Zhen and Dui (Wood and Metal)

Two who cannot stand together, yet complete each other

Zhen is wood and Dui is metal: the axe and the tree, which by rights should not coexist. Yet the text says that here lies the true mechanism of benevolence and righteousness, and that when they cannot stand side by side something can still be made of them. The reading is that opposition is not automatically damage: metal shapes wood into a useful thing, and wood gives metal its purpose. Look for the arrangement in which the clash becomes a division of labour.