The Joyous (Lake)

和兌，吉。

Harmonious joy. Favorable.

Line 1 opens with harmonious joy and a favorable verdict. Changing it makes Water below Lake, Hexagram 47. Harmonious joy and constraint form the contrast.

孚兌，吉，悔亡。

Trustworthy joy. Favorable. Regret disappears.

Trust supports the joy of Line 2, and regret disappears. Its change makes Thunder below Lake, Hexagram 17. Following offers a second way to consider how trust and shared movement relate.

來兌，凶。

Coming to seek joy. Misfortune.

In the traditional reading, Line 3 seeks joy by approaching others and receives a verdict of misfortune. Changing it makes Heaven below Lake, Hexagram 43. A decisive declaration provides a contrast to the search for pleasure or approval.

商兌未寧，介疾有喜。

Weighing what brings joy, not yet at rest. Standing firm against what is harmful brings gladness.

Line 4 weighs what brings joy and has not settled. This reading favors standing firm against what is harmful. Changing it makes Water above Lake, Hexagram 60, placing deliberation about pleasure beside the question of appropriate limits.

孚于剝，有厲。

Trust placed in what strips away. Danger.

Line 5 warns of trust placed in what undermines it. Its change makes Thunder above Lake, Hexagram 54. The warning can be compared with the unequal or constrained relation described in that figure.

引兌。

Joy that draws others in.

Line 6 describes drawing others through joy and adds no explicit favorable or adverse verdict. Its change makes Heaven above Lake, Hexagram 10. Attraction and conduct supply the two themes to consider together.