6. Conflict (Sung)

Heaven and water moving in opposite directions. Suggests tension and the need for careful negotiation or mediation.

Line 1: If one does not perpetuate the affair, there is a little gossip. In the end, good fortune comes.
Line 2: One cannot engage in conflict; one returns home and gives way. The people of one's town, three hundred households, remain free of guilt.
Line 3: To nourish oneself on ancient virtue induces perseverance. Danger, but good fortune comes. If serving a king, seek not works.
Line 4: One cannot engage in conflict. One turns back and submits to fate, changes one's attitude, and finds peace in perseverance.
Line 5: To contend before him brings supreme good fortune.
Line 6: Even if by chance a leather belt is bestowed on one, by the end of a morning it will have been snatched away three times.