Conflict
The Cautious Halt
Halt halfway and it ends well; pressed to the end it does not. Better to frame things so it never starts.
Song sets Qian, the Creative Heaven, above Kan, the Abysmal Water, and the Image reads the two as going their opposite ways, since heaven rises while water descends. The hexagram concerns dispute and litigation, and its Judgement is unusually blunt: a cautious halt halfway brings good fortune, while going through to the end brings misfortune. It furthers one to see the great man, but it does not further one to cross the great water. From the Image the Ten Wings draw the practical lesson that the superior man considers the beginning of every undertaking, so that conflict does not arise from it.
Light
Names a real grievance plainly and settles it early. Foresight in framing an undertaking, and willingness to put the matter before an impartial authority, keeps disagreement from hardening.
Shadow
Litigiousness, obstinacy, and the pursuit of victory for its own sake. The belt awarded in the top line is taken away three times in a single morning, a triumph in dispute that does not hold.
