, persuasion, the mouth and speech, and with friends and lovers. hexagram 58, The Joyous (Lake) says that true joy comes from inner strength and sincerity, not from flattery or empty pleasure. It pictures two lakes joined together, like friends who learn from and refresh each other.

In the Later Heaven arrangement Duì stands in the west, the direction of mid-autumn and evening, when the harvest is gathered in. The commentary says “all things rejoice in Duì” (说言乎兑).

丽泽，兑；君子以朋友讲习。
Lakes resting one on the other: the image of joy. The noble person joins with friends for discussion and practice.
The Image of hexagram 58, The Joyous (Lake)

Duì in your birth hexagram

With Duì in your birth hexagram, you may be warm, sociable and good with words. Duì people bring lightness and laughter to others, and they often shine in sales, teaching or any work that involves talking with people.

Strengths

Cheerful, warm and optimistic
A persuasive speaker
Sociable and makes friends easily
Encourages and uplifts others
Open-minded and curious

Watch out for

Can be superficial or flighty
Tempted to say what people want to hear
Loves pleasure a little too much
Careless words or gossip
Avoids hard or unpleasant tasks

Find your own trigrams. The free Birth Destiny calculator works out your birth hexagram and its two trigrams from your date and time of birth.

Duì as the lower and upper trigram

Every hexagram has a lower trigram for the inner situation and an upper trigram for the outer world. Duì reads a little differently in each place.

Below: the inner world

As the lower trigram, Duì shows an inner feeling of joy, openness or desire. In hexagram 10, Treading it is the cheerful, careful step of someone treading on the tiger's tail, while in hexagram 54, The Marrying Maiden desire runs ahead of judgement, a warning about commitments made for the wrong reasons.

Above: the outer world

As the upper trigram, Duì shows a pleasant, welcoming or persuasive environment. In hexagram 45, Gathering Together the lake rises over the earth and people gather together, while in hexagram 17, Following joy above movement shows people following willingly rather than by force.

The 15 hexagrams that contain Duì

Duì appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams: eight with Lake below and eight with Lake above, with hexagram 58, The Joyous (Lake) counted in both lists. Click any hexagram to read its meaning.

Lake ☱ as the lower trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
10	Treading	Heaven over Lake	Conduct, caution, etiquette
19	Approach	Earth over Lake	Approach, growth, opportunity
38	Opposition	Fire over Lake	Contrast, independence, difference
41	Decrease	Mountain over Lake	Decrease, sacrifice, simplicity
54	The Marrying Maiden	Thunder over Lake	Secondary role, desire, caution
58	The Joyous (Lake)	Lake over Lake	Joy, communication, exchange
60	Limitation	Water over Lake	Limits, discipline, measure
61	Inner Truth	Wind over Lake	Inner truth, sincerity, trust

Lake ☱ as the upper trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
17	Following	Lake over Thunder	Following, adapting, timing
28	Great Exceeding	Lake over Wind	Great pressure, extraordinary measures
31	Influence	Lake over Mountain	Attraction, influence, sensitivity
43	Breakthrough	Lake over Heaven	Resolution, breakthrough, honesty
45	Gathering Together	Lake over Earth	Gathering, community, leadership
47	Oppression	Lake over Water	Adversity, exhaustion, inner strength
49	Revolution	Lake over Fire	Change, reform, transformation
58	The Joyous (Lake)	Lake over Lake	Joy, communication, exchange

Symbols and correspondences

The Discussion of the Trigrams links Duì with the lake, the youngest daughter, the sorceress, the mouth and tongue, smashing and breaking apart, things dropping off and bursting open, hard and salty soil, the concubine and the sheep.

Lines (bottom to top)	yang, yang, yin
Name	兑 Duì, The Joyous
Image in nature	Lake
Quality	Joyful (说)
Yin or yang	Yin trigram
Five element	Metal (金)
Family member	Youngest daughter (少女)
Later Heaven direction	West
Early Heaven direction	South-east
Season	Mid-autumn
Animal	Sheep (羊)
Part of the body	Mouth (口)
Early Heaven number	2
Later Heaven (Luo Shu) number	7
Opposite trigram	☶ Gèn, Mountain
Doubled hexagram	hexagram 58, The Joyous (Lake)
Feng shui life area	Children, creativity and completion
Kua number	7 (West group)

Duì in feng shui

On the Later Heaven bagua Duì governs the west, the area of children, creativity and completion, traditionally linked to the youngest daughter. Its element is Metal, supported by white, silver, grey and gold, round shapes and metal objects. In the Eight Mansions system, people with a kua number of 7 belong to Duì and the West group.

Tips for the west

Display children's art or creative projects in the west
Use round metal objects or white and metallic tones
Keep strong reds to a minimum here, since Fire melts Metal

More about the five elements →

Duì questions, answered

What does Duì mean in the I Ching?

Duì (兑) means lake or the joyous. It has one yin line above two yang lines and stands for joy, pleasure, speech, friendship and the youngest daughter. Doubled, it forms hexagram 58, The Joyous.

Is Duì the same as happiness?

Duì is joy, but the I Ching separates real joy from empty pleasure. Lasting joy is firm inside and gentle outside, like a lake on deep water, and it grows when it is shared with others.

Which hexagrams contain Duì?

Duì appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams. It is both trigrams in hexagram 58, The Joyous (Lake). It is the lower trigram in hexagrams 10, 19, 38, 41, 54, 60 and 61, and the upper trigram in hexagrams 17, 28, 31, 43, 45, 47 and 49.

What element and direction is Duì?

Duì belongs to the Metal element. In the Later Heaven (King Wen) arrangement used in feng shui it sits in the west, and in the Early Heaven (Fu Xi) arrangement it sits in the south-east.