| I Ching |
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The I Ching, or Book of Changes, stands as one of humanity’s oldest and most profound attempts to understand the patterns of the universe and our place within them. Serving as a common foundational text for both Confucian and Taoist philosophy, its living influence has shaped Chinese thought, art, and spirituality for over three thousand years. Today, it continues to inspire seekers worldwide, offering wisdom to fields as diverse as psychology, business, literature, and personal development.
Its journey began in ancient China as a practical divination manual during the Western Zhou period (c. 1000–750 BC). Through a remarkable intellectual evolution across the Warring States and early imperial eras (500–200 BC), it was transformed into a comprehensive cosmological text. This transformation was cemented by a series of profound philosophical appendices known as the “Ten Wings,” which expanded its oracular roots into a deep discourse on ethics, change, and harmony.
By the 2nd century BC, the I Ching was enshrined as one of the seminal Five Classics, forming the core of Chinese scholarly education for centuries. It became the subject of endless commentary and the cornerstone of divination practice throughout East Asia, and later, a crucial gateway for the Western world to engage with Eastern philosophy.
The text’s migration to the West was decisively shaped by Richard Wilhelm’s seminal 1923 German translation. Its subsequent English rendition by Cary F. Baynes in 1950 (widely reprinted from 1967) made the I Ching accessible to a global audience, securing its status as a classic of world literature. This edition remains the most influential version for modern readers, and the text presented here is drawn from that foundational translation.
It is with delight and not without a certain pride that I see this translation of the Book of Changes presented in a new edition. The fact of its widespread and continuing acceptance stands as a justification of my father’s conviction, the propagation of which he took as his calling, that the overwhelming importance of the Book within the history and the system of Chinese thought would be borne out when tested against general, and not only specifically Chinese, human conditions and against general, and not only specifically Chinese, processes of the human mind.
2 Dover Publications, New York, 1963.
3 I Ching: Book of Changes, translated by James Legge, edited with introduction and Study Guide by Ch’u Chai and Winberg Chai (New Hyde Park, New York, 1964).
4 Le Maltre Yüan-kuang, Méthode pratique de Divination Chinoise par le “Yi-king” (Paris, 1950); Meister Yüan-kuang, I Ging: Praxis chinesischer Weissagung, translated by Fritz Werle (Munich, 1951).
5 John Blofeld, The Book of Change: a new translation of the ancient Chinese I Ching … with detailed instruction for its practical use in divination (London and New York, 1965).
Since the appearance of my father’s work and its English rendering by Cary F. Baynes, two of the earlier translations have also experienced a revival: the one by de Harlez, originally published in 1889, now issued with added commentaries taken in part from my father1; and the one by Legge, originally published in 1882, now in two editions, one in paperback,2 and one with added remarks by Ch’u Chai and Winberg Chai.3 Two independent new translations have been published, one by Yüan Kuang, originally in French and later also in German,4 and the simplified English version by my friend John Blofeld.5
It will be recalled that my father began his translation more than half a century ago and that he worked on it together with one of the foremost Chinese scholars of the period, Lao Nai-hsüan. Lao was, of course, in complete possession of the traditional I Ching lore, but he was also one of the most modern-minded personalities of his age. It was he who, in the context of late Imperial China, promoted institutional, legal, educational, and even language reforms of an amazingly progressive hue. Even though the tradition was for him a live concern, he was not just a tradition-bound interpreter; the concept of change, also in his own time, was part of his credo. It was his openness to the development of the traditional potential in terms of his own period that made the co-operation between him and my father so easy and so fruitful.
Much scholarship both in China and abroad has been devoted since then to a number of questions concerning the history and meaning of the text, and it might be of interest here to recapitulate briefly some of the new insights. Several lines of investigation have been followed. One of them has been the exploitation of hitherto unknown comparative material, specifically the inscribed oracle bones, which had not yet been subjected to research at the time my father worked on the Book. A second one has emerged from more advanced methods of philology and textual comparison, and a third one finally from a more advanced structural analysis of the texts themselves and of their prosodic and euphonic aspects. Taken together, these studies have added a great deal to the understanding and appreciation of the meaningful growth of the text over the centuries and to an elucidation of specific images employed in the texts.
Thus it is now widely maintained that the older layers of the text, as we know them today, assumed their present form in the century before Confucius, and that in them earlier versions of the text have been added to or even changed. Attempts have been made to reconstruct what might have been the original versions, which would be characterized by a pristine beauty of structure and euphony, in line with or superior to other texts of early Chou times. They would furthermore be characterized by a much more exclusive use of imagery as a means of expression and would be innocent of expository statements such as we find in the texts today. Attempts to differentiate an (earlier) layer of images from a (later) layer of concepts cannot, however, be called successful, and it now appears that the intimate interplay between image and concept was one of the original features of the text. The range of fields from which these images were taken must have been practically unlimited. Some of them came without doubt from the then current mythology, others from the then existing poetry (at times passages are taken over literally into the Book), others from religious and social institutions; still others seem to reflect the recognition of the archetypal configurations of specific moments in history. Many of the images used can, however, not (or not yet) be thus elucidated, and the postulate still stands unshaken that much of the imagery of the Book derives from the intuition of its original authors.
To these pristine texts there must then have been added at a very early time the so-called diviners’ formulae, which spell out the divinatory message implied in the images. These were both short statements about the propitiousness or otherwise of a given situation and somewhat more elaborate formulae of advice cast in a wording that involves fixed but never stereotyped imagery.
The latest discernible additions to, and changes of, the older layers of the text must have taken place, as mentioned, during the century preceding Confucius. These changes reflect a reinterpretation of the original images and concepts more intimate and more sophisticated than those of the diviners’ formulae. They mirror a new stage in the development of the human mind, a higher degree of self-realization, and they are expressed in ideas and positions not available to the earlier period. Most obvious among these additions is the idea of the “superior man,” chün-tzu, a term which meant an aristocrat in early Chou China. Some of these changes are quite incisive. Taken together, however, they represent a growth in awareness, rather than a falsification, of the original import of the Book.
The later layers of the Book, the so-called Ten Wings, have, as is recalled, been attributed to Confucius by the orthodox tradition. It can now be shown that some of the wording of at least one of them, the Wên-Yen (Commentary on the Words of the Text), and some of the material of at least one other, the Shuo Kua (Discussion of the Trigrams), were already available in pre-Confucian times. Most of the rest, however, is now generally assumed to be much later than Confucius. The Confucian school is responsible for much of what is in the Ten Wings of today, and some of this might remotely reflect traditions preserved in this school which go back to Confucius himself. The present reading of those passages in the Wings which are attributed to Confucius cannot have been written in Confucius’ own time nor in the time immediately following. Some of the ideas expressed in these passages have, however, retained, even in their more modern garb, a specifically Confucian ring.6 Other parts of the Wings must be very late Chou and possibly even post-Chou.
In addition to the endeavors outlined above, recent scholarship has concerned itself with other aspects of the Book which cannot be dealt with here. The most prominent among these is the purity of the Book’s system, which already amazed Leibniz, and another concerns apocryphal writings which were connected with the Book and which reflect, among other things, a developed interest in prognostication and “ portentology,” called to life by the political battles of the day rather than by an understanding of the Book’s own message.
Reference has been made to recent Chinese scholarship regarding the Book of Changes. This renewed interest in the Book is fundamentally different, of course, from the one that produced the abundance of I Ching studies during Imperial times. The Book is no longer considered part of Holy Writ but is submitted to the same type of analysis as any other ancient text would be. The results have been highly rewarding. There is, however, evidence of a continued strain of reverence which has by now overcome—or more cautiously: is about to overcome—the fashion of the earlier republican times to see in the Book only a conglomerate of superstition or, at the least, murk. Everybody knows, of course, that a host of problems still remains unsolved; but sober scholarship gradually recognizes again that what has been dealt with in the Book is a unique manifestation of the human mind. The more emotionally inclined have proceeded to regard the Book again as one of the most treasured parts of the Chinese tradition. To the extent that opinions can be expressed, this is true even in the context of Communist China. Kuo Mo-jo, who until his recent purge was the foremost cultural official of Communist China, devoted himself to the Book extensively, particularly in his earlier years. And when, in the early 1960s, the ideological reins were somewhat relaxed and it was possible for a time to deal with matters of intellectual concern, the two issues which engendered nationwide discussions were the ethical system of Confucius and the Book of Changes. By now these discussions have been curtailed, but the phenomenon persists: whenever the rare chance of expression is given, the Book emerges as one of the foremost concerns of Chinese intellectuals even under the specific set of circumstances prevailing on mainland China.
When this new edition was being prepared, the editors gave much thought to the question whether a rearrangement of the contents of the Book might facilitate its use for the non-Chinese reader. The final decision was to leave unchanged the arrangement which my father had chosen. This decision was based not only on the conviction that books, too, are organisms which should undergo incisive operations only in dire emergencies; the more important consideration was that the present arrangement is the most meaningful and the easiest to handle. In the traditional Chinese editions the presentation of the text is not uniform. The problem of arrangement pertains particularly to the text of certain of the Ten Wings which might either be divided up among the hexagrams or be read as a continuous text. The second alternative has points in its favor. One of the Wings, the book Tsa Kua (Miscellaneous Notes on the Hexagrams), which discusses the hexagrams one by one (or rather in pairs), does not coincide in sequence with the hexagrams in the main text. The particular curve of development thus gets lost when this book is divided up among the hexagrams. Nor is this all. The Tsa Kua, when read in its own sequence, is an accomplished poem with a firm prosodic structure and a consistent rhyme system. The same is true of the Small Images, the commentaries on the line texts, found in the third book of this translation. Thus here we have early examples of didactic Chinese poetry the features of which are lost when these texts are divided up among the hexagrams.
These considerations notwithstanding, my father chose, after much hesitation, to employ a modified form of the first alternative for the arrangement of his translation. (See the chart opposite: “The Major Divisions of the Material.”) He furthermore chose to distinguish systematically (again, with one modification) between the older layers of the texts and the material of the Ten Wings. In this way he arrived at a division into three “books”: the (old) Text, the Material, and the Commentaries (contained in the Ten Wings). Book I gives the older layers of the text, the Judgments pertaining to the hexagrams as a whole, and the line texts. To these he added the so-called Great Images, which appear for each hexagram under the caption “The Image.” These do, of course, belong to the Wings. Their inclusion here reflects my father’s special approach to the Book. Of a later date, these texts reflect a more advanced interpretation and understanding of the situation represented in the individual hexagrams. In frequently surprising statements they formulate succinctly the reaction of the “superior man” to the specific configuration of imagery offered by the system of the line structure. They are thus not to be considered commentaries on specific passages of the older texts (as the so-called Small Images and the Wên Yen are); they constitute a third and independent approach, in addition to the judgments and the line texts, to the situations entailed by the hexagrams.
To the translation of these three types of classical texts, my father added his own elucidative remarks (in this as in other editions, printed in smaller type). These remarks are based on a careful reading of the later (postclassical) commentatory literature, on his discussions with Lao and other friends and experts, on the modern scholarly literature then available, and on his own understanding and interpretation of the passages and situations involved.
Book II contains the translations of the more systematic among the Ten Wings, specifically, the Shuo Kua (Discussion of the Trigrams) and the Ta Chuan (The Great Treatise), the translated passages again being elucidated by my father’s own remarks. To these translations is appended an essay from my father’s own hand, “The Structure of the Hexagrams.” (Another, “On Consulting the Oracle,” has been transposed to the end of the volume for this edition.)
| The Major Divisions of the Material | |||||||
| THE TEXT | bk. I, pp. 3 ff. | ||||||
| THE TEN WINGS | |||||||
| 1, | 2. | T’uan Chuan: Commentary on the Decision | bk. III, under the individual hexagrams | ||||
| 3, | 4. | Hsiang Chuan: Commentary on the Images | bks. I, III, under the individual hexagrams | ||||
| 5, | 6. | Ta Chuan: The Great Treatise [Great Commentary] | bk. II, pp. 280 ff. | ||||
| or | |||||||
| Hsi Tz’u Chuan: Commentary on the Appended Judgments | |||||||
| 7. | Wên Yen: Commentary on the Words of the Text | bk. III, under hexagrams 1 and 2 | |||||
| 8. | Shuo Kua: Discussion of the Trigrams | bk. II, pp. 262 ff. | |||||
| 9. | Hsü Kua: Sequence of the Hexagrams | bk. III, under the individual hexagrams | |||||
| 10. | Tsa Kua: Miscellaneous Notes on the Hexagrams | bk. III, under the individual hexagrams | |||||
Book III, finally, is again arranged in the sequence of the hexagrams. It repeats the basic translations found in Book I and arranges under them those books and passages from the Ten Wings that are considered commentatory to the texts. These include passages found in the Great Treatise, which are repeated here under the caption “Appended Judgments,” a term which is the rendering of an alternate name of this treatise, Hsi Tz’u. Here again, my father’s own remarks (in smaller type) are added to the translations, dealing in this case not so much with general considerations as with technical and systematic aspects, the principles and concepts of which are discussed in the above-mentioned essay on “The Structure of the Hexagrams.”
Hellmut Wilhelm
Seattle, December 1966
I am grateful to Wallace K. Snider for discovering several typographical errors and an interesting textual error on page 530: in the first line of the Note, hexagram I (27) should be cited rather than I (42).
H. W.
Seattle, April 1968
Since I am not a sinologue, a foreword to the Book of Changes from my hand must be a testimonial of my individual experience with this great and singular book. It also affords me a welcome opportunity to pay tribute again to the memory of my late friend, Richard Wilhelm. He himself was profoundly aware of the cultural significance of his translation of the I Ching, a version unrivaled in the West.
If the meaning of the Book of Changes were easy to grasp, the work would need no foreword. But this is fair from being the case, for there is so much that is obscure about it that Western scholars have tended to dispose of it as a collection of “magic spells,” either too abstruse to be intelligible, or of no value whatsoever. Legge’s translation of the I Ching, up to now the only version available in English, has done little to make the work accessible to Western minds.1 Wilhelm, however, has made every effort to open the way to an understanding of the symbolism of the text. He was in a position to do this because he himself was taught the philosophy and the use of the I Ching by the venerable sage Lao Nai-hsiian; moreover, he had over a period of many years put the peculiar technique of the oracle into practice. His grasp of the living meaning of the text gives his version of the I Ching a depth of perspective that an exclusively academic knowledge of Chinese philosophy could never provide.
I am greatly indebted to Wilhelm for the light he has thrown upon the complicated problem of the I Ching, and for insight as regards its practical application as well. For more than thirty years I have interested myself in this oracle technique, or method of exploring the unconscious, for it has seemed to me of uncommon significance. I was already fairly familiar with the I Ching when I first met Wilhelm in the early nineteen twenties; he confirmed for me then what I already knew, and taught me many things more.
I do not know Chinese and have never been in China. I can assure my reader that it is not altogether easy to find the right access to this monument of Chinese thought, which departs so completely from our ways of thinking. In order to understand what such a book is all about, it is imperative to cast off certain prejudices of the Western mind. It is a curious fact that such a gifted and intelligent people as the Chinese has never developed what we call science. Our science, however, is based upon the principle of causality, and causality is considered to be an axiomatic truth. But a great change in our standpoint is setting in. What Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason failed to do, is being accomplished by modern physics. The axioms of causality are being shaken to their foundations: we know now that what we term natural laws are merely statistical truths and thus must necessarily allow for exceptions. We have not sufficiently taken into account as yet that we need the laboratory with its incisive restrictions in order to demonstrate the invariable validity of natural law. If we leave things to nature, we see a very different picture: every process is partially or totally interfered with by chance, so much so that under natural circumstances a course of events absolutely conforming to specific laws is almost an exception.
The Chinese mind, as I see it at work in the I Ching, seems to be exclusively preoccupied with the chance aspect of events. What we call coincidence seems to be the chief concern of this peculiar mind, and what we worship as causality passes almost unnoticed. We must admit that there is something to be said for the immense importance of chance. An incalculable amount of human effort is directed to combating and restricting the nuisance or danger represented by chance. Theoretical considerations of cause and effect often look pale and dusty in comparison to the practical results of chance. It is all very well to say that the crystal of quartz is a hexagonal prism. The statement is quite true in so far as an ideal crystal is envisaged. But in nature one finds no two crystals exactly alike, although all are unmistakably hexagonal. The actual form, however, seems to appeal more to the Chinese sage than the ideal one. The jumble of natural laws constituting empirical reality holds more significance for him than a causal explanation of events that, moreover, must usually be separated from one another in order to be properly dealt with.
The manner in which the I Ching tends to look upon reality seems to disfavor our causalistic procedures. The moment under actual observation appears to the ancient Chinese view more of a chance hit than a clearly defined result of concurring causal chain processes. The matter of interest seems to be the configuration formed by chance events in the moment of observation, and not at all the hypothetical reasons that seemingly account for the coincidence. While the Western mind carefully sifts, weighs, selects, classifies, isolates, the Chinese picture of the moment encompasses everything down to the minutest nonsensical detail, because all of the ingredients make up the observed moment.
Thus it happens that when one throws the three coins, or counts through the forty-nine yarrow stalks, these chance details enter into the picture of the moment of observation and form a part of it—a part that is insignificant to us, yet most meaningful to the Chinese mind. With us it would be a banal and almost meaningless statement (at least on the face of it) to say that whatever happens in a given moment possesses inevitably the quality peculiar to that moment. This is not an abstract argument but a very practical one. There are certain connoisseurs who can tell you merely from the appearance, taste, and behavior of a wine the site of its vineyard and the year of its origin. There are antiquarians who with almost uncanny accuracy will name the time and place of origin and the maker of an objet d’art or piece of furniture on merely looking at it. And there are even astrologers who can tell you, without any previous knowledge of your nativity, what the position of sun and moon was and what zodiacal sign rose above the horizon in the moment of your birth. In the face of such facts, it must be admitted that moments can leave long-lasting traces.
In other words, whoever invented the I Ching was convinced that the hexagram worked out in a certain moment coincided with the latter in quality no less than in time. To him the hexagram was the exponent of the moment in which it was cast—even more so than the hours of the clock or the divisions of the calendar could be—inasmuch as the hexagram was understood to be an indicator of the essential situation prevailing in the moment of its origin.
This assumption involves a certain curious principle that I have termed synchronicity,2 a concept that formulates a point of view diametrically opposed to that of causality. Since the latter is a merely statistical truth and not absolute, it is a sort of working hypothesis of how events evolve one out of another, whereas synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic) states of the observer or observers.
The ancient Chinese mind contemplates the cosmos in a way comparable to that of the modern physicist, who cannot deny that his model of the world is a decidedly psychophysical structure. The microphysical event includes the observer just as much as the reality underlying the I Ching comprises subjective, i.e., psychic conditions in the totality of the momentary situation. Just as causality describes the sequence of events, so synchronicity to the Chinese mind deeds with the coincidence of events. The causal point of view tells us a dramatic story about how D came into existence: it took its origin from C, which existed before D, and C in its turn had a father, B, etc. The synchronistic view on the other hand tries to produce an equally meaningful picture of coincidence. How does it happen that A', B' C' D', etc., appear all in the same moment and in the same place? It happens in the first place because the physical events A' and B' are of the same quality as the psychic events C' and D' and further because all are the exponents of one and the same momentary situation. The situation is assumed to represent a legible or understandable picture.
Now the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching are the instrument by which the meaning of sixty-four different yet typical situations can be determined. These interpretations are equivalent to causal explanations. Causal connection is statistically necessary and can therefore be subjected to experiment. Inasmuch as situations are unique and cannot be repeated, experimenting with synchronicity seems to be impossible under ordinary conditions.3 In the I Ching, the only criterion of the validity of synchronicity is the observer’s opinion that the text of the hexagram amounts to a true rendering of his psychic condition. It is assumed that the fall of the coins or the result of the division of the bundle of yarrow stalks is what it necessarily must be in a given “situation,” inasmuch as anything happening in that moment belongs to it as an indispensable part of the picture. If a handful of matches is thrown to the floor, they form the pattern characteristic of that moment. But such an obvious truth as this reveals its meaningful nature only if it is possible to read the pattern and to verify its interpretation, partly by the observer’s knowledge of the subjective and objective situation, partly by the character of subsequent events. It is obviously not a procedure that appeals to a critical mind used to experimental verification of facts or to factual evidence. But for someone who likes to look at the world at the angle from which ancient China saw it, the I Ching may have some attraction.
My argument as outlined above has of course never entered a Chinese mind. On the contrary, according to the old tradition, it is “spiritual agencies,” acting in a mysterious way, that make the yarrow stalks give a meaningful answer.4 These powers form, as it were, the living soul of the book. As the latter is thus a sort of animated being, the tradition assumes that one can put questions to the I Ching and expect to receive intelligent answers. Thus it occurred to me that it might interest the uninitiated reader to see the I Ching at work. For this purpose I made an experiment strictly in accordance with the Chinese conception: I personified the book in a sense, asking its judgment about its present situation, i.e., my intention to present it to the Western mind.
Although this procedure is well within the premises of Taoist philosophy, it appears exceedingly odd to us. However, not even the strangeness of insane delusions or of primitive superstition has ever shocked me. I have always tried to remain unbiased and curious—rerumnovarum cupidus. Why not venture a dialogue with an ancient book that purports to be animated? There can be no harm in it, and the reader may watch a psychological procedure that has been carried out time and again throughout the millennia of Chinese civilization, representing to a Confucius or a Lao-tse both a supreme expression of spiritual authority and a philosophical enigma. I made use of the coin method, and the answer obtained was hexagram 50, Ting, THE CALDRON.
In accordance with the way my question was phrased, the text of the hexagram must be regarded as though the I Ching itself were the speaking person. Thus it describes itself as a caldron, that is, as a ritual vessel containing cooked food. Here the food is to be understood as spiritual nourishment. Wilhelm says about this:
“The ting, as a utensil pertaining to a refined civilization, suggests the fostering and nourishing of able men, which redounded to the benefit of the state. … Here we see civilization as it reaches its culmination in religion. The ting serves in offering sacrifice to God. … The supreme revelation of God appears in prophets and holy men. To venerate them is true veneration of God. The will of God, as revealed through them, should be accepted in humility.”
Keeping to our hypothesis, we must conclude that the I Ching is here testifying concerning itself.
When any of the lines of a given hexagram have the value of six or nine, it means that they are specially emphasized and hence important in the interpretation.5 In my hexagram the “spiritual agencies” have given the emphasis of a nine to the lines in the second and in the third place. The text says:
Nine in the second place means:
There is food in the ting.
My comrades are envious,
But they cannot harm me.
Good fortune.
Thus the I Ching says of itself: “I contain (spiritual) nourishment.” Since a share in something great always arouses envy, the chorus of the envious6 is part of the picture. The envious want to rob the I Ching of its great possession, that is, they seek to rob it of meaning, or to destroy its meaning. But their enmity is in vain. Its richness of meaning is assured; that is, it is convinced of its positive achievements, which no one can take away. The text continues:
Nine in the third place means:
The handle of the ting is altered.
One is impeded in his way of life.
The fat of the pheasant is not eaten.
Once rain falls, remorse is spent.
Good fortune comes in the end.
The handle [German Griff] is the part by which the ting can be grasped [gegriffen]. Thus it signifies the concept7 (Begriff) one has of the I Ching (the ting). In the course of time this concept has apparently changed, so that today we can no longer grasp (begreifen) the I Ching. Thus “one is impeded in his way of life.” We are no longer supported by the wise counsel and deep insight of the oracle; therefore we no longer find our way through the mazes of fate and the obscurities of our own natures. The fat of the pheasant, that is, the best and richest part of a good dish, is no longer eaten. But when the thirsty earth finally receives rain again, that is, when this state of want has been overcome, “remorse,” that is, sorrow over the loss of wisdom, is ended, and then comes the longed-for opportunity. Wilhelm comments: “This describes a man who, in a highly evolved civilization, finds himself in a place where no one notices or recognizes him. This is a severe block to his effectiveness.” The I Ching is complaining, as it were, that its excellent qualities go unrecognized and hence lie fallow. It comforts itself with the hope that it is about to regain recognition.
The answer given in these two salient lines to the question I put to the I Ching requires no particular subtlety of interpretation, no artifices, no unusual knowledge. Anyone with a little common sense can understand the meaning of the answer; it is the answer of one who has a good opinion of himself, but whose value is neither generally recognized nor even widely known. The answering subject has an interesting notion of itself: it looks upon itself as a vessel in which sacrificial offerings are brought to the gods, ritual food for their nourishment. It conceives of itself as a cult utensil serving to provide spiritual nourishment for the unconscious elements or forces (“spiritual agencies”) that have been projected as gods—in other words, to give these forces the attention they need in order to play their part in the life of the individual. Indeed, this is the original meaning of the word religio—a careful observation and taking account of (from relegere8) the numinous.
The method of the I Ching does indeed take into account the hidden individual quality in things and men, and in one’s own unconscious self as well. I have questioned the I Ching as one questions a person whom one is about to introduce to friends: one asks whether or not it will be agreeable to him. In answer the I Ching tells me of its religious significance, of the fact that at present it is unknown and misjudged, of its hope of being restored to a place of honor—this last obviously with a sidelong glance at my as yet unwritten foreword,9 and above all at the English translation. This seems a perfectly understandable reaction, such as one could expect also from a person in a similar situation.
But how has this reaction come about? Because I threw three small coins into the air and let them fall, roll, and come to rest, heads up or tails up as the case might be. This odd fact that a reaction that makes sense arises out of a technique seemingly excluding all sense from the outset, is the great achievement of the I Ching. The instance I have just given is not unique; meaningful answers are the rule. Western sinologues and distinguished Chinese scholars have been at pains to inform me that the I Ching is a collection of obsolete “magic spells.” In the course of these conversations my informant has sometimes admitted having consulted the oracle through a fortune teller, usually a Taoist priest. This could be “only nonsense” of course. But oddly enough, the answer received apparently coincided with the questioner’s psychological blind spot remarkably well.
I agree with Western thinking that any number of answers to my question were possible, and I certainly cannot assert that another answer would not have been equally significant. However, the answer received was the first and only one; we know nothing of other possible answers. It pleased and satisfied me. To ask the same question a second time would have been tactless and so I did not do it: “the master speaks but once.” The heavy-handed pedagogic approach that attempts to fit irrational phenomena into a preconceived rational pattern is anathema to me. Indeed, such things as this answer should remain as they were when they first emerged to view, for only then do we know what nature does when left to herself undisturbed by the meddlesomeness of man. One ought not to go to cadavers to study life. Moreover, a repetition of the experiment is impossible, for the simple reason that the original situation cannot be reconstructed. Therefore in each instance there is only a first and single answer.
To return to the hexagram itself. There is-nothing strange in the fact that all of Ting, THE CALDRON, amplifies the themes announced by the two salient lines.10 The first line of the hexagram says:
A ting with legs upturned.
Furthers removal of stagnating stuff.
One takes a concubine for the sake of her son.
No blame.
A ting that is turned upside down is not in use. Hence the I Ching is like an unused caldron. Turning it over serves to remove stagnating matter, as the line says. Just as a man takes a concubine when his wife has no son, so the I Ching is called upon when one sees no other way out. Despite the quasi-legal status of the concubine in China, she is in reality only a somewhat awkward makeshift; so likewise the magic procedure of the oracle is an expedient that may be utilized for a higher purpose. There is no blame, although it is an exceptional recourse.
The second and third lines have already been discussed. The fourth line says:
The legs of the ting are broken.
The prince’s meal is spilled
And his person is soiled.
Misfortune.
Here the ting has been put to use, but evidently in a very clumsy manner, that is, the oracle has been abused or misinterpreted. In this way the divine food is lost, and one puts oneself to shame. Legge translates as follows: “Its subject will be made to blush for shame.” Abuse of a cult utensil such as the ting (i.e., the I Ching) is a gross profanation. The I Ching is evidently insisting here on its dignity as a ritual vessel and protesting against being profanely used.
The fifth line says:
The ting has yellow handles, golden carrying rings.
Perseverance furthers.
The I Ching has, it seems, met with a new, correct (yellow) understanding, that is, a new concept ()Begriff) by which it can be grasped. This concept is valuable (golden). There is indeed a new edition in English, making the book more accessible to the Western world than before.
The sixth line says:
The ting has rings of jade.
Great good fortune.
Nothing that would not act to further.
Jade is distinguished for its beauty and soft sheen. If the carrying rings are of jade, the whole vessel is enhanced in beauty, honor, and value. The I Ching expresses itself here as being not only well satisfied but indeed very optimistic. One can only await further events and in the meantime remain content with the pleasant conclusion that the I Ching approves of the new edition.
I have shown in this example as objectively as I can how the oracle proceeds in a given case. Of course the procedure varies somewhat according to the way the question is put. If for instance a person finds himself in a confusing situation, he may himself appear in the oracle as the speaker. Or, if the question concerns a relationship with another person, that person may appear as the speaker. However, the identity of the speaker does not depend entirely on the manner in which the question is phrased, inasmuch as our relations with our fellow beings are not always determined by the latter. Very often our relations depend almost exclusively on our own attitudes, though we may be quite unaware of this fact. Hence, if an individual is unconscious of his role in a relationship, there may be a surprise in store for him; contrary to expectation, he himself may appear as the chief agent, as is sometimes unmistakably indicated by the text. It may also occur that we take a situation too seriously and consider it extremely important, whereas the answer we get on consulting the I Ching draws attention to some unsuspected other aspect implicit in the question.
Such instances might at first lead one to think that the oracle is fallacious. Confucius is said to have received only one inappropriate answer, i.e., hexagram 22, GRACE—a thoroughly aesthetic hexagram. This is reminiscent of the advice given to Socrates by his daemon— “You ought to make more music”—whereupon Socrates took to playing the flute. Confucius and Socrates compete for first place as far as reasonableness and a pedagogic attitude to life are concerned; but it is unlikely that either of them occupied himself with “lending grace to the beard on his chin,” as the second line of this hexagram advises. Unfortunately, reason and pedagogy often lack charm and grace, and so the oracle may not have been wrong after all.
To come back once more to our hexagram. Though the I Ching not only seems to be satisfied with its new edition, but even expresses emphatic optimism, this still does not foretell anything about the effect it will have on the public it is intended to reach. Since we have in our hexagram two yang lines stressed by the numerical value nine, we are in a position to find out what sort of prognosis the I Ching makes for itself. Lines designated by a six or a nine have, according to the ancient conception, an inner tension so great as to cause them to change into their opposites, that is, yang into yin, and vice versa. Through this change we obtain in the present instance hexagram 35, Chin, PROGRESS.
The subject of this hexagram is someone who meets with all sorts of vicissitudes of fortune in his climb upward, and the text describes how he should behave. The I Ching is in this same situation: it rises like the sun and declares itself, but it is rebuffed and finds no confidence—it is “progressing, but in sorrow.” However, “one obtains great happiness from one’s ancestress.” Psychology can help us to elucidate this obscure passage. In dreams and fairy tales the grandmother, or ancestress, often represents the unconscious, because the latter in a man contains the feminine component of the psyche. If the I Ching is not accepted by the conscious, at least the unconscious meets it halfway, and the I Ching is more closely connected with the unconscious than with the rational attitude of consciousness. Since the unconscious is often represented in dreams by a feminine figure, this may be the explanation here. The feminine person might be the translator, who has given the book her maternal care, and this might easily appear to the I Ching as a “great happiness.” It anticipates general understanding, but is afraid of misuse—”Progress like a hamster.” But it is mindful of the admonition, “Take not gain and loss to heart.” It remains free of ”partisan motives” It does not thrust itself on anyone.
The I Ching therefore faces its future on the American book market calmly and expresses itself here just about as any reasonable person would in regard to the fate of so controversial a work. This prediction is so very reasonable and full of common sense that it would be hard to think of a more fitting answer.
All of this happened before I had written the foregoing paragraphs. When I reached this point, I wished to know the attitude of the I Ching to the new situation. The state of things had been altered by what I had written, inasmuch as I myself had now entered upon the scene, and I therefore expected to hear something referring to my own action. I must confess that I had not been feeling too happy in the course of writing this foreword, for, as a person with a sense of responsibility toward science, I am not in the habit of asserting something I cannot prove or at least present as acceptable to reason. It is a dubious task indeed to try to introduce to a critical modern public a collection of archaic “magic spells,” with the idea of making them more or less acceptable. I have undertaken it because I myself think that there is more to the ancient Chinese way of thinking than meets the eye. But it is embarrassing to me that I must appeal to the good will and imagination of the reader, inasmuch as I have to take him into the obscurity of an age-old magic ritual. Unfortunately I am only too well aware of the arguments that can be brought against it. We are not even certain that the ship that is to carry us over the unknown seas has not sprung a leak somewhere. May not the old text be corrupt? Is Wilhelm’s translation accurate? Are we not self-deluded in our explanations?
The I Ching insists upon self-knowledge throughout. The method by which this is to be achieved is open to every kind of misuse, and is therefore not for the frivolous-minded and immature; nor is it for intellectualists and rationalists. It is appropriate only for thoughtful and reflective people who like to think about what they do and what happens to them—a predilection not to be confused with the morbid brooding of the hypochondriac. As I have indicated above, I have no answer to the multitude of problems that arise when we seek to harmonize the oracle of the I Ching with our accepted scientific canons. But needless to say, nothing “occult” is to be inferred. My position in these matters is pragmatic, and the great disciplines that have taught me the practical usefulness of this viewpoint are psychotherapy and medical psychology. Probably in no other field do we have to reckon with so many unknown quantities, and nowhere else do we become more accustomed to adopting methods that work even though for a long time we may not know why they work. Unexpected cures may arise from questionable therapies and unexpected failures from allegedly reliable methods. In the exploration of the unconscious we come upon very strange things, from which a rationalist turns away with horror, claiming afterward that he did not see anything. The irrational fullness of life has taught me never to discard anything, even when it goes against all our theories (so short-lived at best) or otherwise admits of no immediate explanation. It is of course disquieting, and one is not certain whether the compass is pointing true or not; but security, certitude, and peace do not lead to discoveries. It is the same with this Chinese mode of divination. Clearly the method aims at self-knowledge, though at all times it has also been put to superstitious use.
I of course am thoroughly convinced of the value of self-knowledge, but is there any use in recommending such insight, when the wisest of men throughout the ages have preached the need of it without success? Even to the most biased eye it is obvious that this book represents one long admonition to careful scrutiny of one’s own character, attitude, and motives. This attitude appeals to me and has induced me to undertake the foreword. Only once before have I expressed myself in regard to the problem of the I Ching: this was in a memorial address in tribute to Richard Wilhelm.11 For the rest I have maintained a discreet silence. It is by no means easy to feel one’s way into such a remote and mysterious mentality as that underlying the I Ching. One cannot easily disregard such great minds as Confucius and Lao-tse, if one is at all able to appreciate the quality of the thoughts they represent; much less can one overlook the fact that the I Ching was their main source of inspiration. I know that previously I would not have dared to express myself so explicitly about so uncertain a matter. I can take this risk because I am now in my eighth decade, and the changing opinions of men scarcely impress me any more; the thoughts of the old masters are of greater value to me than the philosophical prejudices of the Western mind.
I do not like to burden my reader with these personal considerations; but, as already indicated, one’s own personalty is very often implicated in the answer of the oracle. Indeed, in formulating my question I even invited the oracle to comment directly on my action. The answer was hexagram 29, K’an, THE THE ABYSMAL. Special emphasis is given to the third place by the fact that the line is designated by a six. This line says:
Forward and backward, abyss on abyss.
In danger like this, pause at first and wait,
Otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss.
Do not act in this way.
Formerly I would have accepted unconditionally the advice, “Do not act in this way,” and would have refused to give my opinion of the I Ching, for the sole reason that I had none. But now the counsel may serve as an example of the way in which the I Ching functions. It is a fact that if one begins to think about it, the problems of the I Ching do represent “abyss on abyss,” and unavoidably one must “pause at first and wait” in the midst of the dangers of limitless and uncritical speculation; otherwise one really will lose his way in the darkness. Could there be a more uncomfortable position intellectually than that of floating in the thin air of unproved possibilities, not knowing whether what one sees is truth or illusion? This is the dream-like atmosphere of the I Ching, and in it one has nothing to rely upon except one’s own so fallible subjective judgment. I cannot but admit that this line represents very appropriately the feelings with which I wrote the foregoing passages. Equally fitting is the comforting beginning of this hexagram— “If you are sincere, you have success in your heart”—for it indicates that the decisive thing here is not the outer danger but the subjective condition, that is, whether one believes oneself to be “sincere” or not.
The hexagram compares the dynamic action in this situation to the behavior of flowing water, which is not afraid of any dangerous place but plunges over cliffs and fills up the pits that lie in its course (K’an also stands for water). This is the way in which the “superior man” acts and “carries on the business of teaching.”
K’an is definitely one of the less agreeable hexagrams. It describes a situation in which the subject seems in grave danger of being caught in all sorts of pitfalls. Just as in interpreting a dream one must follow the dream text with utmost exactitude, so in consulting the oracle one must hold in mind the form of the question put, for this sets a definite limit to the interpretation of the answer. The first line of the hexagram notes the presence of the danger: “In the abyss one falls into a pit.” The second line does the same, then adds the counsel: “One should strive to attain small things only.” I apparently anticipated this advice by limiting myself in this foreword to a demonstration of how the I Ching functions in the Chinese mind, and by renouncing the more ambitious project of writing a psychological commentary on the whole book.
The fourth line says:
A jug of wine, a bowl of rice with it;
Earthen vessels
Simply handed in through the window.
There is certainly no blame in this.
Wilhelm makes the following comment here:
“Although as a rule it is customary for an official to present certain introductory gifts and recommendations before he is appointed, here everything is simplified to the utmost. The gifts are insignificant, there is no one to sponsor him, he introduces himself; yet all this need not be humiliating if only there is the honest intention of mutual help in danger.”
It looks as if the book were to some degree the subject of this line.
The fifth line continues the theme of limitation. If one studies the nature of water, one sees that it fills a pit only to the rim and then flows on. It does not stay caught there:
The abyss is not filled to overflowing,
It is filled only to the rim.
But if, tempted by the danger, and just because of the uncertainty, one were to insist on forcing conviction by special efforts, such as elaborate commentaries and the like, one would only be mired in the difficulty, which the top line describes very accurately as a tied-up and caged-in condition. Indeed, the last line often shows the consequences that result when one does not take the meaning of the hexagram to heart.
In our hexagram we have a six in the third place. This yin line of mounting tension, changes into a yang line and thus produces a new hexagram showing a new possibility or tendency. We now have hexagram 48, Ching, THE WELL. The water hole no longer means danger, however, but rather something beneficial, a well:
Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work,
And exhorts them to help one another.
The image of people helping one another would seem to refer to the reconstruction of the well, for it is broken down and full of mud. Not even animals drink from it. There are fishes living in it, and one can shoot these, but the well is not used for drinking, that is, for human needs. This description is reminiscent of the overturned and unused ting that is to receive a new handle. Moreover, this well, like the ting, is cleaned. But no one drinks from it:
This is my heart’s sorrow,
For one might draw from it.
The dangerous water hole or abyss pointed to the I Ching, and so does the well, but the latter has a positive meaning: it contains the waters of life. It should be restored to use. But one has no concept (Begriff) of it, no utensil with which to carry the water; the jug is broken and leaks. The ting needs new handles and carrying rings by which to grasp it, and so also the well must be newly lined, for it contains “a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.” One may draw water from it, because “it is dependable.”
It is clear that in this prognosis the speaking subject is again the I Ching, representing itself as a spring of living water. The preceding hexagram described in detail the danger confronting the person who accidentally falls into the pit within the abyss. He must work his way out of it, in order to discover that it is an old, ruined well, buried in mud, but capable of being restored to use again.
I submitted two questions to the method of chance represented by the coin oracle, the second question being put after I had written my analysis of the answer to the first. The first question was directed, as it were, to the 1 Ching: what had it to say about my intention to write a foreword? The second question concerned my own action, or rather the situation in which I was the acting subject who had discussed the first hexagram. To the first question the I Ching replied by comparing itself to a caldron, a ritual vessel in need of renovation, a vessel, that was finding only doubtful favor with the public. To the second question the reply was that I had fallen into a difficulty, for the I Ching represented a deep and dangerous water hole in which one might easily be mired. However, the water hole proved to be an old well that needed only to be renovated in order to be put to useful purposes once more.
These four hexagrams are in the main consistent as regards theme (vessel, pit, well); and as regards intellectual content, they seem to be meaningful. Had a human being made such replies, I should, as a psychiatrist, have had to pronounce him of sound mind, at least on the basis of the material presented. Indeed, I should not have been able to discover anything delirious, idiotic, or schizophrenic in the four answers. In view of the I Ching’s extreme age and its Chinese origin, I cannot consider its archaic, symbolic, and flowery language abnormal. On the contrary, I should have had to congratulate this hypothetical person on the extent of his insight into my unexpressed state of doubt. On the other hand, any person of clever and versatile mind can turn the whole thing around and show how I have projected my subjective contents into the symbolism of the hexagrams. Such a critique, though catastrophic from the standpoint of Western rationality, does no harm to the function of the I Ching. On the contrary, the Chinese sage would smilingly tell me : “Don’t you see how useful the I Ching is in making you project your hitherto unrealized thoughts into its abstruse symbolism? You could have written your foreword without ever realizing what an avalanche of misunderstanding might be released by it.”
The Chinese standpoint does not concern itself as to the attitude one takes toward the performance of the oracle. It is only we who are puzzled, because we trip time and again over our prejudice, viz., the notion of causality. The ancient wisdom of the East lays stress upon the fact that the intelligent individual realizes his own thoughts, but not in the least upon the way in which he does it. The less one thinks about the theory of the I Ching, the more soundly one sleeps.
It would seem to me that on the basis of this example an unprejudiced reader would now be in a position to form at least a tentative judgment on the operation of the I Ching.12 More cannot be expected from a simple introduction. If by means of this demonstration I have succeeded in elucidating the psychological phenomenology of the I Ching, I shall have carried out my purpose. As to the thousands of questions, doubts, and criticisms that this singular book stirs up—I cannot answer these. The I Ching does not offer itself with proofs and results; it does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like a part of nature, it waits until it is discovered. It offers neither facts nor power, but for lovers of self-knowledge, of wisdom—if there be such—it seems to be the right book. To one person its spirit appears as clear as day; to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, dark as night. He who is not pleased by it does not have to use it, and he who is against it is not obliged to find it true. Let it go forth into the world for the benefit of those who can discern its meaning.
C. G. Jung
Zurich, 1949
A translation of a translation is likely to evoke the questioning protest: Why risk the danger of a double distortion of a text? In the case of Richard Wilhelm’s version of the I Ching, the answer is simple and ready to hand. However many other translations of this book may appear, and whatever their excellence, Wilhelm’s will remain unique, both by reason of his relation to the I Ching and because of the background out of which his translation grew. Unlike any other translator of this ancient work, he did not envisage the learned world as his only audience, and therefore addressed himself to the difficult task of making the I Ching intelligible to the lay reader. He wished to bring this first philosophy, this first effort of men to place themselves in the cosmos, out of the domain of specialists in philology and to put it into the hands of individuals anywhere who, like the authors of the I Ching are concerned with their relation to the universe and to their fellow men.
No less unique than this purpose of Wilhelm’s with regard to his translation were the circumstances that enabled him to carry it out. Long residence in China, mastery of both the spoken and the written language, and close association with the cultural leaders of the day, made it possible for him to understand the Chinese classics from the standpoint of the Chinese themselves. In translating the I Ching he was guided by a scholar of the old school, one of the last of his kind, who knew thoroughly the great field of commentary literature that has grown up around the book in the course of the ages.
Quite naturally also, it was Wilhelm’s particular wish to have his translation appear in English, widening by so much the circle of its readers. It is clear that in desiring thus to make available to many people the wisdom that he himself had found in the I Ching, Wilhelm presupposed in his readers a degree of spiritual integrity that, together with the essential dignity of the book, would preclude the use of the oracle for trivial purposes, or its exploitation by charlatans of whatever type. Time alone will show whether his faith was justified.
I was studying analytical psychology in Zurich when Dr. Jung asked me to undertake the rendering of the German version into English. The translation was to have had Wilhelm’s supervision; this, it was thought, would compensate my ignorance of Chinese. But his death in 1930 came long before I was ready to submit a manuscript to him. As I proceeded with the translation, I found that one very real compensation for my lack of Chinese remained, namely, the access to its philosophy afforded me through my growing knowledge of the work of Jung. This gave me a key to the archetypal world of the I Ching.
The second world war and attendant circumstances beyond my personal control brought many long interruptions to my undertaking. But in the end the delays worked wholly to the advantage of the translation. Shortly after the manuscript had gone to press, Dr. Hellmut Wilhelm, who like his father has devoted much time to the study of the I Ching, left his home in Peiping to continue his work in sinology in the United States. I had already had expert advice from him by letter, and had always hoped that by some unexpected turn of fate it would be possible for him to criticize my translation, since he alone knew his father’s work sufficiently well to take the latter’s place. It was now my great good fortune to go over the proofs with him while he checked the translation against the Chinese text using the very volumes that had accompanied Richard Wilhelm “on many a journey, halfway round the globe.”
With Dr. Wilhelm’s arrival, a question arose as to whether would be wise to rewrite certain passages of the translation to conform them to findings of modem scholarship that were not available to Richard Wilhelm when he did his work. Dr. Wilhelm decided that the book should be left as his father wrote it, because in no instance was the proposed change of more than minor importance with respect to the work as a whole.
In the parts of the German text that render the Chinese, I have tried to be as literal in my translation as possible, in order to establish a guideline in the highly allusive and symbolic language. (One need only compare passages in Wilhelm’s version with the same passages as rendered by Legge in order to see how completely different two interpretations of the same Chinese sentence may be.) When I have deviated from this rule, it has been in the few places where Dr. Wilhelm pointed out that a paraphrase is needed to cover the Chinese meaning.
The great age and unbroken continuity of Chinese culture are wonderful to contemplate; to keep this perspective before the reader’s mind, I have given, where possible, dates for the works and authors mentioned by Wilhelm. All footnotes added by me are inclosed in square brackets.
Wherever the English names of the hexagrams appear in the body of the text, they are printed in small capitals; in this way they can be distinguished from trigrams of the same name. The Chinese characters for the names of the hexagrams have been rewritten for this edition. I have to thank Dr. Shih Yu-chung for this contribution. Wade’s system of transliteration has been used in putting the German version of Chinese words into their English equivalents. The excellent key to the hexagrams was brought to my notice by Carol Fisher Baumann.
The Chinese title page is from the hand of Professor Tung Tso-pin of the Academia Sinica.
There are few sentences in this translation that were not discussed again and again before they took final form, and the work as a whole has been revised many times. For aid in the early stages of my undertaking I £im indebted to Emma Jung and to Frieda Hauswirth. Later, when I returned to this country, I received very great assistance from Dr. Erla Rodakiewicz and from my daughter, Ximena de Angulo. For help at that time on matters of style I am also grateful to Elizabeth M. Brown and to Mary E. Strong. Dr. Wilfrid Lay, who learned Chinese for the sole purpose of reading the I Ching, brought to my attention a number of points that I would otherwise have missed. Dr. George H. Danton read the manuscript two years before it reached its finished form, and gave me valuable suggestions. For the final truing up of the translation with the German text, and for rescuing it from the ever-present threat of translator’s English, I cannot give praise and appreciation enough to my editor, Renée Darmstadter.
Accuracy and intelligibility have been the goals set for this translation, but it must prove itself in a still more vital test. If the reader is drawn out of the accustomed framework of his thought to view the world in a new perspective, if his imagination is stimulated and his psychological insight deepened, he will know that Wilhelm’s I Ching has been faithfully reproduced.
Cary F. Baynes
Morris, Connecticut, 1949
Translator’s Note for the Third Edition
This edition presents the I Ching in an entirely new format, more compact as a book, and clearer in its typographical distinctions. Professor Hellmut Wilhelm, of the Far Eastern and Russian Institute in the University of Washington (Seattle), has contributed a preface to the new edition, in which he comments on recent research and on other translations of the Book of Changes and elucidates the principles that guided his father’s work. Professor Wilhelm has approved the editors’ additions, rearrangements of some of the secondary material, and revisions of bibliographical information in footnotes. The rearrangements consist in placing a chart, “The Major Divisions of the Material,” adjacent to the new preface, with which it is interrelated; and moving a section “On Consulting the Oracle” to the end of the volume, for convenience. An index of the hexagrams by pattern has been taken over from the German edition, and a general index has been compiled.
As I remarked in a Translator’s Note to the second edition, I am indebted to Professor Wilhelm also for an explanatory note concerning the Chinese title page, and to Mr. R. F. C. Hull, the translator of the Collected Works of G. G. Jung, for having called my attention to an error of translation in Jung’s foreword. With minor changes, the foreword was published in 1958 in Psychology and Religion: West and East (Collected Works of C. G. Jung, vol. 11).
The Western student of the I Ching is always grateful for aid in the understanding of the Book. He will find such aid in two works of Professor Hellmut Wilhelm published since the first edition of the English version of the I Ching in 1950: Change: Eight Lectures on the I Ching (New York: Bollingen Series LXII, and London, 1960) and “The Concept of Time in the Book of Changes,” in Man and Time (Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks, 3; New York: Bollingen Series XXX, and London, 1957).
C. F. B.
Morris, Connecticut, January 1967
2 [Ta Hsüeh.]
3 [Chung Yung.]
This translation of the Book of Changes was begun nearly ten years ago. After the Chinese revolution,1 when Tsingtao became the residence of a number of the most eminent scholars of the old school, I met among them my honored teacher Lao Nai-hsüan. I am indebted to him not only for a deeper understanding of the Great Learning,2 the Doctrine of the Mean,3 and the Book of Mencius, but also because he first opened my mind to the wonders of the Book of Changes. Under his experienced guidance I wandered entranced through this strange and yet familiar world. The translation of the text was made after detailed discussion. Then the German version was retranslated into Chinese and it was only after the meaning of the text had been fully brought out that we considered our version to be truly a translation.
While we were in the midst of this work, the horror of the world war broke in upon us. The Chinese scholars were scattered to the four winds, and Mr. Lao left for Ch’ü-fou, the home of Confucius, to whose family he was related. The translation of the Book of Changes was laid aside, although during the siege of Tsingtao, when I was in charge of the Chinese Red Cross, not a day passed on which I did not devote some time to the study of ancient Chinese wisdom. It was a curious coincidence that in the encampment outside the city, the besieging Japanese commander. General Kamio, was reading the Book of Mencius in his moments of relaxation, while I, a German, was similarly delving into Chinese wisdom in my free hours. Happiest of all, however, was an old Chinese who was so wholly absorbed in his sacred books that not even a grenade falling at his side could disturb his calm. He reached out for it it was a dud then drew back his hand and, remarking that it was very hot, forthwith returned to his books.
Tsingtao was captured. Despite all sorts of other tasks, I again found time for intensive work on the translation, but the teacher with whom I had begun the work was now far away, and it was impossible for me to leave Tsingtao. In the midst of my perplexities, it made me very happy to receive a letter from Mr. Lao saying that he was ready to go on with our interrupted studies. He came, and the translation was brought to completion. Those were rare hours of inspiration that I spent with my aged master. When the work in its essential features was almost finished, fate called me back to Germany. In the meantime my venerable master departed this world.
Habent sua fata libelli. In Germany I seemed to be as far removed as possible from ancient Chinese wisdom, although in Europe also many a word of counsel from the mysterious book has here and there fallen on fertile soil. Hence my joy and surprise were great indeed when in the house of a good friend in Friedenau, I found the Book of Changes—and in a beautiful edition for which I had hunted in vain through all the bookshops of Peking. My friend moreover proved a friend indeed, in making this happy find my permanent possession. Since then the book has accompanied me on many a journey, halfway round the globe.
I came back to China. New tasks claimed me. In Peking a wholly new world, with other people and other interests, opened up before me. Nonetheless, here too help soon came to hand in many ways, and in the warm days of a Peking summer the work was finally brought to conclusion. Recast again and again, the text has at last attained a form that though it falls far short of my wish makes it possible for me to give the book to the world. May the same joy in pure wisdom be the part of those who read the translation as was mine while I worked upon it.
Richard Wilhelm
Peking, in the summer of 1923
The Book of Changes – I Ching in Chinese – is unquestionably one of the most important books in the world’s literature.
- Its origin goes back to mythical antiquity, and it has occupied the attention of the most eminent scholars of China down to the present day.
- Nearly all that is greatest and most significant in the three thousand years of Chinese cultural history has either taken its inspiration from this book, or has exerted an influence on the interpretation of its text.
- Therefore it may safely be said that the seasoned wisdom of thousands of years has gone into the making of the I Ching.
- Small wonder then that both of the two branches of Chinese philosophy, Confucianism and Taoism, have their common roots here.
- The book sheds new light on many a secret hidden in the often puzzling modes of thought of that mysterious sage, Lao-tse, and of his pupils, as well as on many ideas that appear in the Confucian tradition as axioms, accepted without further examination.
Indeed, not only the philosophy of China but its science and statecraft as well have never ceased to draw from the spring of wisdom in the I Ching, and it is not surprising that this alone, among all the Confucian classics, escaped the great burning of the books under Ch’in Shih Huang Ti.[1]
- Even the common-places of everyday life in China are saturated with its influence.
- In going through the streets of a Chinese city, one will find, here and there at a street corner, a fortune teller sitting behind a neatly covered table, brush and tablet at hand, ready to draw from the ancient book of wisdom pertinent counsel and information on life’s minor perplexities.
- Not only that, but the very signboards adorning the houses –perpendicular wooden panels done in gold on black lacquer – are covered with inscriptions whose flowery language again and again recalls thoughts and quotations from the I Ching.
- Even the policy makers of so modern a state as Japan, distinguished for their astuteness, do not scorn to refer to it for counsel in difficult situations.
In the course of time, owing to the great repute for wisdom attaching to the Book of Changes, a large body of occult doctrines extraneous to it – some of them possibly not even Chinese in origin – have come to be connected with its teachings.
- The Ch’in and Han dynasties[2] saw the beginning of a formalistic natural philosophy that sought to embrace the entire world of thought in a system of number symbols.
- Combining a rigorously consistent, dualistic yin-yang doctrine with the doctrine of the “five stages of change” taken from the Book of History,[3] it forced Chinese philosophical thinking more and more into a rigid formalization.
- Thus increasingly hairsplitting cabalistic speculations came to envelop the Book of Changes in a cloud of mystery, and by forcing everything of the past and of the future into this system of numbers, created for the I Ching the reputation of being a book of unfathomable profundity.
- These speculations are also to blame for the fact that the seeds of a free Chinese natural science, which undoubtedly existed at the time of Mo Ti[4] and his pupils, were killed, and replaced by a sterile tradition of writing and reading books that was wholly removed from experience.
- This is the reason why China has for so long presented to Western eyes a picture of hopeless stagnation.
Yet we must not overlook the fact that apart from this mechanistic number mysticism, a living stream of deep human wisdom was constantly flowing through the channel of this book into everyday life, giving to China’s great civilization that ripeness of wisdom, distilled through the ages, which we wistfully admire in the remnants of this last truly autochthonous culture.
What is the Book of Changes actually? In order to arrive at an understanding of the book and its teachings, we must first of all boldly strip away the dense overgrowth of interpretations that have read into it all sorts of extraneous ideas.
- This is equally necessary whether we are dealing with the superstitions and mysteries of old Chinese sorcerers or the no less superstitious theories of modern European scholars who try to interpret all historical cultures in terms of their experience of primitive savages.[5]
- We must hold here to the fundamental principle that the Book of Changes is to be explained in the light of its own content and of the era to which it belongs.
- With this the darkness lightens perceptibly and we realize that this book, though a very profound work, does not offer greater difficulties to our understanding than any other book that has come down through a long history from antiquity to our time.
At the outset, the Book of Changes was a collection of linear signs to be used as oracles.[6]
- In antiquity, oracles were everywhere in use; the oldest among them confined themselves to the answers yes and no. This type of oracular pronouncement is likewise the basis of the Book of Changes.
- "Yes" was indicated by a simple unbroken line (━━━), and
- "No" by a broken line (━ ━).
- However, the need for greater differentiation seems to have been felt at an early date, and the single lines were combined in pairs:
 |
To each of these combinations a third line was then added. In this way the eight trigrams[7] came into being.
- These eight trigrams were conceived as images of all that happens in heaven and on earth.
- At the same time, they were held to be in a state of continual transition, one changing into another, just as transition from one phenomenon to another is continually taking place in the physical world.
- Here we have the fundamental concept of the Book of Changes. The eight trigrams are symbols standing for changing transitional states; they are images that are constantly undergoing change.
- Attention centers not on things in their state of being – as is chiefly the case in the Occident – but upon their movements in change.
- The eight trigrams therefore are not representations of things as such but of their tendencies in movement.
| Symbol | Name | Attribute | Image | Family Relationship |
|||||
 |
Ch’ien | the Creative | strong | heaven | father | ||||
 |
K’un | the Receptive | devoted, yielding | earth | mother | ||||
 |
Chên | the Arousing | inciting, movement | thunder | first son | ||||
 |
K’an | the Abysmal | dangerous | water | second son | ||||
 |
Kên | Keeping Still | resting | mountain | third son | ||||
 |
Sun | the Gentle | penetrating | wind, wood | first daughter | ||||
 |
Li | the Clinging | light-giving | fire | second daughter | ||||
 |
Tui | the Joyous | joyful | lake | third daughter | ||||
These eight images came to have manifold meanings.
- They represented certain processes in nature corresponding with their inherent character.
- Further, they represented a family consisting of father, mother, three sons, and three daughters, not in the mythological sense in which the Greek gods peopled Olympus, but in what might be called an abstract sense, that is, they represented not objective entities but functions.
A brief survey of these eight symbols that form the basis of the Book of Changes yields the following classification:
- The sons represent the principle of movement in its various stages
• beginning of movement
• danger in movement
• rest and completion of movement - The daughters represent devotion in its various stages
• gentle penetration
• clarity and adaptability
• joyous tranquility
In order to achieve a still greater multiplicity, these eight images were combined with one another at a very early date, whereby a total of sixty-four signs was obtained.
- Each of these sixty-four signs consists of six lines, either positive or negative.
- Each line is thought of as capable of change, and whenever a line changes, there is a change also of the situation represented by the given hexagram.
K’un, THE RECEPTIVE
|
Fu, RETURN
|
Let us take for example the hexagram K’un, THE RECEPTIVE, earth:
- It represents the nature of the earth, strong in devotion;
- Among the seasons it stands for late autumn, when all the forces of life are at rest.
If the lowest line changes, we have the hexagram Fu, RETURN:
- The latter represents thunder, the movement that stirs anew within the earth at the time of the solstice; it symbolizes the return of light.
As this example shows, all of the lines of a hexagram do not necessarily change; it depends entirely on the character of a given line.
- A line whose nature is positive, with an increasing dynamism, turns into its opposite, a negative line,
- Whereas a positive line of lesser strength remains unchanged.
- The same principle holds for the negative lines.
Book II – The Material, and
Book III – The Commentaries.
This tabbed-pages version includes (currently) only The Text and Book II.
More definite information about those lines which are to be considered so strongly charged with positive or negative energy that they move, is given in book II in the Great Commentary (pt. I, chap. IX), and in the special section on the use of the oracle in the Appencdix, “On Consulting the Oracle”.[*] Suffice it to say here that:
- Positive lines that move are designated by the number 9, and
- Negative lines that move by the number 6.
- While non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own, are represented by the number 7 (positive) or the number 8 (negative).
| 8 at the top |  |
| 8 in the fifth place | |
| 8 in the fourth place | |
| 8 in the third place | |
| 8 in the second place | |
| 6 at the beginning | |
Thus, when the text reads, “Nine at the beginning means…” this is the equivalent of saying:
“When the positive line in the first place is represented by the number 9, it has the following meaning…”
If, on the other hand, the line is represented by the number 7, it is disregarded in interpreting the oracle. The same principle holds for lines represented by the numbers 6 and 8[8]respectively.
|
K’un, THE RECEPTIVE
|
|
Fu, RETURN
|
We may obtain the hexagram named in the example above – K’un, THE RECEPTIVE – in the form displayed at right:
Hence the five upper lines are not taken into account; only the 6 at the beginning has an independent meaning, and by its transformation into its opposite, the situation K’un, THE RECEPTIVE, becomes the situation Fu, RETURN:
In this way we have a series of situations symbolically expressed by lines,
- And through the movement of these lines the situations can change one into another.
On the other hand, such change does not necessarily occur,
- For when a hexagram is made up of lines represented by the numbers 7 and 8 only, there is no movement within it, and only its aspect as a whole is taken into consideration.
In addition to the law of change and to the images of the states of change as given in the sixty-four hexagrams, another factor to be considered is the course of action.
- Each situation demands the action proper to it. In every situation, there is a right and a wrong course of action.
- Obviously, the right course brings good fortune and the wrong course brings misfortune.
Which, then, is the right course in any given case? This question was the decisive factor.
- As a result, the I Ching was lifted above the level of an ordinary book of soothsaying.
- If a fortune teller on reading the cards tells her client that she will receive a letter with money from America in a week, there is nothing for the woman to do but wait until the letter comes – or does not come.
- In this case what is foretold is fate, quite independent of what the individual may do or not do. For this reason fortune telling lacks moral significance.
- When it happened for the first time in China that someone, on being told the auguries for the future, did not let the matter rest there hut asked, “What am I to do?” the book of divination had to become a book of wisdom.
It was reserved for King Wên, who lived about 1150 B.C., and his son, the Duke of Chou, to bring about this change.
- They endowed the hitherto mute hexagrams and lines, from which the future had to be divined as an individual matter in each case, with definite counsels for correct conduct.
- Thus the individual came to share in shaping fate. For his actions intervened as determining factors in world events, the more decisively so, the earlier he was able with the aid of the Book of Changes to recognize situations in their germinal phases. The germinal phase is the crux.
- As long as things are in their beginnings they can be controlled, but once they have grown to their full consequences they acquire a power so overwhelming that man stands impotent before them.
- Thus the Book of Changes became a book of divination of a very special kind. The hexagrams and lines in their movements and changes mysteriously reproduced the movements and changes of the macrocosm.
- By the use of yarrow stalks,[9] one could attain a point of vantage from which it was possible to survey the condition of things. Given this perspective, the words of the oracle would indicate what should be done to meet the need of the time.
The only thing about all this that seems strange to our modern sense is the method of learning the nature of a situation through the manipulation of yarrow stalks.
- This procedure was regarded as mysterious, however, simply in the sense that the manipulation of the yarrow stalks makes it possible for the unconscious in man to become active.
- All individuals are not equally fitted to consult the oracle. It requires a clear and tranquil mind, receptive to the cosmic influences hidden in the humble divining stalks.
- As products of the vegetable kingdom, these were considered to be related to the sources of life. The stalks were derived from sacred plants.
Of far greater significance than the use of the Book of Changes as an oracle is its other use, namely, as a book of wisdom.
11 551-479 B.C.
- Laotse[10] knew this book, and some of his profoundest aphorisms were inspired by it. Indeed, his whole thought is permeated with its teachings.
- Confucius[11] too knew the Book of Changes and devoted himself to reflection upon it. He probably wrote down some of his interpretative comments and imparted others to his pupils in oral teaching.
- The Book of Changes as edited and annotated by Confucius is the version that has come down to our time.
If we inquire as to the philosophy that pervades the book, we can confine ourselves to a few basically important concepts.
- The underlying idea of the whole is the idea of change.
- It is related in the Analects[12] that Confucius, standing by a river, said: “Everything flows on and on like this river, without pause, day and night.”
- This expresses the idea of change. He who has perceived the meaning of change fixes his attention no longer on transitory individual things but on the immutable, eternal law at work in all change.
(see Book II, p. 297 and n. 1).
The reasons that led Wilhelm to choose SINN to represent tao (see p. XIV of the introduction to his translation of Lao-tse: Tao Te King: Das Buch des Alten von Sinn und Leben, 3rd edn., Düsseldorf and Cologne, 1952) have no relation to the English word “meaning.” Therefore in the English rendering, “tao” has been used wherever SINN occurs.
- This law is the tao[13] of Lao-tse, the course of things, the principle of the one in the many.
- That it may become manifest, a decision, a postulate, is necessary.
- This fundamental postulate is the “great primal beginning” of all that exists, t’ai chi – in its original meaning, the “ridgepole.”
- Later Chinese philosophers devoted much thought to this idea of a primal beginning.
- A still earlier beginning, wu chi, was represented by the symbol of a circle. Under this conception, t’ai chi was represented by the circle divided into the light and the dark, yang and yin, ☯.[14]
This symbol has also played a significant part in India and Europe.
- However, speculations of a gnostic-dualistic character are foreign to the original thought of the I Ching; what it posits is simply the ridgepole, the line.
- With this line, which in itself represents oneness, duality comes into the world, for the line at the same time posits an above and a below, a right and left, front and back-in a word, the world of the opposites.
These opposites became known under the names yin and yang and created a great stir, especially in the transition period between the Ch’in and Han dynasties, in the centuries just before our era, when there was an entire school of yin-yang doctrine.
- At that time, the Book of Changes was much in use as a book of magic, and people read into the text all sorts of things not originally there.
- This doctrine of yin and yang, of the female and the male as primal principles, has naturally also attracted much attention among foreign students of Chinese thought.
- Following the usual bent, some of these have predicated in it a primitive phallic symbolism, with all the accompanying connotations.
To the disappointment of such discoverers it must be said that there is nothing to indicate this in the original meaning of the words yin and yang.
- In its primary meaning yin is “the cloudy,” “the overcast,” and yang means actually “banners waving in the sun,”[15] that is, something “shone upon,” or bright.
- By transference the two concepts were applied to the light and dark sides of a mountain or of a river.
- In the case of a mountain the southern is the bright side and the northern the dark side, while in the case of a river seen from above, it is the northern side that is bright (yang), because it reflects the light, and the southern side that is in shadow (yin).
- Thence the two expressions were carried over into the Book of Changes and applied to the two alternating primal states of being.
- It should be pointed out, however, that the terms yin and yang do not occur in this derived sense either in the actual text of the book or in the oldest commentaries.
- Their first occurrence is in the Great Commentary, which already shows Taoistic influence in some parts.
- In the Commentary on the Decision the terms used for the opposites are “the firm” and “the yielding,” not yang and yin.
However, no matter what names are applied to these forces, it is certain that the world of being arises out of their change and interplay.
- Thus change is conceived of partly as the continuous transformation of the one force into the other and partly as a cycle of complexes of phenomena, in themselves connected, such as day and night, summer and winter.
- Change is not meaningless – if it were, there could be no knowledge of it – but subject to the universal law, tao.
The second theme fundamental to the Book of Changes is its theory of ideas.
- The eight trigrams are images not so much of objects as of states of change.
- This view is associated with the concept expressed in the teachings of Lao-tse, as also in those of Confucius, that every event in the visible world is the effect of an “image,” that is, of an idea in the unseen world.
- Accordingly, everything that happens on earth is only a reproduction, as it were, of an event in a world beyond our sense perception, as regards its occurrence in time, it is later than the suprasensible event.
- The holy men and sages, who are in contact with those higher spheres, have access to these ideas through direct intuition and are therefore able to intervene decisively in events in the world.
- Thus man is linked with heaven, the suprasensible world of ideas, and with earth, the material world of visible things, to form with these a trinity of the primal powers.
This theory of ideas is applied in a twofold sense.
- The Book of Changes shows the images of events and also the unfolding of conditions in statu nascendi.
- Thus, in discerning with its help the seeds of things to come, we learn to foresee the future as well as to understand the past.
- In this way the images on which the hexagrams are based serve as patterns for timely action in the situations indicated.
- Not only is adaptation to the course of nature thus made possible, but in the Great Commentary (pt. II, chap. II), an interesting attempt is made to trace back the origin of all the practices and inventions of civilization to such ideas and archetypal images.
- Whether or not the hypothesis can be made to apply in all specific instances, the basic concept contains a truth.[16]
The third element fundamental to the Book of Changes are the judgments.
- The judgments clothe the images in words, as it were; they indicate whether a given action will bring good fortune or misfortune, remorse or humiliation.
- The judgments make it possible for a man to make a decision to desist from a course of action indicated by the situation of the moment but harmful in the long run. In this way he makes himself independent of the tyranny of events.
- In its judgments, and in the interpretations attached to it from the time of Confucius on the Book of Changes opens to the reader the richest treasure of Chinese wisdom; at the same time it affords him a comprehensive view of the varieties of human experience, enabling him thereby to shape his life of his own sovereign will into an organic whole and so to direct it that it comes into accord with the ultimate tao lying at the root of all that exists.
In Chinese literature four holy men are cited as the authors of the Book of Changes, namely, Fu Hsi, King Wên, the Duke of Chou, and Confucius.
- Fu Hsi is a legendary figure representing the era of hunting and fishing and of the invention of cooking.
- The fact that he is designated as the inventor of the linear signs of the Book of Changes means that they have been held to be of such antiquity that they antedate historical memory.
- Moreover, the eight trigrams have names that do not occur in any other connection in the Chinese language, and because of this they have even been thought to be of foreign origin.
which resembles the character for water, shui 
- At all events, they are not archaic characters, as some have been led to believe by the half accidental, half intentional resemblances to them appearing here and there among ancient characters.[17]
The eight trigrams are found occurring in various combinations at a very early date. Two collections belonging to antiquity are mentioned:
- First, the Book of Changes of the Hsia dynasty,[18] is called Lien Shan, which is said to have begun with the hexagram Kên, KEEPING STILL, mountain;
- Second, the Book of Changes dating from the Shang dynasty,[19] is entitled Kuei Ts’ang, which began with the hexagram K’un, THE RECEPTIVE.
- The latter circumstance is mentioned in passing by Confucius himself as a historical fact.
- It is difficult to say whether the names of the sixty-four hexagrams were then in existence, and if so, whether they were the same as those in the present Book of Changes.
According to general tradition, which we have no reason to challenge, the present collection of sixty-four hexagrams originated with King Wên,[20] progenitor of the Chou dynasty.
- He is said to have added brief judgments to the hexagrams during his imprisonment at the hands of the tyrant Chou Hsin.
- The text pertaining to the individual lines originated with his son, the Duke of Chou.
- This form of the book, entitled the Changes of Chou (Chou I), was in use as an oracle throughout the Chou period, as can be proven from a number of the ancient historical records.
This was the status of the book at the time Confucius came upon it.
- In his old age he gave it intensive study, and it is highly probable that the Commentary on the Decision (T’uan Chuan) is his work.
- The Commentary on the Images also goes back to him, though less directly.
- A third treatise, a very valuable and detailed commentary on the individual lines, compiled by his pupils or by their successors, in the form of questions and answers, survives only in fragments.[21]
Among the followers of Confucius, it would appear, it was principally Pu Shang (Tzú Hsia) who spread the knowledge of the Book of Changes.
- With the development of philosophical speculation, as reflected in the Great Learning (Ta Hsüeh) and the Doctrine of the Mean (Chung Yung),[22] this type of philosophy exercised an ever increasing influence upon the interpretation of the Book of Changes.
- A literature grew up around the book, fragments of which – some dating from an early and some from a later time – are to be found in the so-called Ten Wings.
- They differ greatly with respect to content and intrinsic value.
The Book of Changes escaped the fate of the other classics at the time of the famous burning of the books under the tyrant Ch’in Shih Huang Ti.
- Hence, if there is anything in the legend that the burning alone is responsible for the mutilation of the texts of the old books, the I Ching at least should be intact; but this is not the case.
- In reality it is the vicissitudes of the centuries, the collapse of ancient cultures, and the change in the system of writing that are to be blamed for the damage suffered by all ancient works.
After the Book of Changes had become firmly established as a book of divination and magic in the time of Ch’in Shih Huang Ti, the entire school of magicians (fang shih) of the Ch’in and Han dynasties made it their prey.
24 All three are Han scholars.
- And the yin-yang doctrine, which was probably introduced through the work of Tsou Yen,[23] and later promoted by Tung Chung Shu, Liu Hsin, and Liu Hsiang,[24] ran riot in connection with the interpretation of the I Ching.
The task of clearing away all this rubbish was reserved for a great and wise scholar, Wang Pi,[25] who wrote about the meaning of the Book of Changes as a book of wisdom, not as a book of divination.
- He soon found emulation, and the teachings of the yin-yang school of magic were displaced, in relation to the book, by a philosophy of statecraft that was gradually developing.
27 Ch’êng Hao, A.D. 1032-1085.
- In the Sung[26] period, the I Ching was used as a basis for the t’ai chi t’u doctrine – which was probably not of Chinese origin – until the appearance of the elder Ch’êng Tzú’s[27] very good commentary.
- It had become customary to separate the old commentaries contained in the Ten Wings and to place them with the individual hexagrams to which they refer.
- Thus the book became by degrees entirely a textbook relating to statecraft and the philosophy of life.
- Then Chu Hsi[28] attempted to rehabilitate it as a book of oracles; in addition to a short and precise commentary on the I Ching, he published an introduction to his investigations concerning the art of divination.
The critical-historical school of the last dynasty also took the Book of Changes in hand.
- However, because of their opposition to the Sung scholars and their preference for the Han commentators, who were nearer in point of time to the compilation of the Book of Changes, they were less successful here than in their treatment of the other classics.
- For the Han commentators were in the last analysis sorcerers, or were influenced by theories of magic.
- A very good edition was arranged in the K’ang Hsi[29] period, under the title Chou I Chê Chung; it presents the text and the wings separately and includes the best commentaries of all periods.
- This is the edition on which the present translation is based.
An exposition of the principles that have been followed in the translation of the Book of Changes should be of essential help to the reader.
The translation of the text has been given as brief and concise a form as possible, in order to preserve the archaic impression that prevails in the Chinese.
- This has made it all the more necessary to present not only the text but also digests of the most important Chinese commentaries.
- These digests have been made as succinct as possible and afford a survey of the outstanding contributions made by Chinese scholarship toward elucidation of the book.
- Comparisons with Occidental writings,[30] which frequently suggested themselves, as well as views of my own, have been introduced as sparingly as possible a invariably been expressly identified as such.
- The reader may therefore regard the text and the commentary as genuine renditions of Chinese thought.
- Special attention is called to this fact because many of the fundamental truths presented are so closely parallel to Christian tenets that the impression is often really striking.
In order to make it as easy as possible for the layman to understand the I Ching, the texts of the sixty-four hexagrams, together with pertinent interpretations, are presented in book 1.
- The reader will do well to begin by reading this part with his attention fixed on its main ideas and without allowing himself to be distracted by the imagery.
- For example, he should follow through the idea of the Creative in its step-by-step development — as delineated in masterly fashion in the first hexagram — taking the dragons for granted for the moment. In this way he will gain an idea of what Chinese wisdom has to say about the conduct of life.
The second and third books explain why all these things are as they are.
- Here the material essential to an understanding of the structure of the hexagrams has been brought together, but only so much of it as is absolutely necessary, and as far as possible only the oldest material, as preserved in the Ten Wings, is presented.
- So far as has been feasible, these commentaries have been broken down and apportioned to the relevant parts of the text, in such a way as to afford a better understanding of them — their essential content having been made available earlier in the commentary summaries in book 1.
- Therefore, for one who would plumb the depths of wisdom in the Book of Changes, the second and third books are indispensable. On the other hand, the Western reader’s power of comprehension ought not to be burdened at the outset with too much that is unfamiliar.
- Consequently it has not been possible to avoid a certain amount of repetition, but such reiteration will be of help in obtaining a thorough understanding of the book.
- It is my firm conviction that anyone who really assimilates the essence of the Book of Changes will be enriched thereby in experience and in true understanding of life.
R.W.
The Main Divisions of the Material [Chart] … ii
- The Use of the Book of Changes … xiv
- The Book of Wisdom … xv
- The History of the Book of Changes … xvi
- The Arrangement of the Translation … xvii
- On Consulting the Oracle
- 1. The Yarrow-Stalk Oracle … xviii
- The Coin Oracle … xix
- The Hexagrams Arranged by Houses … xx
- Ch’ien / The Creative
- K’un / The Receptive
- Chun / Difficulty at the Beginning
- Mêng / Youthful Folly
- Hsü / Waiting (Nourishment)
- Sung / Conflict
- Shih / The Army
- Pi / Holding Together [Union]
- Hsiao Ch’u / The Taming Power of the Small
- Lü / Treading [Conduct]
- T’ai / Peace
- P’i / Standstill [Stagnation]
- T’ung Jên / Fellowship with Men
- Ta Yu / Possession in Great Measure
- Ch’ien / Modesty
- Yü / Enthusiasm
- Sui / Following
- Ku / Work on What Has Been Spoiled [Decay]
- Lin / Approach
- Kuan / Contemplation (View)
- Shih Ho / Biting Through
- Pi / Grace
- Po / Splitting Apart
- Fu / Return (The Turning Point)
- Wu Wang / Innocence (The Unexpected)
- Ta Ch’u / The Taming Power of the Great
- I / Corners of the Mouth (Providing Nourishment)
- Ta Kuo / Preponderance of the Great
- K’an / The Abysmal (Water)
- Li / The Clinging, Fire
- Hsien / Influence (Wooing)
- Hêng / Duration
- Tun / Retreat
- Ta Chuang / The Power of the Great
- Chin / Progress
- Ming I / Darkening of the Light
- Chia Jên / The Family [The Clan]
- K’uei / Opposition
- Chien / Obstruction
- Hsieh / Deliverance
- Sun / Decrease
- I / Increase
- Kuai / Break-through (Resoluteness)
- Kou / Coming to Meet
- Ts’ui / Gathering Together [Massing]
- Shêng / Pushing Upward
- K’un / Oppression (Exhaustion)
- Ching / The Well
- Ko / Revolution (Molting)
- Ting / The Cauldron
- Chên / The Arousing (Shock, Thunder)
- Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
- Chien / Development (Gradual Progress)
- Kuei Mei / The Marrying Maiden
- Fêng / Abundance [Fullness]
- Lü / The Wanderer
- Sun / The Gentle (The Penetrating, Wind)
- Tui / The Joyous, Lake
- Huan / Dispersion [Dissolution]
- Chieh / Limitation
- Chung Fu / Inner Truth
- Hsiao Kuo / Preponderance of the Small
- Chi Chi / After Completion
- Wei Chi / Before Completion
The oracle is consulted with the help of yarrow stalks. Fifty stalks are used for this purpose. One is put aside and plays no further part. The remaining 49 stalks are first divided into two heaps [at random]. Thereupon one stalk is taken from the right-hand heap and put between the ring finger and the little finger of the left hand. Then the left-hand heap is placed in the left hand, and the right hand takes from it bundles of 4, until there are 4 or fewer stalks remaining. This remainder is placed between the ring finger and the middle finger of the left hand. Next the right-hand heap is counted off by fours, and the remainder is placed between the middle finger and the fore-finger of the left hand. The sum of the stalks now between the fingers of the left hand is either 9 or 5. (The various possibilities are 1+4+4, or 1+3+1, or 1+2+2, or 1+1+3; it follows that the number 5 is easier to obtain than the number 9.) At this first counting off of the stalks, the first stalk held between the little finger and the ring finger is disregarded as super-numerary hence one reckons as follows: 9 = 8, or 5 = 4. The number 4 is regarded as a complete unit, to which the numerical value 3 is assigned. The number 8, on the other hand, is regarded as a double unit and is reckoned as having only the numerical value 2. Therefore, if at the first count 9 stalks are left over, they count as 2; if 5 are left, they count as 3. These stalks are now laid aside for the time being.
Then the remaining stalks are gathered together again and divided anew. Once more one takes a stalk from the pile on the right and places it between the ring finger and the little finger of the left hand; then one counts off the stalks as before. This time the sum of the remainders is either 8 or 4, the possible combinations being 1+4+3, or 1+3+4, or 1+1+2, or 1+2+1, so that this time the chances of obtaining 8 or 4 are equal. The 8 counts as 2, the 4 counts as 3.
The procedure is carried out a third time with the remaining stalks, and again the sum of the remainders is 8 or 4. Now, from the numerical values assigned to each of the three composite remainders, a line is formed.
If the sum is 5 (= 4, value 3) +4 (value 3) +4 (value 3), the resulting numerical value is 9, the so-called old yang. This becomes a positive line that moves and must therefore be taken into account in the interpretation of the individual lines. It is designated by the symbol ⊖ or o.
If the sum of the composite remainders is 9 (= 8, value 2) +8 (value 2) +8 (value 2), the final value is 6, the so-called old yin. This becomes a negative line that moves and is therefore to be taken into account in the interpretation of the individual lines. It is designated by the symbol — X — or X
If the sum is
| 9(2) +8(2) +4(5) |  |
||
| or | 5(3) +8(2) +8(2) | =7 | |
| or | 9(2) +4(3) +8(2) |
the value 7 results, the so-called young yang. This becomes a positive line that is at rest and therefore not taken into account in the interpretation of the individual Hues. It is designated by the symbol ━━━.
If the sum is
| 9(2) +4(3) +4(3) | |
||
| or | 5(3) +4(3) +8(2) | =8 | |
| or | 5(3) +8(2) +4(3) |
the value 8 results, the so-called young yin. This becomes a negative line that is at rest and therefore not taken into account in the interpretation of the individual lines. It is designated by the symbol ━ ━.
This procedure is repeated six times, and thus a hexagram of six stages is built up. When a hexagram consists entirely of nonmoving lines, the oracle takes into account only the idea represented by the hexagram as a whole, as set down in the Judgment by King Wên and in the Commentary on the Decision by Confucius, together with the Image.
If there are one or more moving lines in the hexagram thus obtained, the words appended by the Duke of Chou to the given line or lines are also to be considered. His words therefore carry the superscription, “Nine in the xth place,” or “Six in the xth place.”
Furthermore, the movement, i.e., change1 in the lines, gives rise to a new hexagram, the meaning of which must also be taken into account. For instance, when we get hexagram 56
showing a moving line in the fourth place
we must take into account not only the text2 and the Image belonging to this hexagram as a whole, but also the text that goes with the fourth line, and in addition both the text and the Image belonging to hexagram 52:
Thus hexagram 56 would be the starting point of a development leading, by reason of the situation of the nine in the fourth place and the appended counsel, to the final situation, i.e., hexagram 52.
In the second hexagram the text belonging to the moving line is disregarded.
In addition to the method of the yarrow-stalk oracle, there is in use a shorter method employing coins: for this as a rule old Chinese bronze coins, with a hole in the middle and an inscription on one side, are used. Three coins are taken up and thrown down together, and each throw gives a line. The inscribed side counts as yin, with the value 2, and the reverse side counts as yang, with the value 3. From this the character of the line is derived. If all three coins are yang, the line is a 9; if all three are yin, it is a 6.
Two yin and one yang yield a 7, and two yang and one yin yield an 8. In looking up the hexagrams in the Book of Changes, one proceeds as with the yarrow-stalk oracle.
There is yet another kind of coin oracle, employing, besides the hexagrams of the I Ching the “five stages of change,” the cyclic signs, etc. This oracle is used by Chinese soothsayers, but without the text of the hexagrams of the I Ching. It is said to be a perpetuation of the ancient tortoise oracle, which was consulted in antiquity in addition to the yarrow-stalk oracle. In the course of time it was gradually supplanted by the I Ching, in the more rational form imparted to it by Confucius.
ACCORDING TO THEIR FORM (for memorizing)
☰ the Creative has three whole lines.
☷ the Receptive has six half lines.
☳ the Arousing is like an open bowl.
☶ Keeping Still is like an inverted bowl.
☵ the Abysmal is full in the middle.
☲ the Clinging is empty in the middle.
☱ the Joyous has a gap at the top.
☴ the Gentle is divided at the bottom.
1. The House of the Creative
- THE CREATIVE is Heaven (1)
- Heaven with Wind is COMING TO MEET (44)
- Heaven with Mountain is RETREAT (33)
- Heaven with Earth is STANDSTILL (12)
- Wind with Earth is CONTEMPLATION (20)
- Mountain with Earth is SPLITTING APART (23)
- Fire with Earth is PROGRESS (35)
- Fire with Heaven is POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE (14)
2. The House of the Abysmal
- THE THE ABYSMAL is Water (29)
- Water with Lake is LIMITATION (60)
- Water with Thunder is DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING (3)
- Water with Fire is AFTER COMPLETION (63)
- Lake with Fire is REVOLUTION (49)
- Thunder with Fire is ABUNDANCE (55)
- Earth with Fire is DARKENING OF THE LIGHT (36)
- Earth with Water is THE ARMY (7)
3. The House of Keeping Still
- KEEPING STILL is Mountain (52)
- Mountain with Fire is GRACE (22)
- Mountain with Heaven is THE TAMING POWER OF THE GREAT (26)
- Mountain with Lake is DECREASE (41)
- Fire with Lake is OPPOSITION (38)
- Heaven with Lake is TREADING (10)
- Wind with Lake is INNER TRUTH (61)
- Wind with Mountain is DEVELOPMENT (53)
4. The House of the Arousing
- THE AROUSING is Thunder (51)
- Thunder with Earth is ENTHUSIASM (16)
- Thunder with Water is DELIVERANCE (40)
- Thunder with Wind is DURATION (32)
- Earth with Wind is PUSHING UPWARD (46)
- Water with Wind is THE WELL (48)
- Lake with Wind is PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT (28)
- Lake with Thunder is FOLLOWING (17)
5. The House of the Gentle
- THE GENTLE is Wind (57)
- Wind with Heaven is THE TAMING POWER OF THE SMALL (9)
- Wind with Fire is THE FAMILY (37)
- Wind with Thunder is INCREASE (42)
- Heaven with Thunder is INNOCENCE (25)
- Fire with Thunder is BITING THROUGH (21)
- Mountain with Thunder is THE CORNERS OF THE MOUTH (27)
- Mountain with Wind is WORK ON WHAT HAS BEEN SPOILED (18)
6. The House of the Clinging
- THE CLINGING is Fire (30)
- Fire with Mountain is THE WANDERER (56)
- Fire with Wind is THE CALDRON (50)
- Fire with Water is BEFORE COMPLETION (64)
- Mountain with Water is YOUTHFUL FOLLY (4)
- Wind with Water is DISPERSION (59)
- Heaven with Water is CONFLICT (6)
- Heaven with Fire is FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN (13)
7. The House of the Receptive
- THE RECEPTIVE is Earth (2)
- Earth with Thunder is RETURN (24)
- Earth with Lake is APPROACH (19)
- Earth with Heaven is PEACE (11)
- Thunder with Heaven is THE POWER OF THE GREAT (34)
- Lake with Heaven is BREAK-THROUGH (43)
- Water with Heaven is WAITING (5)
- Water with Earth is HOLDING TOGETHER (8)
8. The House of the Joyous
- THE JOYOUS is Lake (58)
- Lake with Water is OPPRESSION (47)
- Lake with Earth is GATHERING TOGETHER (45)
- Lake with Mountain is INFLUENCE (31)
- Water with Mountain is OBSTRUCTION (39)
- Earth with Mountain is MODESTY (15)
- Thunder with Mountain is PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL (62)
- Thunder with Lake is THE MARRYING MAIDEN (54)
Copyright © 1950 by BoUingen Foundation Inc., New York, N.Y.
- New material copyright © 1967 by BoUingen Foundation
- Copyright © renewed 1977 by Princeton University Press
- Published by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
THIS WORK IS THE NINETEENTH IN A SERIES OF BOOKS SPONSORED BY BOLLINGEN FOUNDATION
First Edition, in two volumes, 1950
Second Edition, in one volume, 1961
Third Edition, reset in new format, with a preface by Hellmut Wilhelm, and an index, 1967
nineteenth printing, 1983
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 67-24740
ISBN 0-691-09750-X
Designed by Bert Clarke
Printed in the U.S.A.
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Born 10 May 1873 Died 1 March 1930 (aged 56) Known for I Ching (Yi jing) translation Children Hellmut Wilhelm Scientific career Institutions |
Richard Wilhelm (10 May 1873 – 1 March 1930) was a German sinologist, theologian and missionary. He lived in China for 25 years, became fluent in spoken and written Chinese, and grew to love and admire the Chinese people. He is best remembered for his translations of philosophical works from Chinese into German that in turn have been translated into other major languages of the world, including English. His translation of the I Ching is still regarded as one of the finest, as is his translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower; both were provided with introductions by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, who was a personal friend.[1]
“Wilhelm was a truly religious spirit, with an unclouded and far-sighted view of things. He had the gift of being able to listen without bias to the revelations of a foreign mentality, and to accomplish that miracle of empathy which enabled him to make the intellectual treasures of China accessible to Europe… he could not help recognizing the logic and clarity of Chinese thought… it had overwhelmed him and assimilated him.” — C.G. Jung[2]
Lau Nui Suan introduced Wilhelm to Chinese yoga philosophy and the psychology of the I Ching.[2]
His son Hellmut Wilhelm was also a sinologist and was professor of Chinese at the University of Washington.
Wilhelm was a close friend of the renowned Chinese educator and diplomat Dr. Li Linsi.[3]
The Richard Wilhelm Translation Centre at Ruhr-Universität Bochum was founded in 1993 by Helmut Martin.[4]
References
- Richard Wilhelm at School of Wisdom
- Aniela Jaffé (1961) Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C.G. Jung, translated by Richard and Clara Winston, page 375
- Taylor, Wong. “Rediscovering a Chinese legend: The untold wartime tale of Dr Li Linsi”. China Daily.
- Busche, Christian; Schiller, Beate. “The Richard Wilhelm Translation Centre”. www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de.
Further reading
- Hentze, Carl (1930). “Richard Wilhelm”. Artibus Asiae (in French). 3 (4): 232–5.
- Pelliot, Paul (1930). “Nécrologie – Richard Wilhelm”. T’oung Pao (in French). 27 (2/3): 237–9.
- Lackner, Michael. “Richard Wilhelm, a ‘Sinicized’ German Translator.” (Archive) In: Alleton, Vivianne and Michael Lackner (editors). De l’un au multiple: traductions du chinois vers les langues européennes Translations from Chinese into European Languages. Éditions de la maison des sciences de l’homme (Les Editions de la MSH, FR), 1999, Paris. p. 86-97. ISBN 273510768X, 9782735107681.
External links
- Richard Wilhelm (sinologist) in the German National Library catalogue
- Das Buch der Wandlungen, German translation
- Laotse - Tao Te King, German translation
- I Ching Translated by Richard Wilhelm, English translation
- Laotse - Tao Te King, English translation
- Works by Richard Wilhelm at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Richard Wilhelm at the Internet Archive
- Works by Richard Wilhelm at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Newspaper clippings about Richard Wilhelm in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
The Hidden Bridge of the I Ching
Cary Fink Baynes was an American translator and cultural patron who became one of the most pivotal—yet least visible—figures in bringing Carl Jung’s psychology and Eastern wisdom to the English-speaking world.
Early Life and Jungian Connection
Born in 1883, Baynes traveled to Zurich with her husband Helton Godwin Baynes to study with Carl Jung. H.G. Baynes became one of Jung’s earliest and most prominent English-speaking disciples, and through this circle, Cary became deeply embedded in the early Jungian community.
The Monumental Translation
Baynes’s greatest achievement was translating Richard Wilhelm’s German version of the I Ching (Book of Changes) into English—a project she undertook entirely after Wilhelm’s death in 1930. Beginning in the early 1930s, she worked for nearly two decades without the ability to consult Wilhelm directly, collaborating closely with his son, Hellmut Wilhelm, a distinguished sinologist, to ensure scholarly accuracy.
Published in 1950 by the Bollingen Foundation, her translation became the definitive English edition for decades and remains in print today as the “Wilhelm/Baynes I Ching.” The volume featured a new foreword by Jung introducing his principle of synchronicity, making it a cornerstone of 20th-century thought. She was the first to bring a fully commented, scholarly version of the I Ching to the English-speaking world, making the text accessible to figures like Joseph Campbell and countless others in post-war intellectual and counter-cultural movements.
The Bollingen Foundation
Baynes was instrumental in founding and operating the Bollingen Foundation, serving as its secretary and de facto managing director. While the foundation was publicly associated with Paul and Mary Mellon, Baynes was its operational cornerstone—handling correspondence with Jung, deciding on projects, and managing the practicalities of publishing. The foundation funded publication of Jung’s Collected Works in English, the I Ching, the Eranos Yearbooks, and other key texts in mythology, religion, and symbolism.
Later Work and Legacy
In her later years, Baynes became the companion and literary executor for Jaime de Angulo, the pioneering linguist and ethnologist of California Native American tribes. She helped edit and posthumously publish his works, including the classic Indian Tales, preserving crucial anthropological records of California Indigenous cultures.
Baynes died in 1977 in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, leaving behind a legacy that is diffuse and foundational. Her impact is nearly impossible to measure directly because it is woven into the DNA of 20th-century psychology, comparative religion, and creative thought.
Why History Overlooked Her
Baynes’s relative obscurity stems from several factors:
- Behind-the-scenes role: She operated as a facilitator, translator, and organizer rather than a primary author or theorist.
- Privacy: She was known to be a very private person.
- Gender assumptions: In an era when scholarly authority was presumed male, her initials “C.F.” and her behind-the-scenes work allowed many to assume she was a man.
- Archival status: Much of her correspondence and papers are held in institutional archives (Jung archives in Switzerland, Bollingen records at the Library of Congress) that are not easily searchable online.
Further Reading
- Introductory material in later editions of the I Ching (Princeton/Bollingen paperback)
- Biographies of C.G. Jung (Deirdre Bair, Ronald Hayman) and Richard Wilhelm
- Philemon Foundation and Bollingen Foundation archives
- Scholarly articles on the history of the I Ching in the West
In summary: Cary F. Baynes was the vital conduit between worlds—translating the I Ching after its original translator had died, managing the foundation that spread Jung’s ideas, and preserving marginalized voices. She remains the essential, hidden bridge whose influence endures in modern psychology, spirituality, and cross-cultural thought.
Cary Baynes, born Cary Fink (1883–1977) was an American Jungian psychologist and translator.[1] She translated several works by Jung, as well as Richard Wilhelm’s version of the I Ching.
Life
Cary Fink was born on September 26, 1883, in Mexico City. She and her sister were brought up in their mother’s home in Louisville, Kentucky. She studied at Vassar College, where she was taught by Kristine Mann, and graduated in 1906.[1] She went on to study medicine at Johns Hopkins University, marrying her fellow medical student, the future anthropologist Jaime de Angulo, in 1910. She graduated in 1911, and the pair settled in Carmel, California, in 1913. In 1918 they had a daughter, Ximena. Cary objected to Jaime’s plans to home-school Ximena as eccentric and autocratic.[2] Since 1915 Jaime had also divided his attention between Cary and Lucy “Nancy” Freeland, spending summer 1920 living with Nancy.[3] In 1921, at Kristine Mann’s suggestion, Cary De Angulo moved to Zürich to study with Carl Jung, taking Ximena with her,[2] and living in a house on Lake Zurich with her sister Henri Zinno. She and Jaime De Angulo agreed to an amicable divorce.[4]
Though she never practiced analysis herself, Fink became a respected friend and collaborator with Jung. In 1924–25 she worked on a fresh transcription of Jung’s manuscript Liber Novus. Though she did not finish the transcription, she had ongoing discussions with Jung about its potential publication. She also transcribed and edited his 1925 seminar.[5] In 1925 she met Jung’s assistant Helton Godwin Baynes, known to friends as Peter, at the Jungian Conference at Swanage. They married in 1927, setting up home in Hemel Hempstead in England, though they moved to California in 1928.[4] The pair collaborated on translating Jung into English, and in 1929 Cary also undertook the translation of Richard Wilhelm’s translation of the I Ching.
In 1931 Cary Baynes divorced Peter, who had fallen in love with another woman in 1930.[4] Through the 1930s she continued her translation of the I Ching, and worked with Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn on her ‘Eranos Project’.[1] In 1938 she met Paul and Mary Mellon, founders of the Bollingen Foundation, introducing them to Olga Fröbe. The I Ching was eventually published in the Bollingen Series.[6]
In the 1950s Baynes, prompted by Olga Fröbe and Jung, began collaboration with Lucy Heyer on a biography of Jung. She considered basing her biography on Liber Novus, but to Jung’s disappointment withdrew from the project.[5]
Cary Baynes remained intellectually active up to her death in October[7] 1977. Her papers are held at the Wellcome Library.[1]
Works
- (tr. with H. G. Baynes) Contributions to Analytical Psychology by Carl Jung. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1928.
- (tr.) The Secret of the Golden Flower by Lü Dongbin. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1931. Translated from the German translation by Richard Wilhelm, with a European commentary by Carl Jung.
- (tr. with W. S. Dell) Modern Man in Search of a Soul by Carl Jung. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1933.
- (tr. with H. G. Baynes) Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1928.
- (tr.) The I Ching, or, Book of Changes. New York: Pantheon Books, 1950. The Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English. Foreword by Carl Jung.
- (tr.) Change: Eight Lectures on the I Ching by Hellmut Wilhelm. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1960.
References
- The archive of Cary Baynes, 1883-1977 .
- Andrew Schelling (2017). Tracks Along the Left Coast: Jaime de Angulo & Pacific Coast Culture. Counterpoint. pp. 163, 386. ISBN 978-1-61902-988-0.
- Robert Brightman (2004). “Jaime De Angulo and Alfred Kroeber: Bohemians and Bourgeois in Berkeley Anthropology”. In Richard Handler (ed.). Significant Others: Interpersonal and Professional Commitments in Anthropology. Univ of Wisconsin Press. pp. 159–. ISBN 978-0-299-19473-4.
- Diana Baynes Jansen (2003). Jung’s Apprentice: A Biography of Helton Godwin Baynes. Daimon. pp. 196–. ISBN 978-3-85630-626-7.
- C. G. Jung (2012). Liber Novus. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 64–, 92–. ISBN 978-0-393-08908-0.
- William McGuire (1989). Bollingen: An Adventure in Collecting the Past. Princeton University Press. pp. 54–. ISBN 0-691-01885-5.
- Cited in: “I Ching_ The Essential Translation of the - John Minford” Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
PART I — The Primal Sequence (Hexagrams 1–30)
Part I of the I Ching presents the first thirty hexagrams as a unified whole.
This section unfolds the fundamental principles of existence, beginning with the polar archetypes of Heaven and Earth and proceeding through the primary conditions, forces, and situations that give rise to the world of experience.The hexagrams in this first part describe states of being rather than specific events. They deal with origins, potentials, and foundational relationships—between strength and receptivity, movement and rest, light and dark, initiative and response.Taken together, these hexagrams form a cosmological groundwork. They outline the basic dynamics by which energy differentiates, organizes, and expresses itself in nature, society, and the inner life of the individual.For this reason, Part I is often read as a book of principles. Its images are elemental, its judgments archetypal, and its language concerned with enduring patterns rather than transient circumstances.The sequence culminates with Hexagram 30, Li / The Clinging, which marks the point at which clarity, consciousness, and differentiation have fully emerged—preparing the way for a shift from cosmic foundations to human relationships.
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1. Ch’ien / The Creative
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- The hexagram is consistently strong in character, and since it is without weakness, its essence is power or energy. Its image is heaven.
- Its energy is represented as unrestricted by any fixed conditions in space and is therefore conceived of as motion. Time is regarded as the basis of this motion.
- Thus the hexagram includes also the power of time and the power of persisting in time, that is, duration.
- In relation to the universe, the hexagram expresses the strong, creative action of the Deity.
- The German text reads “April-May”; this is obviously a slip, for the first month of the Chinese lunar year extends approximately from the beginning of February to the beginning of March.
- New Year is a variable date, falling around February 5. Two or three other slips of this sort occurring later in the book have been similarly corrected, but without special mention.
- In relation to the human world, it denotes the creative action of the holy man or sage, of the ruler or leader of men, who through his power awakens and develops their higher nature.1
- THE CREATIVE works sublime success,
- It occurs again and again as a key word in Wilhelm’s rendering of the Chinese text.
- To avoid extreme awkwardness, the phrase “is favorable” is occasionally used as an alternative.
- Furthering2 through perseverance.
- When an individual draws this oracle, it means that success will come to him from the primal depths of the universe and that everything depends upon his seeking his happiness and that of others in one way only, that is, by perseverance in what is right.
- The Chinese word here rendered by “sublime” means literally “head,” “origin,” “great.”
- This is why Confucius says in explaining it:
- It will be noted here, as well as in a number of other instances, that the wording of the passages is not identical in the two books.
“Great indeed is the generating power of the Creative; all beings owe their beginning to it. This power permeates all heaven.3 For this attribute inheres in the other three as well.”
- But the Creative furthermore has power to lend form to these archetypes of ideas.
- This is indicated in the word success, and the process is represented by an image from nature:
“The clouds pass and the rain does its work, and all individual beings flow into their forms.” 4
“Because he sees with great clarity and cause and effects, he completes the six steps at the right time and mounts toward heaven on them at the right time, as though on six dragons.”
- The six steps are the six different positions given in the hexagram, which are represented later by the dragon symbol.
- Here it is shown that the way to success lies in apprehending and giving actuality to the way of the universe [Tao], which, as a law running through end and beginning, brings about all phenomena in time.
- Thus each step attained forthwith becomes a preparation for the next. Time is no longer a hindrance but the means of making actual what is potential.
- "Furthering” (literally, “creating that which accords with the nature of a given being”) and
- “Persevering” (literally, “correct and firm”).
“The course of the Creative alters and shapes beings until each attains its true, specific nature, then it keeps them in conformity with the Great Harmony. Thus does it show itself to further through perseverance.”
“He towers high above the multitude of beings, and all lands are united in peace.”
- To sublimity, which, as the fundamental principle, embraces all the other attributes, it links love.
- However, neither “mores” nor any other available English word, such as “manners” or “customs,” conveys an adequate idea of what li stood for in ancient China, because none of them necessarily denotes anything more than behavior growing out of and regulated by tradition.
- The ideas for which li stands seem to have had their origin in a religious attitude to life and in ethical principles developing out of that attitude.
- On the religious side li meant the observance with true piety of the ritual through which the “will of heaven" was interpreted and made to prevail on earth.
- Li was the cornerstone upon which Confucius built in his effort to bring order out of chaos in his era (see The Sacred Books of the East, XXVII: The Li Ki.
- Obedience to the code of li was entirely self-imposed as regards the “superior man,” who in feudal times was always a man of rank.
- The conduct of the inferior man — the lower-class individual — was governed by law
- To the attribute success are linked the mores,5 which regulate and organize expressions of love and thereby make them successful.
- The attribute furthering is correlated with justice, which creates the conditions in which each receives that which accords with his being, that which is due him and which constitutes his happiness.
- The attribute perseverance is correlated with wisdom, which discerns the immutable laws of all that happens and can therefore bring about enduring conditions.
- It is a question whether the Chinese personified the Creative, as the Greeks conceived it in Zeus.
- The answer is that this problem is not the main one for the Chinese.
- The divine-creative principle is suprapersonal and makes itself perceptible only through its all-powerful activity.
- It has, to be sure, an external aspect, which is heaven, and heaven, like all that lives, has a spiritual consciousness, God, the Supreme Ruler.
- But all this is summed up as the Creative.
- In the course of time this combination of the two systems of thought opened the way for an increasingly intricate number symbolism.7
- The movement of heaven is full of power.
- Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.
- One complete revolution of heaven makes a day, and the repetition of the trigram means that each day is followed by another. This creates the idea of time.
- Since it is the same heaven moving with untiring power, there is also created the idea of duration both in and beyond time, a movement that never stops nor slackens, just as one day follows another in an unending course.
- This duration in time is the image of the power inherent in the Creative.
- He must make himself strong in every way, by consciously casting out all that is inferior and degrading.
- Thus he attains that tirelessness which depends upon consciously limiting the fields of his activity.
- If the person consulting the oracle draws a seven, this is important in relation to the structure of the hexagram as a whole, because it is a strong line, but inasmuch as it does not move [change] it has no meaning as an individual line.
- On the other hand, if the questioner draws a nine, the line is a moving one, and a special meaning is attached to it; this must be considered separately.
- The same principle applies in respect to all the other strong lines [and also as regards moving and nonmoving weak lines, i.e., sixes and eights].
- The two lowest lines in each hexagram stand for the earth, the two in the middle for the world of man, and the upper two for heaven.
- Further details as to the meaning of the nines and sixes are given in Appendix on p. XXX.
(I. On Consulting the Oracle – 1. THE YARROW-STALK ORACLE)
- Hidden dragon. Do not act.
- The dragon is a symbol of the electrically charged, dynamic, arousing force that manifests itself in the thunderstorm.
- In winter this energy withdraws into the earth; in the early summer it becomes active again, appearing in the sky as thunder and lightning.
- As a result the creative forces on earth begin to stir again.
- In terms of human affairs, this symbolizes a great man who is still unrecognized.
- Nonetheless he remains true to himself. He does not allow himself to be influenced by outward success or failure, but confident in his strength, he bides his time.
- Hence it is wise for the man who consults the oracle and draws this line to wait in the calm strength of patience. The time will fulfill itself.
- One need not fear lest strong will should not prevail; the main thing is not to expend one’s powers prematurely in an attempt to obtain by force something for which the time is not yet ripe.
- Dragon appearing in the field.
- It furthers one to see the great man.
- In terms of human affairs, this means that the great man makes his appearance in his chosen field of activity.
- As yet he has no commanding position but is still with his peers.
- Such a man is destined to gain great influence and to set the world in order. Therefore it is favorable to see him.
- All day long the superior man is creatively active.
- At nightfall his mind is still beset with cares.
- Danger. No blame.
- This distinction underlies the constant juxtaposition, to be observed throughout bks. I and III, of inner mental states and external actions or events, of subjective and objective experiences.
- From this also arise the frequent comparisons between ability and position, form and content, outer adornment and inner worth.
- There are all sorts of things to be done, and when others are at rest in the evening, plans and anxieties press in upon him.
- But danger lurks here at the place of transition from lowliness to the heights.
- Many a great man has been ruined because the masses flocked to him and swept him into their course. Ambition has destroyed his integrity.
- Wavering flight over the depths.
- No blame.
- He can soar to the heights and play an important part in the world, or
- He can withdraw into solitude and develop himself.
- He can go the way of the hero or that of the holy sage who seeks seclusion.
- Each one in this situation must make a free choice according to the inner law of his being.
- If the individual acts consistently and is true to himself, he will find the way that is appropriate for him.
- This way is right for him and without blame.
- Constituting rulers are marked by a square .
- For explanation of governing and constituting rulers, see Book II, page 364.
- Flying dragon in the heavens.
- It furthers one to see the great man.
- His influence spreads and becomes visible throughout the whole world.
- Everyone who sees him may count himself blessed.
“Things that accord in tone vibrate together. Things that have affinity in their inmost natures seek one another. Water flows to what is wet, fire turns to what is dry. Clouds (the breath of heaven) follow the dragon, wind (the breath of earth) follows the tiger. Thus the sage arises, and all creatures follow him with their eyes. What is born of heaven feels related to what is above. What is born of earth feels related to what is below. Each follows its kind.”
- Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.
- This line warns against titanic aspirations that exceed one’s power. A precipitous fall would follow.
- There appears a flight of dragons without heads.
- Good fortune.
- The strength of the Creative and the mildness of the Receptive unite.
- Strength is indicated by the flight of dragons, mildness by the fact that their heads are hidden.
- This means that mildness in action joined to strength of decision brings good fortune.
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2. K’un / The Receptive
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- The attribute of the hexagram is devotion; its image is the earth.
- It is the perfect complement of THE CREATIVE – the complement, not the opposite,1 for the Receptive does not combat the Creative but completes it.
- It represents nature in contrast to spirit, earth in contrast to heaven, space as against time, the female-maternal as against the male-paternal.
- However, as applied to human affairs, the principle of this complementary relationship is found not only in the relation between man and woman, but also in that between prince and minister and between father and son.
- Indeed, even in the individual this duality appears in the coexistence of the spiritual world and the world of the senses.
- In itself of course the Receptive is just as important as the Creative, but the attribute of devotion defines the place occupied by this primal power in relation to the Creative.
- For the Receptive must be activated and led by the Creative; then it is productive of good.
- Only when it abandons this position and tries to stand as an equal side by side with the Creative, does it become evil. The result then is opposition to and struggle against the Creative, which is productive of evil to both.
- THE RECEPTIVE brings about sublime success,
- Furthering through the perseverance of a mare.
- If the superior man undertakes something and tries to lead,
- He goes astray;
- But if he follows, he finds guidance.
- It is favorable to find friends in the west and south,
- To forego friends in the east and north.
- Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.
- Here, however, the perseverance is more closely defined: it is that of a mare.
- The Receptive connotes spatial reality in contrast to the spiritual potentiality of the Creative.
- The potential becomes real and the spiritual becomes spatial through a specifically qualifying definition.
- The horse belongs to earth just as the dragon belongs to heaven.
- Its tireless roaming over the plains is taken as a symbol of the vast expanse of the earth.
- This is the symbol chosen because the mare combines the strength and swiftness of the horse with the gentleness and devotion of the cow.
- Nature’s richness lies in its power to nourish all living things;
- Its greatness lies in its power to give them beauty and splendor.
- Thus it prospers all that lives.
- It is the Creative that begets things, but they are brought to birth by the Receptive.
- The person in question is not in an independent position, but is acting as an assistant.
- This means that he must achieve something. It is not his task to try to lead — that would only make him lose the way — but to let himself be led.
- If he knows how to meet fate with an attitude of acceptance, he is sure to find the right guidance.
- The superior man lets himself be guided; he does not go ahead blindly, but learns from the situation what is demanded of him and then follows this intimation from fate.
- The time of toil and effort is indicated by the west and the south, for west and south symbolize the place where the Receptive works for the Creative, as nature does in summer and autumn.
- If in that situation one does not mobilize all one’s powers, the work to be accomplished will not be done.
- Hence to find friends there means to find guidance.
- The east symbolizes the place where a man receives orders from his master, and the north the place where he reports on what he has done.
- At that time he must be alone and objective.
- In this sacred hour he must do without companions, so that the purity of the moment may not be spoiled by factional hates and favoritism.
- The earth’s condition is receptive devotion.
- Thus the superior man who has breadth of character
- Carries the outer world.
- In the hexagram of heaven the doubling of the trigram implies duration in time,
- But in the hexagram of earth the doubling connotes the solidity and extension in space by virtue of which the earth is able to carry and preserve all things that live and move upon it.
- In the same way the superior man gives to his character breadth, purity, and sustaining power, so that he is able both to support and to bear with people and things.
- When there is hoarfrost underfoot,
- Solid ice is not far off.
- When the first hoarfrost comes in the autumn, the power of darkness and cold is just at its beginning.
- After these first warnings, signs of death will gradually multiply, until, in obedience to immutable laws, stark winter with its ice is here.
- But in life precautions can be taken by heeding the first signs of decay and checking them in time.
- Straight, square, great.
- Without purpose,
- Yet nothing remains unfurthered.
- Thus squareness is a primary quality of the earth.
- On the other hand, movement in a straight line, as well as magnitude, is a primary quality of the Creative.
- But all square things have their origin in a straight line and in turn form solid bodies.
- The Receptive accommodates itself to the qualities of the Creative and makes them its own.
Thus a square develops out of a straight line and a cube out of a square. - This is compliance with the laws of the Creative; nothing is taken away, nothing added.
- Therefore the Receptive has no need of a special purpose of its own, nor of any effort; yet everything turns out as it should.
- It is calm and still: this is its foursquareness.
- It tolerates all creatures equally: this is its greatness.
- Therefore it attains what is right for all without artifice or special intentions.
- Man achieves the height of wisdom when all that he does is as self-evident as what nature does.
- Hidden lines.
- One is able to remain persevering.
- If by chance you are in the service of a king,
- Seek not works, but bring to completion.
- If conditions demand it, he can also enter public life, but that too he does with restraint.
- The wise man gladly leaves fame to others.
- He does not seek to have credited to himself things that stand accomplished, but hopes to release active forces;
- That is, he completes his works in such a manner that they may bear fruit for the future.
- A tied-up sack. No blame, no praise.
- The strictest reticence is indicated here.
- The time is dangerous, because any degree of prominence leads either to the enmity of irresistible antagonists if one challenges them or to misconceived recognition if one is complaisant.
- Therefore a man ought to maintain reserve, be it in solitude or in the turmoil of the world, for there too he can hide himself so well that no one knows him.
- A yellow lower garment brings supreme good fortune.
- The lower garment is inconspicuously decorated — the symbol of aristocratic reserve.
- When anyone is called upon to work in a prominent but not independent position, true success depends on the utmost discretion.
- A man’s genuineness and refinement should not reveal themselves directly; they should express themselves only indirectly as an effect from within.
- Dragons fight in the meadow.
- Their blood is black and yellow.
- If it attempts to maintain a position to which it is not entitled and to rule instead of serving, it draws down upon itself the anger of the strong.
- A struggle ensues in which it is overthrown, with injury, however, to both sides.
- The dragon, symbol of heaven, comes to fight the false dragon that symbolizes the inflation of the earth principle.
- Midnight blue is the color of heaven; yellow is the color of the earth.
- Therefore, when black and yellow blood flow, it is a sign that in this unnatural contest both primal powers suffer injury.3
- When all the lines are sixes, it means
- Lasting perseverance furthers.
- By holding fast to what is right, it gains the power of enduring.
- There is indeed no advance, but neither is there retrogression.
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3. Chun / Difficulty at the Beginning
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- The hexagram indicates the way in which heaven and earth bring forth individual beings.
- It is their first meeting, which is beset with difficulties.
- While the Abysmal sinks, the upward movement eventually passes beyond the danger.
- A thunderstorm brings release from tension, and all things breathe freely again.
- DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING works supreme success,
- Furthering through perseverance.
- Nothing should be undertaken.
- It furthers one to appoint helpers.
- But these difficulties arise from the very profusion of all that is struggling to attain form.
- Everything is in motion: therefore if one perseveres there is a prospect of great success, in spite of the existing danger.
- Hence he must hold back, because any premature move might bring disaster.
- Likewise, it is very important not to remain alone; in order to overcome the chaos he needs helpers.
- This is not to say, however, that he himself should look on passively at what is happening. He must lend his hand and participate with inspiration and guidance.
- Clouds and thunder:
- The image of DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING.
- Thus the superior man
- Brings order out of confusion.
- So too the superior man has to arrange and organize the inchoate profusion of such times of beginning, just as one sorts out silk threads from a knotted tangle and binds them into skeins.
- In order to find one’s place in the infinity of being, one must be able both to separate and to unite.
- Hesitation and hindrance.
- It furthers one to remain persevering.
- It furthers one to appoint helpers.
- However, nothing should put him off his course; he must persevere and constantly keep the goal in sight.
- It is important to seek out the right assistants, but he can find them only if he avoids arrogance and associates with his fellows in a spirit of humility.
- Only then will he attract those with whose help he can combat the difficulties.
- Difficulties pile up.
- Horse and wagon part.
- He is not a robber;
- He wants to woo when the time comes.
- The maiden is chaste,
- She does not pledge herself.
- Ten years–then she pledges herself.
- Suddenly there is a turn of affairs, as if someone were coming up with a horse and wagon and unhitching them.
- This event comes so unexpectedly that we assume the newcomer to be a robber.
- Gradually it becomes clear that he has no evil intentions but seeks to be friendly and to offer help.
- But this offer is not to be accepted, because it does not come from the right quarter.
- We must wait until the time is fulfilled; ten years is a fulfilled cycle of time. Then normal conditions return of themselves, and we can join forces with the friend intended for us.
- When in times of difficulty a hindrance is encountered and unexpected relief is offered from a source unrelated to us, we must be careful and not take upon ourselves any obligations entailed by such help; otherwise our freedom of decision is impaired.
- Difficulties pile up.
- Horse and wagon turn about.
- If the robber were not there,
- The wooer would come.
- The maiden is faithful, she does not pledge herself.
- Ten years–then she pledges herself.
- If we bide our time, things will quiet down again, and we shall attain what we have hoped for.1
- Whoever hunts deer without the forester
- Only loses his way in the forest.
- The superior man understands the signs of the time
- And prefers to desist.
- To go on brings humiliation.
- Fate cannot be duped; premature effort, without the necessary guidance, ends in failure and disgrace.
- Therefore the superior man, discerning the seeds of coming events, prefers to renounce a wish rather than to provoke failure and humiliation by trying to force its fulfillment.
- Horse and wagon part.
- Strive for union.
- To go brings good fortune.
- Everything acts to further.
- It must be seized. Neither false pride nor false reserve should deter us.
- Bringing oneself to take the first step, even when it involves a certain degree of self-abnegation, is a sign of inner clarity.
- To accept help in a difficult situation is not a disgrace. If the right helper is found, all goes well.
- Difficulties in blessing.
- A little perseverance brings good fortune.
- Great perseverance brings misfortune.
- Other people interpose and distort everything he does.
- He should then be cautious and proceed step by step.
- He must not try to force the consummation of a great undertaking, because success is possible only when general confidence already prevails.
- It is only through faithful and conscientious work, unobtrusively carried on, that the situation gradually clears up and the hindrance disappears.
- Horse and wagon part.
- Bloody tears flow.
- They get stuck and never find their way out; they fold their hands and give up the struggle.
- Such resignation is the saddest of all things.
“Bloody tears flow: one should not persist in this.”
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4. Mêng / Youthful Folly
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- The image of the upper trigram, Kên, is the mountain,
- That of the lower, K’an, is water;
- Keeping still is the attribute of the upper trigram; that of the lower is the abyss, danger.
- Stopping in perplexity on the brink of a dangerous abyss is a symbol of the folly of youth.
- Water is something that of necessity flows on.
- When the spring gushes forth, it does not know at first where it will go.
- But its steady flow fills up the deep place blocking its progress, and success is attained.
- YOUTHFUL FOLLY has success.
- It is not I who seek the young fool;
- The young fool seeks me.
- At the first oracle I inform him.
- If he asks two or three times, it is importunity.
- If he importunes, I give him no information.
- Perseverance furthers.
- This means, first of all, that the youth himself must be conscious of his lack of experience and must seek out the teacher.
- Without this modesty and this interest there is no guarantee that he has the necessary receptivity, which should express itself in respectful acceptance of the teacher.
- This is the reason why the teacher must wait to be sought out instead of offering himself.
- Only thus can the instruction take place at the right time and in the right way.
- If mistrustful or unintelligent questioning is kept up, it serves only to annoy the teacher.
- He does well to ignore it in silence, just as the oracle gives one answer only and refuses to be tempted by questions implying doubt.
- A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain:
- The image of YOUTH
- Thus the superior man fosters his character
- By thoroughness in all that he does.
- In the same way character is developed by thoroughness that skips nothing but, like water, gradually and steadily fills up all gaps and so flows onward.
- To make a fool develop
- It furthers one to apply discipline.
- The fetters should be removed.
- To go on in this way brings humiliation.
- It must be shown the seriousness of life.
- A certain measure of taking oneself in hand, brought about by strict discipline, is a good thing.
- He who plays with life never amounts to anything.
- However, discipline should not degenerate into drill. Continuous drill has a humiliating effect and cripples a man’s powers.
- To bear with fools in kindliness brings good fortune.
- To know how to take women
- Brings good fortune.
- The son is capable of taking charge of the household.
- He has the inner superiority and strength that enable him to tolerate with kindliness the shortcomings of human folly.
- The same attitude is owed to women as the weaker sex. One must understand them and give them recognition in a spirit of chivalrous consideration.
- Only this combination of inner strength with outer reserve enables one to take on the responsibility of directing a larger social body with real success.
- Take not a maiden who, when she sees a man of bronze,
- Loses possession of herself.
- Nothing furthers.
- He is like a girl throwing herself away when she meets a strong man.
- Such a servile approach should not be encouraged, because it is bad both for the youth and the teacher.
- A girl owes it to her dignity to wait until she is wooed.
- In both cases it is undignified to offer oneself, and no good comes of accepting such an offer.
- Entangled folly brings humiliation.
- The more obstinately it clings to such unreal fantasies, the more certainly will humiliation overtake it.
- Often the teacher, when confronted with such entangled folly, has no other course but to leave the fool to himself for a time, not sparing him the humiliation that results.
- This is frequently the only means of rescue.
- Childlike folly brings good fortune.
- In punishing folly
- It does not further one
- To commit transgressions.
- The only thing that furthers
- Is to prevent transgressions.
- This punishment is quite different from a preliminary shaking up.
- But the penalty should not be imposed in anger; it must be restricted to an objective guarding against unjustified excesses.
- Punishment is never an end in itself but serves merely to restore order.
- Governmental interference should always be merely preventive and should have as its sole aim the establishment of public security and peace.
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1
In the German translation, this secondary name does not appear in Book I. See Book III, 5. Hsü / Waiting (Nourishment).
5. Hsü / Waiting (Nourishment1)
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- This hexagram shows the clouds in the heavens, giving rain to refresh all that grows and to provide mankind with food and drink.
- The rain will come in its own time. We cannot make it come; we have to wait for it.
- The idea of waiting is further suggested by the attributes of the two trigrams — strength within, danger in front.2
- Whereas weakness in the face of danger grows agitated and has not the patience to wait.
- WAITING. If you are sincere,
- You have light and success.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- Such certainty alone gives that light which leads to success.
- This leads to the perseverance that brings good fortune and bestows power to cross the great water.
- Only a strong man can stand up to his fate, for his inner security enables him to endure to the end. This strength shows itself in uncompromising truthfulness [with himself].
- It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are, without any sort of self-deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events, by which the path to success may be recognized.
- For only the man who goes to meet his fate resolutely is equipped to deal with it adequately.
- Then he will be able to cross the great water — that is to say, he will be capable of making the necessary decision and of surmounting the danger.
- Clouds rise up to heaven:
- The image of WAITING.
- Thus the superior man eats and drinks,
- Is joyous and of good cheer.
- It is the same in life when destiny is at work. We should not worry and seek to shape the future by interfering in things before the time is ripe.
- We should quietly fortify the body with food and drink and the mind with gladness and good cheer.
- Fate comes when it will, and thus we are ready.
- Waiting in the meadow.
- It furthers one to abide in what endures.
- No blame.
- Conditions are still simple, yet there is a feeling of something impending.
- One must continue to lead a regular life as long as possible.
- Only in this way does one guard against a premature waste of strength, keep free of blame and error that would become a source of weakness later on.
- Waiting on the sand.
- There is some gossip.
- The end brings good fortune.
- General unrest can easily develop in such times, and we lay the blame on one another.
- He who stays calm will succeed in making things go well in the end.
- Slander will be silenced if we do not gratify it with injured retorts.
- Waiting in the mud
- Brings about the arrival of the enemy.
- Instead of having gathered strength to cross the stream at one try, one has made a premature start that has got him no farther than the muddy bank.
- Caution and a sense of the seriousness of the situation are all that can keep one from injury.
- Waiting in blood.
- Get out of the pit.
- There is no going forward or backward; we are cut off as if in a pit.
- Now we must simply stand fast and let fate take its course.
- This composure, which keeps us from aggravating the trouble by anything we might do, is the only way of getting out of the dangerous pit.
- Waiting at meat and drink.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- If we possess enough inner strength, we shall take advantage of these intervals to fortify ourselves for renewed struggle.
- We must know how to enjoy the moment without being deflected from the goal, for perseverance is needed to remain victorious.
- The height of wisdom is to allow people enough recreation to quicken pleasure in their work until the task is completed. Herein lies the secret of the whole hexagram.
- It differs from Chien, OBSTRUCfION (39), in the fact that in this instance, while waiting, we are sure of our cause and therefore do not lose the serenity born of inner cheerfulness.
- One falls into the pit.
- Three uninvited guests arrive.
- Honor them, and in the end there will be good fortune.
- But precisely in this extremity things take an unforeseen turn.
- Without a move on one’s own part, there is outside intervention.
- A person in this situation must keep his mind alert and not withdraw into himself with a sulky gesture of refusal, but must greet the new turn with respect.
- Thus he ultimately escapes the danger, and all goes well. Even happy turns of fortune often come in a form that at first seems strange to us.
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6. Sung / Conflict
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The lower trigram, water, in accordance with its nature, tends downward.
- Thus the two halves move away from each other, giving rise to the idea of conflict.
- Where cunning has force before it, there is conflict.
- A person of this character will certainly be quarrelsome.
- CONFLICT. You are sincere
- And are being obstructed.
- A cautious halt halfway brings good fortune.
- Going through to the end brings misfortune.
- It furthers one to see the great man.
- It does not further one to cross the great water.
- If one is not convinced of being in the right, opposition leads to craftiness or high-handed encroachment but not to open conflict.
- To carry on the conflict to the bitter end has evil effects even when one is in the right, because the enmity is then perpetuated.
- It is important to see the great man, that is, an impartial man whose authority is great enough to terminate the conflict amicably or assure a just decision.
- In times of strife, crossing the great water is to be avoided, that is, dangerous enterprises are not to be begun, because in order to be successful they require concerted unity of forces.
- Conflict within weakens the power to conquer danger without.
- Heaven and water go their opposite ways:
- The image of CONFLICT.
- Thus in all his transactions the superior man
- Carefully considers the beginning.
- To avoid it, therefore, everything must be taken carefully into consideration in the very beginning.
- If rights and duties are exactly defined, or if, in a group, the spiritual trends of the individuals harmonize, the cause of conflict is removed in advance.
- If one does not perpetuate the affair,
- There is a little gossip.
- In the end, good fortune comes.
- Especially when the adversary is stronger, it is not advisable to risk pushing the conflict to a decision.
- It may come to a slight dispute, but in the end all goes well.
- One cannot engage in conflict;
- One returns home, gives way.
- The people of his town,
- Three hundred households,
- Remain free of guilt.
- If, out of a false sense of honor, a man allowed himself to be tempted into an unequal conflict, he would be drawing down disaster upon himself.
- In such a case a wise and conciliatory attitude benefits the whole community, which will then not be drawn into the conflict.
- To nourish oneself on ancient virtue induces perseverance.
- Danger. In the end, good fortune comes.
- If by chance you are in the service of a king,
- Seek not works.
- Only that which has been honestly acquired through merit remains a permanent possession.
- It can happen that such a possession may be contested, but since it is really one’s own, one cannot be robbed of it.
- Whatever a man possesses through the strength of his own nature cannot be lost.
- It is enough if the work is done: let the honor go to the other.
- One cannot engage in conflict.
- One turns back and submits to fate,
- Changes one’s attitude,
- And finds peace in perseverance.
- Good fortune.
- In contrast to the situation of the nine in the second place, he is dealing with a weaker opponent and might therefore succeed.
- But he cannot carry on the fight, because, since right is not on his side, he cannot justify the conflict to his conscience.
- Therefore he turns back and accepts his fate.
- He changes his mind and finds lasting peace in being at one with eternal law. This brings good fortune.
- To contend before him
- Brings supreme good fortune.
- A dispute can be turned over to him with confidence. If one is in the right, one attains great good fortune.
- 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.
- He is granted a decoration, but his happiness does not last.
- He is attacked again and again, and the result is conflict without end.
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7. Shih / The Army
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- In the same way military strength is stored up in the mass of the people — invisible in times of peace but always ready for use as a source of power.
- This points to the nature of an army, which at the core is dangerous, while discipline and obedience must prevail outside.
- This line indicates a commander, because it stands in the middle of one of the two trigrams.
- But since it is in the lower rather than the upper trigram, it represents not the ruler but the efficient general, who maintains obedience in the army by his authority.
- THE ARMY. The army needs perseverance
- And a strong man.
- Good fortune without blame.
- Without strict discipline nothing can be accomplished, but this discipline must not be achieved by force.
- In order that he may develop his abilities he needs the complete confidence of his ruler, who must entrust him with full responsibility as long as the war lasts.
- Therefore it should not be resorted to rashly but, like a poisonous drug, should be used as a last recourse.
- Unless there is a quite definite war aim to which the people can consciously pledge themselves, the unity and strength of conviction that lead to victory will not be forthcoming.
- But the leader must also look to it that the passion of war and the delirium of victory do not give rise to unjust acts that will not meet with general approval.
- If justice and perseverance are the basis of action, all goes well.
- In the middle of the earth is water:
- The image of THE ARMY.
- Thus the superior man increases his masses
- By generosity toward the people.
- When danger threatens, every peasant becomes a soldier; when the war ends, he goes back to his plow.
- Such power must therefore be cultivated by improving the economic condition of the people and by humane government.
- Only when there is this invisible bond between government and people, so that the people are sheltered by their government as ground water is sheltered by the earth, is it possible to wage a victorious war.
- An army must set forth in proper order.
- If the order is not good, misfortune threatens.
- A just and valid cause must exist, and the obedience and coordination of the troops must be well organized, otherwise the result is inevitably failure.
- In the midst of the army.
- Good fortune. No blame.
- The king bestows a triple decoration.
- This alone makes him equal to the heavy demands made upon him.
- The decorations he receives are justified, because there is no question of personal preferment here: the whole army, whose center he is, is honored in his person.
- Perchance the army carries corpses in the wagon.
- Misfortune.
- One points to defeat because someone other than the chosen leader interferes with the command;
- The other is similar in its general meaning, but the expression, “carries corpses in the wagon,” is interpreted differently.
- On the basis of this custom the text is interpreted as meaning that a “corpse boy” is sitting in the wagon,
- Or, in other words, that authority is not being exercised by the proper leaders but has been usurped by others.
- The character fan, meaning “all,” may have been misread as shih, which means “corpse.”
- Allowing for this error, the meaning would be that if the multitude assumes leadership of the army (rides in the wagon), misfortune will ensue.
- The army retreats. No blame.
- It is by no means a sign of courage or strength to insist upon engaging in a hopeless struggle regardless of circumstances.
- There is game in the field.
- It furthers one to catch it.
- Without blame.
- Let the eldest lead the army.
- The younger transports corpses;
- Then perseverance brings misfortune.
- Energetic combat and punishment are here thoroughly justified, but they must not degenerate into a wild melee in which everyone fends for himself.
- Despite the greatest degree of perseverance and bravery, this would lead to misfortune.
- It is a matter of waging war, not of permitting the mob to slaughter all who fall into their hands;
- If they do, defeat will be the result, and despite all perseverance there is danger of misfortune.
- The great prince issues commands,
- Founds states, vests families with fiefs.
- Inferior people should not be employed.
- But it is important that inferior people should not come into power.
- If they have helped, let them be paid off with money, but they should not be awarded lands or the privileges of rulers, lest power be abused.
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8. Pi / Holding Together [Union]
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- Symbolically this connotes holding together and the laws that regulate it.
- The yielding lines hold together because they are influenced by a man of strong will in the leading position, a man who is their center of union.
- Moreover, this strong and guiding personality in turn holds together with the others, finding in them the complement of his own nature.
- HOLDING TOGETHER brings good fortune.
- Inquire of the oracle once again
- Whether you possess sublimity, constancy, and perseverance;
- Then there is no blame.
- Those who are uncertain gradually join.
- Whoever comes too late
- Meets with misfortune.
- But such holding together calls for a central figure around whom other persons may unite.
- It requires greatness of spirit, consistency, and strength.
- Therefore let him who wishes to gather others about him ask himself whether he is equal to the undertaking, for anyone attempting the task without a real calling for it only makes confusion worse than if no union at all had taken place.
- Late-comers must suffer the consequences, for in holding together the question of the right time is also important.
- Relationships are formed and firmly established according to definite inner laws.
- Common experiences strengthen these ties, and he who comes too late to share in these basic experiences must suffer for it if, as a straggler, he finds the door locked.
- On the earth is water:
- The image of HOLDING TOGETHER.
- Thus the kings of antiquity
- Bestowed the different states as fiefs
- And cultivated friendly relations
- With the feudal lords.
- The social organization of ancient China was based on this principle of the holding together of dependents and rulers.
- So too should human society hold together through a community of interests that allows each individual to feel himself a member of a whole.
- The central power of a social organization must see to it that every member finds that his true interest lies in holding together with it, as was the case in the paternal relationship between king and vassals in ancient China.
- Hold to him in truth and loyalty;
- This is without blame.
- Truth, like a full earthen bowl:
- Thus in the end
- Good fortune comes from without.
- This attitude, symbolized by a full earthen bowl, in which the content is everything and the empty form nothing, shows itself not in clever words but through the strength of what lies within the speaker.
- This strength is so great that it has power to attract good fortune to itself from without.
- Hold to him inwardly.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- But if a man seeks association with others as if he were an obsequious office hunter, he throws himself away.
- He does not follow the path of the superior man, who never loses his dignity.
- You hold together with the wrong people.
- In that case we must beware of being drawn into false intimacy through force of habit.
- Maintaining sociability without intimacy is the only right attitude toward such people, because otherwise we should not be free to enter into relationship with people of our own kind later on.
- Hold to him outwardly also.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Then we may, and indeed we should, show our attachment openly.
- But we must remain constant and not allow ourselves to be led astray.
- Manifestation of holding together.
- In the hunt the king uses beaters on three sides only
- And foregoes game that runs off in front.
- The citizens need no warning.
- Good fortune.
- If they failed to do this they had to pass through a gate behind which the king stood ready to shoot.
- Only animals that entered here were shot; those that ran off in front were permitted to escape.
- This custom accorded with a kingly attitude; the royal hunter did not wish to turn the chase into a slaughter, but held that the kill should consist only of those animals which had so to speak voluntarily exposed themselves.
- Those who come to him he accepts, those who do not come are allowed to go their own way.
- He invites none, flatters none — all come of their own free will.
- They do not have to be constantly on their guard but may express their opinions openly.
- Police measures are not necessary, and they cleave to their ruler of their own volition.
- We should not woo favor from people.
- If a man cultivates within himself the purity and the strength that are necessary for one who is the center of a fellowship, those who are meant for him come of their own accord.
- He finds no head for holding together.
- Misfortune.
- If we have missed the right moment for union and go on hesitating to give complete and full devotion, we shall regret the error when it is too late.
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9. Hsiao Ch’u / The Taming Power of the Small
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- A weak line in the fourth place, that of the minister,1 holds the five strong lines in check.
- The wind restrains the clouds, the rising breath of the Creative, and makes them grow dense, but as yet is not strong enough to turn them to rain.
- It is only through gentleness that this can have a successful outcome.
- THE TAMING POWER OF THE SMALL
- Has success.
- Dense clouds, no rain from our western region.
- The moment for action on a large scale had not yet arrived.
- King Wên could only keep the tyrant somewhat in check by friendly persuasion.
- Hence the image of many clouds, promising moisture and blessing to the land, although as yet no rain falls.
- Only through the small means of friendly persuasion can we exert any influence.
- The time has not yet come for sweeping measures.
- However, we may be able, to a limited extent, to act as a restraining and subduing influence.
- The wind drives across heaven:
- The image of THE TAMING POWER OF THE SMALL.
- Thus the superior man
- Refines the outward aspect of his nature.
- So also an individual, in times when he can produce no great effect in the outer world, can do nothing except refine the expression of his nature in small ways.
- Return to the way.
- How could there be blame in this?
- Good fortune.
- Therefore he returns to the way suited to his situation, where he is free to advance or to retreat.
- In the nature of things this will bring good fortune, for it is wise and reasonable not to try to obtain anything by force.
- He allows himself to be drawn into returning.
- Good fortune.
- In such a case, if the effort to push forward is not in harmony with the time,2 a reasonable and resolute man will not expose himself to a personal rebuff, but will retreat with others of like mind.
- This brings good fortune, because he does not needlessly jeopardize himself.
- The spokes burst out of the wagon wheels.
- Man and wife roll their eyes.
- But since, under the circumstances, power actually lies with the weak, this sudden offensive is doomed to failure.
- External conditions hinder the advance, just as loss of the wheel spokes stops the progress of a wagon.
- We do not yet heed this hint from fate, hence there are annoying arguments like those of a married couple.
- In consequence even the strong man cannot so use his power as to exert the right influence on those around him.
- He experiences a rebuff where he expected an easy victory, and he thus compromises his dignity.
- If you are sincere, blood vanishes and fear gives way.
- No blame.
- Therein lies a danger so great that the threat of actual bloodshed may arise.
- Nonetheless, the power of disinterested truth is greater than all these obstacles.
- It carries such weight that the end is achieved, and all danger of bloodshed and all fear disappear.
- If you are sincere and loyally attached,
- You are rich in your neighbor.
- In the weaker person loyalty consists in devotion, in the stronger it consists in trustworthiness.
- Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled.
- The rain comes, there is rest.
- This is due to the lasting effect of character.
- Perseverance brings the woman into danger.
- The moon is nearly full.
- If the superior man persists,
- Misfortune comes.
- This has come about through the accumulation of small effects produced by reverence for a superior character.
- The female principle, the weak element that has won the victory, should never persist in vaunting it — that would lead to danger.
- The dark power in the moon is strongest when the moon is almost full. When it is full and directly opposite the sun, its waning is inevitable.
- To advance any further, before the appropriate time has come, would lead to misfortune.
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10. Lü / Treading [Conduct]
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- Heaven, the father, is above, and the lake, the youngest daughter, is below.
- This shows the difference between high and low, upon which composure, correct social conduct, depends.
- The small and cheerful [Tui] treads upon the large and strong [Ch’ien].
- The direction of movement of the two primary trigrams is upward.
- For the weak to take a stand against the strong is not dangerous here, because it happens in good humor [Tui] and without presumption, so that the strong man is not irritated but takes it all in good part.
- TREADING. Treading upon the tail of the tiger.
- It does not bite the man. Success.
- The weak follows behind the strong and worries it.
- The strong, however, acquiesces and does not hurt the weak, because the contact is in good humor and harmless.
- In such a case one’s purpose will be achieved if one behaves with decorum.
- Pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people.
- Heaven above, the lake below:
- The image of TREADING.
- Thus the superior man discriminates between high and low,
- And thereby fortifies the thinking of the people.
- Among mankind also there are necessarily differences of elevation; it is impossible to bring about universal equality.
- If, on the other band, external differences in rank correspond with differences in inner worth, and if inner worth forms the criterion of external rank, people acquiesce and order reigns in society.
- Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
- If our conduct is simple, we remain free of them.
- We can quietly follow our predilections as long as we are content and make no demands on people.
- A man finds himself in an altogether inferior position at the start.
- However, he has the inner strength that guarantees progress.
- If he can be content with simplicity, he can make progress without blame.
- Once his purpose is achieved, he is certain to become arrogant and luxury-loving.
- Therefore blame attaches to his progress.
- He wishes to make progress in order to accomplish something.
- When he attains his goal, he does something worthwhile, and all is well.
- Treading a smooth, level course.
- The perseverance of a dark man.2
- Brings good fortune.
- He remains withdrawn from the bustle of life, seeks nothing, asks nothing of anyone, and is not dazzled by enticing goals.
- He is true to himself and travels through life unassailed, on a level road.
- Since he is content and does not challenge fate, he remains free of entanglements.
- A one-eyed man is able to see,
- A lame man is able to tread.
- He treads on the tail of the tiger.
- The tiger bites the man.
- Misfortune.
- Thus does a warrior act on behalf of his great prince.
- If in spite of such defects a man considers himself strong and consequently exposes himself to danger, he is inviting disaster, for he is undertaking something beyond his strength.
- This reckless way of plunging ahead, regardless of the adequacy of one’s powers, can be justified only in the case of a warrior battling for his prince.
- He treads on the tail of the tiger.
- Caution and circumspection
- Lead ultimately to good fortune.
- The inner power to carry it through is there, but this inner power is combined with hesitating caution in one’s external attitude.
- Here one is sure of ultimate success, which consists in achieving one’s purpose, that is, in overcoming danger by going forward.
- Resolute conduct.
- Perseverance with awareness of danger.
- But at the same time one must remain conscious of the danger connected with such resoluteness, especially if it is to be persevered in.
- Only awareness of the danger makes success possible.
- Look to your conduct and weigh the favorable signs.
- When everything is fulfilled, supreme good fortune comes.
- If the effects are good, then good fortune is certain. No one knows himself.
- It is only by the consequences of his actions, by the fruit of his labors, that a man can judge what he is to expect.
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11. T’ai / Peace
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- Hence their influences meet and are in harmony, so that all living things bloom and prosper.
- PEACE. The small departs,
- The great approaches.
- Good fortune. Success.
- Heaven has placed itself beneath the earth, and so their powers unite in deep harmony.
- Then peace and blessing descend upon all living things.
- Those in high places show favor to the lowly,
- And the lowly and inferior in their turn are well disposed toward the highly placed.
- There is an end to all feuds.
- Thus the light has a powerful influence, while the dark is submissive. In this way each receives its due.
- When the good elements of society occupy a central position and are in control, the evil elements come under their influence and change for the better.
- When the spirit of heaven rules in man, his animal nature also comes under its influence and takes its appropriate place.
- Here the small, weak, and evil elements are about to take their departure, while the great, strong, and good elements are moving up.
- This brings good fortune and success.
- Heaven and earth unite: the image of PEACE.
- Thus the ruler
- Divides and completes the course of heaven and earth;
- He furthers and regulates the gifts of heaven and earth,
- And so aids the people.
- This stream of energy must be regulated by the ruler of men.
- Thus men divide the uniform flow of time into the seasons, according to the succession of natural phenomena, and mark off infinite space by the points of the compass.
- In this way nature in its overwhelming profusion of phenomena is bounded and controlled.
- This is done by adjusting the products to the right time and the right place, which increases the natural yield.
- This controlling and furthering activity of man in his relation to nature is the work on nature that rewards him.
- When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it.
- Each according to his kind.
- Undertakings bring good fortune.
- In such times, when it is possible to extend influence widely, the mind of an able man is set upon going out into life and accomplishing something.
- Bearing with the uncultured in gentleness,
- Fording the river with resolution,
- Not neglecting what is distant,
- Not regarding one’s companions:
- Thus one may manage to walk in the middle.
- For in the hands of a great master no material is unproductive; he can find use for everything.
- But this generosity is by no means laxity or weakness.
- So too we must not neglect what is distant but must attend scrupulously to everything.
- Factionalism and the dominance of cliques are especially to be avoided.
- Even if people of like mind come forward together, they ought not to form a faction by holding together for mutual advantage; instead, each man should do his duty.
- And that is how one finds the middle way for action.
- No plain not followed by a slope.
- No going not followed by a return.
- He who remains persevering in danger
- Is without blame.
- Do not complain about this truth;
- Enjoy the good fortune you still possess.
- Evil can indeed be held in check but not permanently abolished. It always returns.
- If we continue mindful of the danger, we remain persevering and make no mistakes.
- As long as a man’s inner nature remains stronger and richer than anything offered by external fortune, as long as he remains inwardly superior to fate, fortune will not desert him.
- He flutters down, not boasting of his wealth,
- Together with his neighbor,
- Guileless and sincere.
- This is not due to the force of circumstances but corresponds with their inmost sentiment.
- The approach is made quite spontaneously, because it is based on inner conviction.
- The sovereign I
- Gives his daughter in marriage.
- This brings blessing
- And supreme good fortune.
- By his decree the imperial princesses, although higher in rank than their husbands, had to obey them like all other wives.
- Here too we are shown a truly modest union of high and low that brings happiness and blessings.
- The wall falls back into the moat.
- Use no army now.
- Make your commands known within your own town.
- Perseverance brings humiliation.
- The wall of the town sinks back into the moat from which it was dug. The hour of doom is at hand.
- When matters have come to this pass, we should submit to fate and not try to stave it off by violent resistance.
- Should we persevere in trying to resist the evil in the usual way, our collapse would only be more complete, and humiliation would be the result.
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12. P’i / Standstill [Stagnation]
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- Heaven is above, drawing farther and farther away, while the earth below sinks farther into the depths.
- This hexagram is linked with the seventh month (August-September), when the year has passed its zenith and autumnal decay is setting in.
- STANDSTILL. Evil people do not further
- The perseverance of the superior man.
- The great departs; the small approaches.
- The dark power is within, the light power is without.
- Weakness is within, harshness without.
- Within are the inferior, and without are the superior.
- The way of inferior people is in ascent; the way of superior people is on the decline.
- If the possibility of exerting influence is closed to them, they nevertheless remain faithful to their principles and withdraw into seclusion.
- Heaven and earth do not unite:
- The image of STANDSTILL.
- Thus the superior man falls back upon his inner worth
- In order to escape the difficulties.
- He does not permit himself to be honored with revenue.
- Therefore the superior man knows what he must do under such circumstances; he does not allow himself to be tempted by dazzling offers to take part in public activities.
- This would only expose him to danger, since he cannot assent to the meanness of the others.
- He therefore hides his worth and withdraws into seclusion.
- When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it.
- Each according to his kind.
- Perseverance brings good fortune and success.
- In the latter a man is drawing another along with him on the road to an official career;
- Here a man is drawing another with him into retirement from public life.
- This is why the text says here, “Perseverance brings good fortune and success,” and not “Undertakings bring good fortune.”
- Success in a higher sense can be ours, because we know how to safeguard the value of our personalities.
- They bear and endure;
- This means good fortune for inferior people.
- The standstill serves to help the great man to attain success.
- They would also endure the superior man if he would put an end to their confusion.
- This is fortunate for them. But the great man calmly bears the consequences of the standstill.
- He does not mingle with the crowd of the inferior; that is not his place.
- By his willingness to suffer personally he insures the success of his fundamental principles.
- They bear shame.
- In their hearts they begin to be ashamed, although at first they do not show it outwardly.
- This marks a turn for the better.
- He who acts at the command of the highest
- Remains without blame.
- Those of like mind partake of the blessing.
- Whoever wishes to restore order must feel himself called to the task and have the necessary authority.
- But the man who is truly called to the task is favored by the conditions of the time, and all those of like mind will share in his blessing.
- Standstill is giving way.
- Good fortune for the great man.
- “What if it should fail, what if it should fail?”
- In this way he ties it to a cluster of mulberry shoots.
- But such periods of transition are the very times in which we must fear and tremble.
- When a mulberry bush is cut down, a number of unusually strong shoots sprout from the roots.
- Hence the image of tying something to a cluster of mulberry shoots is used to symbolize the way of making success certain.
“Danger arises when a man feels secure in his position. Destruction threatens when a man seeks to preserve his worldly estate. Confusion develops when a man has put everything in order. Therefore the superior man does not forget danger in his security, nor ruin when he is well established, nor confusion when his affairs are in order. In this way he gains personal safety and is able to protect the empire.”
- The standstill comes to an end.
- First standstill, then good fortune.
- This is the difference between a state of peace and a state of stagnation.
- Continuous effort is necessary to maintain peace: left to itself it would change into stagnation and disintegration.
- This shows the creative attitude that man must take if the world is to be put in order.
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13. Tung Jên / Fellowship with Men
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- It is the nature of fire to flame up to heaven. This gives the idea of fellowship.
- It is the second line that, by virtue of its central character, unites the five strong lines around it.
- In the latter, danger is within and obedience without — the character of a warlike army, which, in order to hold together, needs one strong man among the many who are weak.
- Here, clarity is within and strength without — the character of a peaceful union of men, which, in order to hold together, needs one yielding nature among many firm persons.
- FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN in the open.
- Success.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- The perseverance of the superior man furthers.
- It is not the private interests of the individual that create lasting fellowship among men, but rather the goals of humanity.
- That is why it is said that fellowship with men in the open succeeds.
- But in order to bring about this sort of fellowship, a persevering and enlightened leader is needed — a man with clear, convincing, and inspiring aims and the strength to carry them out. (The inner trigram means clarity; the outer, strength.)
- Heaven together with fire:
- The image of FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN.
- Thus the superior man organizes the clans
- And makes distinctions between things.
- Just as the luminaries in the sky serve for the systematic division and arrangement of time, so human society and all things that really belong together must be organically arranged.
- If fellowship is to lead to order, there must be organization within diversity.
- Fellowship with men at the gate.
- No blame.
- All are equally close to one another. No divergent aims have yet arisen, and one makes no mistakes.
- The basic principles of any kind of union must be equally accessible to all concerned.
- Secret agreements bring misfortune.
- Fellowship with men in the clan.
- Humiliation.
- Such factions, which are exclusive and, instead of welcoming all men, must condemn one group in order to unite the others, originate from low motives and therefore lead in the course of time to humiliation.
- He hides weapons in the thicket;
- He climbs the high hill in front of it.
- For three years he does not rise up.
- Each man distrusts the other, plans a secret ambush, and seeks to spy on his fellow from afar.
- We are dealing with an obstinate opponent whom we cannot come at by this method.
- One has mental reservations for one’s own part and seeks to take his opponent by surprise.
- This very fact makes one mistrustful, suspecting the same wiles in his opponent and trying to ferret them out.
- The result is that one departs further and further from true fellowship.
- The longer this goes on, the more alienated one becomes.
- He climbs up on his wall; he cannot attack.
- Good fortune.
- It is true that there are still dividing walls on which we stand confronting one another.
- But the difficulties are too great.
- We get into straits, and this brings us to our senses.
- We cannot fight, and therein lies our good fortune.
- Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament,
- But afterward they laugh.
- After great struggles they succeed in meeting.
- Many difficulties and obstructions arise between them and cause them grief.
- But, remaining true to each other, they allow nothing to separate them, and although it costs them a severe struggle to overcome the obstacles, they will succeed.
- When they come together their sadness will change to joy.
- Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings.
- Now the course is checked, now it runs straight again.
- Here winged thoughts may pour freely forth in words,
- There the heavy burden of knowledge must be shut away in silence.
- But when two people are at one in their inmost hearts,
- They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze.
- And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,
- Their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.
- Fellowship with men in the meadow.
- No remorse.
- We are by this time actually outside of fellowship with others. However, we ally ourselves with them.
- The fellowship does not include all, but only those who happen to dwell near one another.
- At this stage, the ultimate goal of the union of mankind has not yet been attained, but we need not reproach ourselves.
- We join the community without separate aims of our own.
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14. Ta Yu / Posession in Great Measure
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- The weak fifth line occupies the place of honor, and all the strong lines are in accord with it.
- POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE.
- Supreme success.
- Possession in great measure is determined by fate and accords with the time.
- It is done by virtue of unselfish modesty.
- The reason is that in the eighth hexagram the men held together by the powerful ruler are only simple subordinate persons, while here those who stand as helpers at the side of the mild ruler are strong and able individuals.
- Power is expressing itself in a graceful and controlled way. This brings supreme success and wealth.2
- Fire in heaven above:
- The image of POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE.
- Thus the superior man curbs evil and furthers good,
- And thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven.
- But a possession of this sort must be administered properly.
- Man must combat and curb the evil, and must favor and promote the good.
- Only in this way does he fulfill the benevolent will of God, who desires only good and not evil.
- No relationship with what is harmful;
- There is no blame in this.
- If one remains conscious of difficulty,
- One remains without blame.
- Yet there are many difficulties to be overcome.
- It is only by remaining conscious of these difficulties that one can keep inwardly free of possible arrogance and wastefulness, and thus in principle overcome all cause for blame.
- A big wagon for loading.
- One may undertake something.
- No blame.
- The big wagon, which will carry a heavy load and in which one can journey far, means that there are at hand able helpers who give their support and are equal to their task.
- One can load great responsibility upon such persons, and this is necessary in important undertakings.
- A prince offers it to the Son of Heaven.
- A petty man cannot do this.
- In so doing, he takes the right attitude toward his possession, which as private property can never endure.
“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it”
[Luke 17:33].
- A petty man is incapable of this. He is harmed by great possessions, because instead of sacrificing them, he would keep them for himself.3
- He makes a difference
- Between himself and his neighbor.
- No blame.
- It is a dangerous position. He must look neither to the right nor to the left, and must shun envy and the temptation to vie with others.
No blame.
This would mean that the individual avoids mistakes because he possesses as if he possessed nothing.
- In this way he remains free of mistakes.4
- He whose truth is accessible, yet dignified,
- Has good fortune.
- However, benevolence alone is not sufficient at the time of POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE.
- For insolence might begin to spread. Insolence must be kept in bounds by dignity; then good fortune is assured.
- He is blessed by heaven.
- Good fortune.
- Nothing that does not further.
- By this means one puts oneself under the beneficent influence descending from heaven, and all goes well.
“To bless means to help. Heaven helps the man who is devoted; men help the man who is true. He who walks in truth and is devoted in his thinking, and furthermore reveres the worthy, is blessed by heaven. He has good fortune, and there is nothing that would not further.”
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15. Ch’ien / Modesty
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- The mountain is the youngest son of the Creative, the representative of heaven on earth.
- It dispenses the blessings of heaven, the clouds and rain that gather round its summit, and thereafter shines forth radiant with heavenly light.
- This shows what modesty is and how it functions in great and strong men.
- Lowliness is a quality of the earth: this is the very reason why it appears in this hexagram as exalted, by being placed above the mountain.
- This shows how modesty functions in lowly, simple people: they are lifted up by it.
- MODESTY creates success.
- The superior man carries things through.
- When the sun is at its zenith, it must, according to the law of heaven, turn toward its setting, and at its nadir it rises toward a new dawn.
- In obedience to the same law, the moon when it is full begins to wane, and when empty of light it waxes again.
- This heavenly law works itself out in the fates of men also.
- High mountains are worn down by the waters, and the valleys are filled up.
- It is the law of fate to undermine what is full and to prosper the modest.
- And men also hate fullness and love the modest.
- But man has it in his power to shape his fate, according as his behavior exposes him to the influence of benevolent or of destructive forces.
- When a man holds a high position and is nevertheless modest, he shines with the light of wisdom;
- If he is in a lowly position and is modest, he cannot be passed by.
- Thus the superior man can carry out his work to the end without boasting of what he has achieved.
- Within the earth, a mountain:
- The image of MODESTY.
- Thus the superior man reduces that which is too much,
- And augments that which is too little.
- He weighs things and makes them equal.
- Thus high and low complement each other, and the result is the plain.
- Here an effect that it took a long time to achieve, but that in the end seems easy of accomplishment and self-evident, is used as the image of modesty.
- “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” [Matt. 23:12];
- “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain” [Isa. 40:4];
- “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” [Jas. 4:6].
- The concept of the Last Judgment in the Parsee religion shows similar features.
- The superior man does the same thing when he establishes order in the world; he equalizes the extremes that are the source of social discontent and thereby creates just and equable conditions.1
- A superior man modest about his modesty
- May cross the great water.
- Good fortune.
- On the other hand, the task is easy if it is attended to quickly and simply.
- Therefore the unassuming attitude of mind that goes with modesty fits a man to accomplish even difficult undertakings: he imposes no demands or stipulations but settles matters easily and quickly.
- Where no claims are put forward, no resistances arise.
- Modesty that comes to expression.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- For the possibility of exerting a lasting influence arises of itself, and no one can interfere.
- A superior man of modesty and merit
- Carries things to conclusion.
- Good fortune.
- A distinguished name is readily earned by great achievements.
- If a man allows himself to be dazzled by fame, he will soon be criticized, and difficulties will arise.
- If, on the contrary, he remains modest despite his merit, he makes himself beloved and wins the support necessary for carrying his work through to the end.
- Nothing that would not further modesty
- In movement.
- Here, however, it is appropriate, because the place between a worthy helper below and a kindly ruler above carries great responsibility.
- There are officials who indeed do not strive for prominence; they hide behind the letter of the ordinances, decline all responsibility, accept pay without giving its equivalent in work, and bear empty titles.
- In such a position, modesty is shown by interest in one’s work.
- No boasting of wealth before one’s neighbor.
- It is favorable to attack with force.
- Nothing that would not further.
- When a man holds a responsible position, he must at times resort to energetic measures.
- In doing so he must not try to make an impression by boasting of his superiority but must make certain of the people around him.
- Thus modesty manifests itself even in severity.
- Modesty that comes to expression.
- It is favorable to set armies marching
- To chastise one’s own city and one’s country.
- He must proceed with great energy in this.
- A weak man takes offense perhaps, and draws back, feeling self-pity; he thinks that it is modesty that keeps him from defending himself.
This shows how great a value Chinese wisdom places on this virtue.
- Only through having the courage to marshal one’s armies against oneself, will something forceful really be achieved.2
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16. Yü / Enthusiasm
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- The attribute of the upper trigram, Chên, is movement;
- The attributes of K’un, the lower, are obedience and devotion.
- Of great importance, furthermore, is the law of movement along the line of least resistance, which in this hexagram is enunciated as the law for natural events and for human life.
- ENTHUSIASM. It furthers one to install helpers
- And to set armies marching.
- Hence he finds universal and willing obedience.
- The inviolability of natural laws rests on this principle of movement along the line of least resistance.
- These laws are not forces external to things but represent the harmony of movement immanent in them.
- It is the same with human society: only such laws as are rooted in popular sentiment can be enforced, while laws violating this sentiment merely arouse resentment.
- It is enthusiasm too that can unify mass movements, as in war, so that they achieve victory.
- Thunder comes resounding out of the earth:
- The image of ENTHUSIASM.
- Thus the ancient kings made music
- In order to honor merit,
- And offered it with splendor
- To the Supreme Deity,
- Inviting their ancestors to be present.
- Joy and relief make themselves felt.
- The enthusiasm of the heart expresses itself involuntarily in a burst of song, in dance and rhythmic movement of the body.
- From immemorial times the inspiring effect of the invisible sound that moves all hearts, and draws them together, has mystified mankind.
- Music was looked upon as something serious and holy, designed to purify the feelings of men.
- It fell to music to glorify the virtues of heroes and thus to construct a bridge to the world of the unseen.
- In the temple men drew near to God with music and pantomimes (out of this later the theater developed).
- The ancestors were invited to these divine services as guests of the Ruler of Heaven and as representatives of humanity in the higher regions.
- This uniting of the human past with the Divinity in solemn moments of religious inspiration established the bond between God and man.
- The ruler who revered the Divinity in revering his ancestors became thereby the Son of Heaven, in whom the heavenly and the earthly world met in mystical contact.
“He who could wholly comprehend this sacrifice could rule the world as though it were spinning on his hand.”
- Enthusiasm that expresses itself
- Brings misfortune.
- This arrogance inevitably invites misfortune.
- It is justified only when it is a general feeling that unites one with others.
- Firm as a rock. Not a whole day.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- While others are letting themselves be dazzled by enthusiasm, he recognizes with perfect clarity the first signs of the time.
- Thus he neither flatters those above nor neglects those beneath him; he is as firm as a rock.
- Perseverance in such conduct will bring good fortune.
“To know the seeds, that is divine indeed. In his association with those above him, the superior man does not flatter. In his association with those beneath him, he is not arrogant. For he knows the seeds. The seeds are the first imperceptible beginning of movement, the first trace of good fortune (or misfortune) that shows itself. The superior man perceives the seeds and immediately takes action. He does not wait even a whole day. In the Book of Changes it is said: “Firm as a rock. Not a whole day. Perseverance brings good fortune.”
Firm as a rock, what need of a whole day?
The judgment can be known.
The superior man knows what is hidden and what is evident.
He knows weakness, he knows strength as well.
Hence the myriads look up to him.
- Enthusiasm that looks upward creates remorse.
- Hesitation brings remorse.
- If a man hesitates too long, this also will bring remorse.
- The right moment for approach must be seized: only then will he do the right thing.
- The source of enthusiasm.
- He achieves great things.
- Doubt not.
- You gather friends around you
- As a hair clasp gathers the hair.
- He attracts people because he has no doubts and is wholly sincere.
- Owing to his confidence in them he wins their enthusiastic cooperation and attains success.
- Just as a clasp draws the hair together and holds it, so he draws men together by the support he gives them.
- Persistently ill, and still does not die.
- However, this pressure has its advantage — it prevents him from consuming his powers in empty enthusiasm.
- Thus constant pressure can actually serve to keep one alive.
- Deluded enthusiasm.
- But if after completion one changes,
- There is no blame.
- But if this delusion has run its course, and he is still capable of changing, he is freed of error.
- A sober awakening from false enthusiasm is quite possible and very favorable.
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17. Sui / Following
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Chên, the Arousing, which has the attribute of movement, is below.
- Joy in movement induces following.
- An older man defers to a young girl and shows her consideration.
- By this he moves her to follow him.
- FOLLOWING has supreme success.
- Perseverance furthers. No blame.
- If he has to obtain a following by force or cunning, by conspiracy or by creating factions, he invariably arouses resistance, which obstructs willing adherence.
- But even joyous movement can lead to evil consequences, hence the added stipulation, “Perseverance furthers” — that is, consistency in doing right— together with “No blame.”
- The thought of obtaining a following through adaptation to the demands of the time is a great and significant idea; this is why the appended judgment is so favorable.
- Thunder in the middle of the lake:
- The image of FOLLOWING.
- Thus the superior man at nightfall
- Goes indoors for rest and recuperation.
- Here it is the thunder in the middle of the lake that serves as the image — thunder in its winter rest, not thunder in motion.
- Thunder in the middle of the lake indicates times of darkness and rest.
- Similarly, a superior man, after being tirelessly active all day, allows himself rest and recuperation at night.
- The standard is changing.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- To go out of the door in company
- Produces deeds.
- It is implicit in the idea of following and adaptation that if one wants to lead others, one must remain accessible and responsive to the views of those under him.
- At the same time, however, he must have firm principles, so that he does not vacillate where there is only a question of current opinion.
- Instead, we must go out and mingle freely with all sorts of people, friends or foes.
- That is the only way to achieve something.
- If one clings to the little boy,
- One loses the strong man.
- He surrounds himself either with good or with bad company; he cannot have both at once.
- If he throws himself away on unworthy friends he loses connection with people of intellectual power who could further him in the good.
- If one clings to the strong man,
- One loses the little boy.
- Through following one finds what one seeks.
- It furthers one to remain persevering
- A man must part company with the inferior and superficial.
- But in his heart he will feel satisfied, because he will find what he seeks and needs for the development of his personality.
- The important thing is to remain firm. He must know what he wants and not be led astray by momentary inclinations.
- Following creates success.
- Perseverance brings misfortune.
- To go one’s way with sincerity brings clarity.
- How could there be blame in this?
- But the people who attach themselves to him are not honest in their intentions.
- They seek personal advantage and try to make themselves indispensable through flattery and subservience.
- If one becomes accustomed to such satellites and cannot do without them, it brings misfortune.
- Sincere in the good. Good fortune.
- He who follows with conviction the beautiful and the good may feel himself strengthened by this saying.
- He meets with firm allegiance
- And is still further bound.
- The king introduces him
- To the Western Mountain.
- But a follower appears who understands him and is not to be put off.
- So the sage comes back into the world and aids the other in his work.
- Thus there develops an eternal tie between the two.
- The rulers of this dynasty honored men who had served them well by awarding them a place in the royal family’s temple of ancestors on the Western Mountain.
- In this way they were regarded as sharing in the destiny of the ruling family.
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18. Ku / Work on What Has Been Spoiled [Decay]
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- It has come about because the gentle indifference of the lower trigram has come together with the rigid inertia of the upper, and the result is stagnation.
- Since this implies guilt, the conditions embody a demand for removal of the cause.
- Hence the meaning of the hexagram is not simply “what has been spoiled” but “work on what has been spoiled.”
- WORK ON WHAT HAS BEEN SPOILED
- Has supreme success.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- Before the starting point, three days.
- After the starting point, three days.
- It is not immutable fate, as in the time of STANDSTILL, that has caused the state of corruption, but rather the abuse of human freedom.
- Work toward improving conditions promises well, because it accords with the possibilities of the time.
- We must not recoil from work and danger — symbolized by crossing of the great water — but must take hold energetically.
- Success depends, however, on proper deliberation. This is expressed by the lines, “Before the starting point, three days. After the starting point, three days.”
- Then we must see to it that the new way is safely entered upon, so that a relapse may be avoided; therefore we must pay attention to the time after the start.
- Decisiveness and energy must take the place of the inertia and indifference that have led to decay, in order that the ending may be followed by a new beginning.
- The wind blows low on the mountain:
- The image of DECAY.
- Thus the superior man stirs up the people
- And strengthens their spirit.
- It is the same with debasing attitudes and fashions; they corrupt human society.
- His methods likewise must be derived from the two trigrams, but in such a way that their effects unfold in orderly sequence.
- The superior man must first remove stagnation by stirring up public opinion, as the wind stirs everything, and must then strengthen and tranquillize the character of the people, as the mountain gives tranquility and nourishment to all that grows in its vicinity.
- Setting right what has been spoiled by the father.
- If there is a son,
- No blame rests upon the departed father.
- Danger. In the end good fortune.
- But the decay has not yet penetrated deeply and so can still be easily remedied.
- It is as if a son were compensating for the decay his father allowed to creep in.
- Then no blame attaches to the father.
- Only if one is conscious of the danger connected with every reform will everything go well in the end.
- Setting right what has been spoiled by the mother.
- One must not be too persevering.
- In setting things right in such a case, a certain gentle consideration is called for. In order not to wound, one should not attempt to proceed too drastically.
- Setting right what has been spoiled by the father.
- There will be a little remorse. No great blame.
- Now and then, as a result, minor discords and annoyances will surely develop. But too much energy is better than too little.
- Therefore, although he may at times have some slight cause for regret, he remains free of any serious blame.
- Tolerating what has been spoiled by the father.
- In continuing one sees humiliation.
- It is allowed to run its course.
- If this continues, humiliation will result.
- Setting right what has been spoiled by the father.
- One meets with praise.
- He lacks the power to ward it off alone, but with able helpers he can at least bring about a thorough reform, if he cannot create a new beginning, and this also is praiseworthy.
- He does not serve kings and princes,
- Sets himself higher goals.
- There are some who are developed to such a degree that they are justified in letting the world go its own way and in refusing to enter public life with a view to reforming it.
- Such withdrawal is justified only when we strive to realize in ourselves the higher aims of mankind.
- For although the sage remains distant from the turmoil of daily life, he creates incomparable human values for the future.1
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19. Lin / Approach
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- What becomes great are the two strong lines growing into the hexagram from below; the light-giving power expands with them.
- The meaning is then further extended to include the concept of approach, especially the approach of what is strong and highly placed in relation to what is lower.
- Finally the meaning includes the attitude of condescension of a man in high position toward the people, and in general the setting to work on affairs.
- APPROACH has supreme success.
- Perseverance furthers.
- When the eighth month comes,
- There will be misfortune.
- Spring is approaching. Joy and forbearance bring high and low nearer together. Success is certain.
- But we must work with determination and perseverance to make full use of the propitiousness of the time.
- In the eighth month the aspects are reversed.
- Then only two strong, light lines are left; these do not advance but are in retreat (see next hexagram).
- If we meet evil before it becomes reality — before it has even begun to stir — we can master it.
- The earth above the lake:
- The image of APPROACH.
- Thus the superior man is inexhaustible
- In his will to teach,
- And without limits
- In his tolerance and protection of the people.
- This symbolizes the approach and condescension of the man of higher position to those beneath him.
- Just as the lake is inexhaustible in depth, so the sage is inexhaustible in his readiness to teach mankind, and just as the earth is boundlessly wide, sustaining and caring for all creatures on it, so the sage sustains and cares for all people and excludes no part of humanity.
- Joint approach.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- This in turn is an incentive to men of ability.
- It is well to join this upward trend, but we must not let ourselves be carried away by the current of the time; we must adhere perseveringly to what is right.
- This brings good fortune.
- Joint approach.
- Good fortune.
- Everything furthers.
- Nor need the future cause any concern.
- Everything serves to further. Therefore he will travel the paths oflife swiftly, honestly, and valiantly.
- Comfortable approach.
- Nothing that would further.
- If one is induced to grieve over it,
- One becomes free of blame.
- But in this lies the danger that he may relax, and confident of his position, allow the easygoing, careless mood to show itself in his dealings with other people.
- This would inevitably be harmful.
- If he regrets his mistaken attitude and feels the responsibility of an influential position, he frees himself of faults.
- Complete approach.
- No blame.
- Here is shown the open-minded approach of a person of high rank to a man of ability whom he draws into his own circle, regardless of class prejudice.
- This is very favorable.
- Wise approach.
- This is right for a great prince.
- Good fortune.
- His wisdom consists both in selecting the right people and in allowing those chosen to have a free hand without interference from him.
- For only through such self-restraint will he find the experts needed to satisfy all of his requirements.
- Greathearted approach.
- Good fortune. No blame.
- This means great good fortune for the men whom he teaches and helps.
- And for him this greathearted humbling of himself is blameless.
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20. Kuan / Contemplation (View)
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- It means both contemplating and being seen, in the sense of being an example.
- These ideas are suggested by the fact that the hexagram can be understood as picturing a type of tower characteristic of ancient China.
- Thus the hexagram shows a ruler who contemplates the law of heaven above him and the ways of the people below, and who, by means of good government, sets a lofty example to the masses.
- The light-giving power retreats and the dark power is again on the increase.
- However, this aspect is not material in the interpretation of the hexagram as a whole.
- CONTEMPLATION. The ablution has been made,
- But not yet the offering.
- Full of trust they look up to him.
- The moment of time between these two ceremonies is the most sacred of all, the moment of deepest inner concentration.
- If piety is sincere and expressive of real faith, the contemplation of it has a transforming and awe-inspiring effect on those who witness it.
- Thus also in nature a holy seriousness is to be seen in the fact that natural occurrences are uniformly subject to law.
- This requires that power of inner concentration which religious contemplation develops in great men strong in faith.
- It enables them to apprehend the mysterious and divine laws of life, and by means of profoundest inner concentration they give expression to these laws in their own persons.
- Thus a hidden spiritual power emanates from them, influencing and dominating others without their being aware of how it happens.
- The wind blows over the earth:
- The image of CONTEMPLATION.
- Thus the kings of old visited the regions of the world,
- Contemplated the people,
- And gave them instruction.
- These two occurrences find confirmation in the hexagram.
- In making regular journeys the ruler could, in the first place, survey his realm and make certain that none of the existing usages of the people escaped notice;
- In the second, he could exert influence through which such customs as were unsuitable could be changed.
- On the one hand, such a man will have a view of the real sentiments of the great mass of humanity and therefore cannot be deceived;
- On the other, he will impress the people so profoundly, by his mere existence and by the impact of his personality, that they will be swayed by him as the grass by the wind.
- Boylike contemplation.
- For an inferior man, no blame.
- For a superior man, humiliation.
- This matters little in the case of the masses, for they benefit by the actions of the ruling sage whether they understand them or not.
- But for a superior man it is a disgrace.
- He must not content himself with a shallow, thoughtless view of prevailing forces; he must contemplate them as a connected whole and try to understand them.
- Contemplation through the crack of the door.
- Furthering for the perseverance of a woman.
- Contemplation is subjectively limited.
- One tends to relate everything to oneself and cannot put oneself in another’s place and understand his motives.
- This is appropriate for a good housewife. It is not necessary for her to be conversant with the affairs of the world.
- But for a man who must take active part in public life, such a narrow, egotistic way of contemplating things is of course harmful.
- Contemplation of my life
- Decides the choice
- Between advance and retreat.
- We no longer look outward to receive pictures that are more or less limited and confused, but direct our contemplation upon ourselves in order to find a guideline for our decisions.
- This self-contemplation means the overcoming of naive egotism in the person who sees everything solely from his own standpoint.
- However, self-knowledge does not mean preoccupation with one’s own thoughts; rather, it means concern about the effects one creates.
- It is only the effects our lives produce that give us the right to judge whether what we have done means progress or regression.
- Contemplation of the light of the kingdom.
- It furthers one to exert influence as the guest of a king.
- Such a man must be given an authoritative position, in which he can exert influence.
- He should be, so to speak, a guest — that is, he should be honored and allowed to act independently, and should not be used as a tool.
- Contemplation of my life.
- The superior man is without blame.
- The right sort of self-examination, however, consists not in idle brooding over oneself but in examining the effects one produces.
- Only when these effects are good, and when one’s influence on others is good, will the contemplation of one’s own life bring the satisfaction of knowing oneself to be free of mistakes.
- Contemplation of his life.
- The superior man is without blame.
- The picture is that of a sage who stands outside the affairs of the world.
- Liberated from his ego, he contemplates the laws of life and so realizes that knowing how to become free of blame is the highest good.
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21. Shih Ho / Biting Through
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- The persons represented by the first and the top line suffer punishment,
- The others inflict it.
- (see the corresponding lines in hexagram 4, Mêng, YOUTHFUL FOLLY)
- To bring them together one must bite energetically through the obstacle.
- Energetic biting through overcomes the obstacle that prevents joining of the lips;
- The storm with its thunder and lightning overcomes the disturbing tension in nature.
- Recourse to law and penalties overcomes the disturbances of harmonious social life caused by criminals and slanderers.
- BITING THROUGH has success.
- It is favorable to let justice be administered.
- Whenever unity cannot be established, the obstruction is due to a talebearer and traitor who is interfering and blocking the way.
- To prevent permanent injury, vigorous measures must be taken at once. Deliberate obstruction of this sort does not vanish of its own accord.
- Judgment and punishment are required to deter or obviate it.
- The hexagram combines Li, clarity, and Chên, excitement. Li is yielding, Chên is hard.
- Unqualified hardness and excitement would be too violent in meting out punishment;
- Unqualified clarity and gentleness would be too weak.
- The two together create the just measure.
- Thunder and lightning:
- The image of BITING THROUGH.
- Thus the kings of former times made firm the laws
- Through clearly defined penalties.
- This is symbolized by the clarity of lightning.
- This is symbolized by the terror of thunder.
- The only way to strengthen the law is to make it clear and to make penalties certain and swift.
- His feet are fastened in the stocks,
- So that his toes disappear.
- No blame.
- Only the toes are put in the stocks.
- This prevents him from sinning further and thus he becomes free of blame.
- It is a warning to halt in time on the path of evil.
- Bites through tender meat,
- So that his nose disappears.
- No blame.
- But one encounters a hardened sinner, and, aroused by anger, one goes a little too far.
- The disappearance of the nose in the course of the bite signifies that indignation blots out finer sensibility.
- However, there is no great harm in this, because the penalty as such is just.
- Bites on old dried meat
- And strikes on something poisonous.
- Slight humiliation. No blame.
- Therefore the culprits do not submit.
- This old meat is spoiled: by taking up the problem the punisher arouses poisonous hatred against himself, and in this way is put in a somewhat humiliating position.
- But since punishment was required by the time, he remains free of blame.
- Bites on dried gristly meat.
- Receives metal arrows.
- It furthers one to be mindful of difficulties
- And to be persevering.
- Good fortune.
- Though this is arduous, the effort succeeds.
- But it is necessary to be hard as metal and straight as an arrow to surmount the difficulties.
- If one knows these difficulties and remains persevering, he attains good fortune.
- The difficult task is achieved in the end.
- Bites on dried lean meat.
- Receives yellow gold.
- Perseveringly aware of danger.
- No blame.
- Since we naturally incline to leniency, we must make every effort to be like yellow gold — that is, as true as gold and as impartial as yellow, the color of the middle [the mean].
- It is only by remaining conscious of the dangers growing out of the responsibility we have assumed that we can avoid making mistakes.
- His neck is fastened in the wooden cangue,
- So that his ears disappear.
- Misfortune.
- His punishment is the wooden cangue, and his ears disappear under it — that is to say, he is deaf to warnings.
- In this interpretation the hexagram symbolizes a market below, full of movement, while the sun is shining in the sky above.
- The allusion to meat suggests that it is a food market. Gold and arrows are articles of trade.
- The idea of poison points to the dangers of wealth, and so on throughout.
“The inferior man is not ashamed of unkindness and does not shrink from injustice. If no advantage beckons he makes no effort. If he is not intimidated he does not improve himself, but if he is made to behave correctly in small matters he is careful in large ones. This is fortunate for the inferior man.”
“If good does not accumulate, it is not enough to make a name for a man. If evil does not accumulate, it is not strong enough to destroy a man. Therefore the inferior man thinks to himself, ‘Goodness in small things has no value,’ and so neglects it. He thinks, ‘Small sins do no harm,’ and so does not give them up. Thus his sins accumulate until they can no longer be covered up, and his guilt becomes so great that it can no longer be wiped out.”
- This obstinacy leads to misfortune.2
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22. Pi / Grace
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- Grace — beauty of form — is necessary in any union if it is to be well ordered and pleasing rather than disordered and chaotic.
- GRACE has success.
- In small matters
- It is favorable to undertake something.
- In the lower trigram of fire a yielding line comes between two strong lines and makes them beautiful, but the strong lines are the essential content and the weak line is the beautifying form.
- In the upper trigram of the mountain, the strong line takes the lead, so that here again the strong element must be regarded as the decisive factor.
- But this strong, essential thing is changed and given pleasing variety by the moon and the stars.
- By contemplating the forms existing in the heavens we come to understand time and its changing demands.
- This is the tranquillity of pure contemplation.
- In this aspect the world is beautiful and removed from the struggle for existence.
- This is the world of art.
- It will awaken again, and then all the beauty of form will appear to have been only a brief moment of exaltation.
- Hence this is still not the true way of redemption.
- For this reason Confucius felt very uncomfortable when once, on consulting the oracle, he obtained the hexagram of GRACE.
- Through contemplation of the forms existing in human society it becomes possible to shape the world.1
- Fire at the foot of the mountain:
- The image of GRACE.
- Thus does the superior man proceed
- When clearing up current affairs.
- But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.
- In the same way, beautiful form suffices to brighten and to throw light upon matters of lesser moment, but important questions cannot be decided in this way. They require greater earnestness.
- He lends grace to his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks.
- There might be an opportunity of surreptitiously easing the way — symbolized by the carriage — but a self-contained man scorns help gained in a dubious fashion.
- He thinks it more graceful to go on foot than to drive in a carriage under false pretenses.
- Lends grace to the beard on his chin.
- The image therefore means that form is to be considered only as a result and attribute of content.
- To devote care to it for its own sake, without regard for the inner content of which it is an ornament, would bespeak a certain vanity.
- Graceful and moist.
- Constant perseverance brings good fortune.
- One is under the spell of grace and the mellow mood induced by wine.
- This grace can adorn, but it can also swamp us.
- Hence the warning not to sink into convivial indolence but to remain constant in perseverance. Good fortune depends on this.
- Grace or simplicity?
- A white horse comes as if on wings.
- He is not a robber,
- He will woo at the right time.
- The doubt itself implies the answer.
- The white color indicates simplicity.
- At first it may be disappointing to renounce comforts that might have been obtained, yet one finds peace of mind in a true relationship with the friend who courts him.
- The winged horse is the symbol of the thoughts that transcend all limits of space and time.
- Grace in hills and gardens.
- The roll of silk is meager and small.
- Humiliation, but in the end good fortune.
- There he finds an individual to look up to, whom he would like to have as a friend.
- But the gifts he has to offer are poor and few, so that he feels ashamed.
- However, it is not the material gifts that count, but sincerity of feeling, and so all goes well in the end.
- Simple grace. No blame.
- Form no longer conceals content but brings out its value to the full.
- Perfect grace consists not in exterior ornamentation of the substance, but in the simple fitness of its form.
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23. Po / Splitting Apart
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- The inferior, dark forces overcome what is superior and strong, not by direct means, but by undermining it gradually and imperceptibly, so that it finally collapses.
- The lines of the hexagram present the image of a house, the top line being the roof, and because the roof is being shattered the house collapses.
- The yin power pushes up ever more powerfully and is about to supplant the yang power altogether.
- SPLITTING APART. It does not further one
- To go anywhere.
- Under these circumstances, which are due to the time, it is not favorable for the superior man to undertake anything.
- The lower trigram stands for the earth, whose attributes are docility and devotion.
- The upper trigram stands for the mountain, whose attribute is stillness.
- For it is a question not of man’s doing but of time conditions, which, according to the laws of heaven, show an alternation of increase and decrease, fullness and emptiness.
- It is impossible to counteract these conditions of the time.
- Hence it is not cowardice but wisdom to submit and avoid action.
- The mountain rests on the earth:
- The image of SPLITTING APART.
- Thus those above can ensure their position
- Only by giving generously to those below.
- When it is steep and narrow, lacking a broad base, it must topple over.
- Its position is strong only when it rises out of the earth broad and great, not proud and steep.
- They too should be generous and benevolent, like the earth that carries all.
- Then they will make their position as secure as a mountain is in its tranquility.
- The leg of the bed is split.
- Those who persevere are destroyed.
- Misfortune.
- Those followers of the ruler who remain loyal are destroyed by slander and intrigue.
- The situation bodes disaster, yet there is nothing to do but wait.
- The bed is split at the edge.
- Those who persevere are destroyed.
- Misfortune.
- The danger draws close to one’s person; already there are clear indications, and rest is disturbed.
- Extreme caution is necessary in this isolation. One must adjust to the time and promptly avoid the danger.
- Stubborn perseverance in maintaining one’s standpoint would lead to downfall.
- He splits with them. No blame.
- But he has an inner relationship with a superior man, and through this he attains the stability to free himself from the way of the inferior people around him.
- This brings him into opposition to them of course, but that is not wrong.
- The bed is split up to the skin.
- Misfortune.
- No warning or other comment is added.
- Misfortune has reached its peak: it can no longer be warded off.
- A shoal of fishes. Favor comes through the court ladies.
- Everything acts to further.
- It no longer opposes the strong principle by means of intrigues but submits to its guidance.
- Indeed, as the head of the other weak lines, it leads all of these to the strong line, just as a princess leads her maids-in-waiting like a shoal of fishes to her husband and thus gains his favor.
- Inasmuch as the lower element thus voluntarily places itself under the higher, it attains happiness and the higher also receives its due. Therefore all goes well.
- There is a large fruit still uneaten.
- The superior man receives a carriage.
- The house of the inferior man is split apart.
- When misfortune has spent itself, better times return.
- The seed of the good remains, and it is just when the fruit falls to the ground that good sprouts anew from its seed.
- He is supported by public opinion as if in a carriage.
- But the inferior man’s wickedness is visited upon himself.
- His house is split apart.
- Evil is not destructive to the good alone but inevitably destroys itself as well.
- For evil, which lives solely by negation, cannot continue to exist on its own strength alone.
- The inferior man himself fares best when held under control by a superior man.
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24. Fu / Return (The Turning Point)
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- The time of darkness is past.
- The winter solstice brings the victory of light.
- This hexagram is linked with the eleventh month, the month of the solstice (December-January).
- RETURN. Success.
- Going out and coming in without error.
- Friends come without blame.
- To and fro goes the way.
- On the seventh day comes return.
- It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
- The powerful light that has been banished returns.
- There is movement, but it is not brought about by force.
- For this reason the transformation of the old becomes easy.
- The old is discarded and the new is introduced.
- Both measures accord with the time; therefore no harm results.
- But since these groups come together in full public knowledge and are in harmony with the time, all selfish separatist tendencies are excluded, and no mistake is made.
- The movement is cyclic, and the course completes itself.
- Therefore it is not necessary to hasten anything artificially.
- Everything comes of itself at the appointed time.
- This is the meaning of heaven and earth.
- Thus the winter solstice, with which the decline of the year begins, comes in the seventh month after the summer solstice;
- So too sunrise comes in the seventh double hour after sunset.
- In this way the state of rest gives place to movement.
- Thunder within the earth:
- The image of THE TURNING POINT.
- Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes
- At the time of solstice.
- Merchants and strangers did not go about,
- And the ruler
- Did not travel through the provinces.
- In winter the life energy, symbolized by thunder, the Arousing, is still underground.
- Movement is just at its beginning; therefore it must be strengthened by rest, so that it will not be dissipated by being used prematurely.
- The return of health after illness, the return of understanding after an estrangement: everything must be treated tenderly and with care at the beginning, so that the return may lead to a flowering.
- Return from a short distance.
- No need for remorse.
- Great good fortune.
- This is especially important in the development of character; every faintly evil thought must be put aside immediately, before it goes too far and takes root in the mind.
- Then there is no cause for remorse, and all goes well.
- Quiet return. Good fortune.
- It is made easier if a man is in good company.
- If he can bring himself to put aside pride and follow the example of good men, good fortune results.
- Repeated return. Danger. No blame.
- There is danger in continually deserting the good because of uncontrolled desires, then turning back to it again because of a better resolution.
- However, since this does not lead to habituation in evil, a general inclination to overcome the defect is not wholly excluded.
- Walking in the midst of others,
- One returns alone.
- Although nothing is said of reward and punishment, this return is certainly favorable, for such a resolve to choose the good brings its own reward.
- Noblehearted return. No remorse.
- And if he has done something wrong he should make a noblehearted resolve to confess his fault.
- No one will regret having taken this road.
- Missing the return. Misfortune.
- Misfortune from within and without.
- If armies are set marching in this way,
- One will in the end suffer a great defeat,
- Disastrous for the ruler of the country.
- For ten years
- It will not be possible to attack again.
- The misfortune has its inner cause in a wrong attitude toward the world.
- The misfortune coming upon him from without results from this wrong attitude.
- What is pictured here is blind obstinacy and the judgment that is visited upon it.
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25. Wu Wang / Innocence (The Unexpected)
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- The lower trigram Chên is under the influence of the strong line it has received from above, from heaven.
- His mind is natural and true, unshadowed by reflection or ulterior designs.
- For wherever conscious purpose is to be seen, there the truth and innocence of nature have been lost.
- Starting out with the idea of the natural, the train of thought in part goes somewhat further and thus the hexagram includes also the idea of the unintentional or unexpected.
- INNOCENCE. Supreme success.
- Perseverance furthers.
- If someone is not as he should be,
- He has misfortune,
- And it does not further him
- To undertake anything.
- By devotion to this divine spirit within himself, he attains an unsullied innocence that leads him to do right with instinctive sureness and without any ulterior thought of reward and personal advantage.
- This instinctive certainty brings about supreme success and “furthers through perseverance.”
- Without this quality of rightness, an unreflecting, instinctive way of acting brings only misfortune.
“He who departs from innocence, what does he come to?
Heaven’s will and blessing do not go with his deeds.”
- Under heaven thunder rolls:
- All things attain the natural state of innocence.
- Thus the kings of old,
- Rich in virtue, and in harmony with the time,
- Fostered and nourished all beings.
- Innocent behavior brings good fortune.
- If one does not count on the harvest while plowing,
- Nor on the use of the ground while clearing it,
- It furthers one to undertake something.
- Then each task turns out well, and anything we undertake succeeds.
- Undeserved misfortune.
- The cow that was tethered by someone
- Is the wanderer’s gain, the citizen’s loss.
- His gain is the owner’s loss.
- In all transactions, no matter how innocent, we must accommodate ourselves to the demands of the time, otherwise unexpected misfortune overtakes us.
- He who can be persevering
- Remains without blame.
- Therefore we need have no anxiety.
- All that need concern us is that we should remain true to our own natures and not listen to others.
- Use no medicine in an illness
- Incurred through no fault of your own.
- It will pass of itself.
- If it does not originate in one’s own nature or have a foothold there, one should not resort to external means to eradicate it, but should quietly let nature take its course. Then improvement will come of itself.
- Innocent action brings misfortune.
- Nothing furthers.
- If one acts thoughtlessly and tries to push ahead in opposition to fate, success will not be achieved.
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26. Ta Ch’u / The Taming Power of the Great
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- There one weak line must tame five strong lines, but here four strong lines are restrained by two weak lines;
- In addition to a minister, there is a prince, and the restraining power therefore is far stronger.
- Heaven within the mountain gives the idea of holding firm in the sense of holding together;
- The trigram Kên, which holds the trigram Ch’ien still, gives the idea of holding firm in the sense of holding back;
- The third idea is that of holding firm in the sense of caring for and nourishing.
- The third of these meanings also attaches specifically to this strong line at the top, which represents the sage.
- THE TAMING POWER OF THE GREAT.
- Perseverance furthers.
- Not eating at home brings good fortune.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- The trigram Ch’ien points to strong creative power; Kên indicates firmness and truth.
- Both point to light and clarity and to the daily renewal of character.
- Only through such daily self-renewal can a man continue at the height of his powers.
- However, since the worthy are honored, as in the case of the strong personality entrusted with leadership by the ruler, it is an advantage not to eat at home but rather to earn one’s bread by entering upon public office.
- Such a man is in harmony with heaven; therefore even great and difficult undertakings, such as crossing the great water, succeed.
- Heaven within the mountain:
- The image of THE TAMING POWER OF THE GREAT.
- Thus the superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity
- And many deeds of the past,
- In order to strengthen his character thereby.
- In the words and deeds of the past there lies hidden a treasure that men may use to strengthen and elevate their own characters.
- The way to study the past is not to confine oneself to mere knowledge of history but, through application of this knowledge, to give actuality to the past.
- Danger is at hand. It furthers one to desist.
- He sees himself held back firmly.
- If he should attempt to force an advance, it would lead him into misfortune.
- Therefore it is better for him to compose himself and to wait until an outlet is offered for release of his stored-up energies
- The axletrees are taken from the wagon.
- However, in the latter the restraining force is slight; thus a conflict arises between the propulsive and the restraining movement, as a result of which the spokes fall out of the wagon wheels,
- While here the restraining force is absolutely superior; hence no struggle takes place.
- In this way energy accumulates for a vigorous advance later on.
- A good horse that follows others.
- Awareness of danger,
- With perseverance, furthers.
- Practice chariot driving and armed defense daily.
- It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
- A man is in contact with a strong will acting in the same direction as his own, and goes forward like one good horse following another.
- But danger still threatens, and he must remain aware of it, or he will be robbed of his firmness.
- It is good in such a pass to have a goal toward which to strive.
- The headboard of a young bull.
- Great good fortune.
- Before a bull’s horns grow out, a headboard is fastened to its forehead, so that later when the horns appear they cannot do harm.
- A good way to restrain wild force is to forestall it.
- By so doing one achieves an easy and a great success.
- The tusk of a gelded boar.
- Good fortune.
- A boar’s tusk is in itself dangerous, but if the boar’s nature is altered, the tusk is no longer a menace.
- Thus also where men are concerned, wild force should not be combated directly; instead, its roots should be eradicated.
- One attains the way of heaven. Success.
- The energy long dammed up by inhibition forces its way out and achieves great success.
- This refers to a man who is honored by the ruler and whose principles now prevail and shape the world.
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27. I / The Corners of the Mouth
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- Starting with the mouth, through which we take food for nourishment, the thought leads to nourishment itself.
- Nourishment of oneself, specifically of the body, is represented in the three lower lines,
- While the three upper lines represent nourishment and care of others, in a higher, spiritual sense.
- THE CORNERS OF THE MOUTH.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Pay heed to the providing of nourishment
- And to what a man seeks
- To fill his own mouth with.
- If we wish to know what anyone is like, we have only to observe on whom he bestows his care and what sides of his own nature he cultivates and nourishes.
- The great man fosters and takes care of superior men, in order to take care of all men through them.
“If we wish to know whether anyone is superior or not, we need only observe what part of his being he regards as especially important. The body has superior and inferior, important and unimportant parts. We must not injure important parts for the sake of the unimportant, nor must we injure the superior parts for the sake of the inferior. He who cultivates the inferior parts of his nature is an inferior man. He who cultivates the superior parts of his nature is a superior man.”1
- At the foot of the mountain, thunder:
- The image of PROVIDING NOURISHMENT.
- Thus the superior man is careful of his words
- And temperate in eating and drinking.
- When in the spring the life forces stir again, all things come into being anew.
- Thus in the early spring, when the seeds fall to earth, all things are made ready.
- This is an image of providing nourishment through movement and tranquillity.
- Words are a movement going from within outward.
- Eating and drinking are movements from without inward.
- Both kinds of movement can be modified by tranquillity.
- You let your magic tortoise go,
- And look at me with the corners of your mouth drooping.
- Misfortune.
- The image means that a man fitted by nature and position to live freely and independently renounces this self-reliance and instead looks with envy and discontent at others who are outwardly in better circumstances.
- But such base envy only arouses derision and contempt in those others.
- This has bad results.
- Turning to the summit for nourishment,
- Deviating from the path
- To seek nourishment from the hill.
- Continuing to do this brings misfortune.
- If, owing to weakness of spirit, a man cannot support himself, a feeling of uneasiness comes over him;
- This is because in shirking the proper way of obtaining a living, he accepts support as a favor from those in higher place.
- This is unworthy, for he is deviating from his true nature.
- Kept up indefinitely, this course leads to misfortune.
- Turning away from nourishment.
- Perseverance brings misfortune.
- Do not act thus for ten years.
- Nothing serves to further.
- Mad pursuit of pleasure for the satisfaction of the senses never brings one to the goal.
- One should never (ten years is a complete cycle of time) follow this path, for nothing good can come of it.
- Turning to the summit
- For provision of nourishment
- Brings good fortune.
- Spying about with sharp eyes
- Like a tiger with insatiable craving.
- No blame.
- To do this he needs helpers, because he cannot attain his lofty aim alone.
- With the greed of a hungry tiger he is on the lookout for the right people.
- Since he is not working for himself but for the good of all, there is no wrong in such zeal.
- Turning away from the path.
- To remain persevering brings good fortune.
- One should not cross the great water.
- He should be undertaking the nourishment of the people, but he has not the strength to do it.
- Thus he must turn from his accustomed path and beg counsel and help from a man who is spiritually his superior but undistinguished outwardly.
- But he must remain aware of his dependence.
- He must not put his own person forward nor attempt great labors, such as crossing the great water.
- The source of nourishment.
- Awareness of danger brings good fortune.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- Such a position brings with it heavy responsibility.
- If he remains conscious of this fact, he has good fortune and may confidently undertake even great and difficult labors, such as crossing the great water.
- These undertakings bring general happiness for him and for all others.
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28. Ta Kuo / Preponderance of the Great
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- When the strong are outside and the weak inside, all is well and there is nothing out of balance, nothing extraordinary in the situation.
- Here, however, the opposite is the case.
- This is a condition that cannot last; it must be changed, must pass, or misfortune will result.
- PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT.
- The ridgepole sags to the breaking point.
- It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
- Success.
- The ridgepole, on which the whole roof rests, sags to the breaking point, because its supporting ends are too weak for the load they bear.
- It is an exceptional time and situation; therefore extraordinary measures are demanded.
- It is necessary to find a way of transition as quickly as possible, and to take action.
- Nothing is to be achieved by forcible measures.
- The problem must be solved by gentle penetration to the meaning of the situation (as is suggested by the attribute of the inner trigram, Sun); then the change-over to other conditions will be successful.
- It demands real superiority; therefore the time when the great preponderates is a momentous time.
- The lake rises above the trees:
- The image of PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT.
- Thus the superior man, when he stands alone,
- Is unconcerned,
- And if he has to renounce the world,
- He is undaunted.
- But such conditions are temporary.
- The symbol of the trigram Sun is the tree, which stands firm even though it stands alone,
- And the attribute of Tui is joyousness, which remains undaunted even if it must renounce the world.
- To spread white rushes underneath.
- No blame.
- This caution, though it may seem exaggerated, is not a mistake.
- Exceptional enterprises cannot succeed unless utmost caution is observed in their beginnings and in the laying of their foundations.
- A dry poplar sprouts at the root.
- An older man takes a young wife.
- Everything furthers.
- This means an extraordinary reanimation of the processes of growth.
- Despite the unusualness of the situation, all goes well.
- From the point of view of politics, the meaning is that in exceptional times one does well to join with the lowly, for this affords a possibility of renewal.
- The ridgepole sags to the breaking point.
- Misfortune.
- He accepts no advice from others, and therefore they in turn are not willing to lend him support.
- Because of this the burden grows, until the structure of things bends or breaks.
- Plunging willfully ahead in times of danger only hastens the catastrophe.
- The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune.
- If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.
- But if, instead of working for the rescue of the whole, he were to misuse his connections to obtain personal power and success, it would lead to humiliation.
- A withered poplar puts forth flowers.
- An older woman takes a husband.
- No blame. No praise.
- An older woman may marry once more, but no renewal takes place. Everything remains barren.
- Thus, though all the amenities are observed, the net result is only the anomaly of the situation.
- One must go through the water.
- It goes over one’s head.
- Misfortune. No blame.
- One is courageous and wishes to accomplish one’s task, no matter what happens.
- This leads into danger. The water rises over one’s head. This is the misfortune.
- But one incurs no blame in giving up one’s life that the good and the right may prevail.
- There are things that are more important than life.
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29. K’an / The Abysmal (Water)
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- The trigram K’an means a plunging in.
- A yang line has plunged in between two yin lines and is closed in by them like water in a ravine.
- The Receptive has obtained the middle line of the Creative, and thus K’an develops.
- The name of the hexagram, because the trigram is doubled, has the additional meaning, “repetition of danger.”
- Thus the hexagram is intended to designate an objective situation to which one must become accustomed, not a subjective attitude.
- Hence too a ravine is used to symbolize danger; it is a situation in which a man is in the same pass as the water in a ravine, and, like the water, he can escape if he behaves correctly.
- The Abysmal repeated.
- If you are sincere, you have success in your heart,
- And whatever you do succeeds.
- Water sets the example for the right conduct under such circumstances.
- It flows on and on, and merely fills up all the places through which it flows; it does not shrink from any dangerous spot nor from any plunge, and nothing can make it lose its own essential nature.
- It remains true to itself under all conditions.
- And once we have gained inner mastery of a problem, it will come about naturally that the action we take will succeed.
- In danger all that counts is really carrying out all that has to be done — thoroughness — and going forward, in order not to perish through tarrying in the danger.
- Thus heaven has its perilous height protecting it against every attempt at invasion, and earth has its mountains and bodies of water, separating countries by their dangers.
- Thus also rulers make use of danger to protect themselves against attacks from without and against turmoil within.
- Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal:
- The image of the Abysmal repeated.
- Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue
- And carries on the business of teaching.
- It fills up every depression before it flows on.
- So likewise in teaching others everything depends on consistency, for it is only through repetition that the pupil makes the material his own.
- Repetition of the Abysmal.
- In the abyss one falls into a pit.
- Misfortune.
- He is familiar with it and grows used to evil.
- With this he has lost the right way, and misfortune is the natural result.
- The abyss is dangerous.
- One should strive to attain small things only.
- We must calmly weigh the conditions of the time and be satisfied with small gains, because for the time being a great success cannot be attained.
- A spring flows only sparingly at first, and tarries for some time before it makes its way into the open.
- Forward and backward, abyss on abyss.
- In danger like this, pause at first and wait,
- Otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss.
- Do not act in this way.
- Therefore we must not be misled into action, as a result of which we should only bog down deeper into the danger;
- Disagreeable as it may be to remain in such a situation, we must wait until a way out shows itself.
- Six in the fourth place means:
- A jug of wine, a bowl of rice1 with it;
- Earthen vessels
- Simply handed in through the window.
- There is certainly no blame in this.
- Although as a rule it is customary for an official to present certain introductory gifts and recommendations before he is appointed, here everything is simplified to the utmost.
- The gifts are insignificant, there is no one to sponsor him, he introduces himself; yet all this need not be humiliating if only there is the honest intention of mutual help in danger.
- If in difficult times we want to enlighten someone, we must begin with that which is in itself lucid and proceed quite simply from that point on.
- The abyss is not filled to overflowing,
- It is filled only to the rim.
- No blame.
- In order to flow out of a ravine, water does not rise higher than the lowest point of the rim.
- So likewise a man when in danger has only to proceed along the line of least resistance; thus he reaches the goal.
- Great labors cannot be accomplished in such times; it is enough to get out of the danger.
- Bound with cords and ropes,
- Shut in between thorn-hedged prison walls:
- For three years one does not find the way.
- Misfortune.
- He is like a criminal who sits shackled behind thorn-hedged prison walls.
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30. Li / The Clinging, Fire
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- A dark line clings to two light lines, one above and one below-the image of an empty space between two strong lines, whereby the two strong lines are made bright.
- The Creative has incorporated the central line of the Receptive, and thus Li develops.
- Fire has no definite form but clings to the burning object and thus is bright.
- As water pours down from heaven, so fire flames up from the earth.
- While K’an means the soul shut within the body, Li stands for nature in its radiance.
- THE CLINGING. Perseverance furthers.
- It brings success.
- Care of the cow brings good fortune.
- A luminous thing giving out light must have within itself something that perseveres; otherwise it will in time burn itself out.
- Everything that gives light is dependent on something to which it clings, in order that it may continue to shine.
- So too the twofold clarity of the dedicated man clings to what is right and thereby can shape the world.
- The cow is the symbol of extreme docility.
- According to the Parsee belief the Divine Light, or Fire, was manifested in the mineral, vegetable, and animal worlds
before it appeared in human form. - Its animal incarnation was the cow, and Ahura-Mazda was nourished on her milk.
- By cultivating in himself an attitude of compliance and voluntary dependence, man acquires clarity without sharpness and finds his place in the world.1
- That which is bright rises twice:
- The image of FIRE.
- Thus the great man, by perpetuating this brightness,
- Illumines the four quarters of the world.
- The two together represent the repeated movement of the sun, the function of light with respect to time.
- Through the clarity of his nature he causes the light to spread farther and farther and to penetrate the nature of man ever more deeply.
- The footprints run crisscross.
- If one is seriously intent, no blame.
- The traces of one’s impressions run crisscross.
- Activity and haste prevail.
- It is important then to preserve inner composure and not to allow oneself to be swept along by the bustle of life.
- It is precisely at the beginning that serious concentration is important, because the beginning holds the seed of all that is to follow.
- Yellow light. Supreme good fortune.
- Yellow is the color of measure and mean.
- Yellow light is therefore a symbol of the highest culture and art, whose consummate harmony consists in holding to the mean.
- In the light of the setting sun,
- Men either beat the pot and sing
- Or loudly bewail the approach of old age.
- Misfortune.
- The light of the setting sun calls to mind the fact that life is transitory and conditional.
- The sense of the transitoriness of life impels them to uninhibited revelry in order to enjoy life while it lasts,
- Or else they yield to melancholy and spoil the precious time by lamenting the approach of old age.
- Both attitudes are wrong.
- He cultivates himself, awaits his allotted time, and in this way secures his fate.
- Its coming is sudden;
- It flames up, dies down, is thrown away.
- Fire clings to wood, but also consumes it.
- Clarity of mind is rooted in life but can also consume it.
- Everything depends upon how the clarity functions.
- A man who is excitable and restless may rise quickly to prominence but produces no lasting effects.
- Thus matters end badly when a man spends himself too rapidly and consumes himself like a meteor.
- Tears in floods, sighing and lamenting.
- Good fortune.
- Were there no warning, one would at this point consume oneself like a flame.
- If one is intent on retaining his clarity of mind, good fortune will come from this grief.
- For here we are dealing not with a passing mood, as in the nine in the third place, but with a real change of heart.
- The king uses him to march forth and chastise.
- Then it is best to kill the leaders
- And take captive the followers. No blame.
- To eradicate evil in political life, it is best to kill the ringleaders and spare the followers.
- In educating oneself it is best to root out bad habits and tolerate those that are harmless.
- For asceticism that is too strict, like sentences of undue severity, fails in its purpose.
PART II — Influence, Relationship, and Social Order (Hexagrams 31–64)
Part II of the I Ching begins with Hexagram 31, Hsien / Influence (Wooing), signaling a decisive transition.
Where Part I establishes the structure of the cosmos, Part II turns toward interaction, relationship, and transformation within the human sphere.The opening hexagrams of this section focus on attraction, mutual influence, and the formation of enduring bonds—most notably between masculine and feminine principles. From this point forward, the text increasingly addresses marriage, leadership, conflict, community, and ethical conduct.The hexagrams of Part II are more situational and historical in character. They describe processes unfolding over time, responses to changing conditions, and the consequences of action and inaction within social life.This shift reflects a movement from being to becoming, from structure to story. The individual is no longer considered in isolation, but as part of families, states, traditions, and cycles of rise and decline.The book concludes with Hexagram 64, Wei Chi / Before Completion, emphasizing that all order is provisional. Completion is never final; the end of one cycle is the threshold of another. Thus the I Ching closes not with resolution, but with readiness.
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31. Hsien / Influence (Wooing)
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- The upper trigram is Tui, the Joyous;
- The lower is Kên, Keeping Still.
- Kên, the lower trigram, is the youngest son; the upper, Tui, is the youngest daughter.
- Thus the universal mutual attraction between the sexes is represented.
- In courtship, the masculine principle must seize the initiative and place itself below the feminine principle.
- Influence. Success.
- Perseverance furthers
- To take a maiden to wife brings good fortune.
- This brings about success, for all success depends on the effect of mutual attraction.
- By keeping still within while experiencing joy without, one can prevent the joy from going to excess and hold it within proper bounds
- In the latter the strong man takes a position inferior to that of the weak girl and shows consideration for her.
- Heaven and earth attract each other and thus all creatures come into being.
- Through such attraction the sage influences men’s hearts, and thus the world attains peace.
- From the attractions they exert we can learn the nature of all beings in heaven and on earth.
- A lake on the mountain:
- The image of influence.
- Thus the superior man encourages people to approach him
- By his readiness to receive them.
- It has this advantage because its summit does not jut out as a peak but is sunken.
- People soon give up counseling a man who thinks that he knows everything better than anyone else.
- The influence shows itself in the big toe.
- The idea of an influence is already present, but it is not immediately apparent to others.
- As long as the intention has no visible effect, it is of no importance to the outside world and leads neither to good nor to evil.
- The influence shows itself in the calves of the legs.
- Misfortune.
- Tarrying brings good fortune.
- Since the movement is not self-governed, it bodes ill.
- One should wait quietly until one is impelled to action by a real influence.
- Then one remains uninjured.
- The influence shows itself in the thighs.
- Holds to that which follows it.
- To continue is humiliating.
- What the heart desires, the thighs run after without a moment’s hesitation; they hold to the heart, which they follow.
- First, a man should not run precipitately after all the persons whom he would like to influence, but must be able to hold back under certain circumstances.
- As little should he yield immediately to every whim of those in whose service he stands.
- Finally, where the moods of his own heart are concerned, he should never ignore the possibility of inhibition, for this is the basis of human freedom.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Remorse disappears.
- If a man is agitated in mind,
- And his thoughts go hither and thither,
- Only those friends
- On whom he fixes his conscious thoughts
- Will follow.
- The impulse that springs from this source is the most important of all.
- It is of particular concern that this influence be constant and good; then, in spite of the danger arising from the great susceptibility of the human heart, there will be no cause for remorse.
- All those who are receptive to the vibrations of such a spirit will then be influenced.
- Through practicing such conscious incitement one becomes wrought up and is exhausted by the eternal stress and strain.
- Moreover, the effects produced are then limited to those on whom one’s thoughts are consciously fixed.
- The influence shows itself in the back of the neck.
- No remorse.
- When the influence shows itself there, the will remains firm and the influence does not lead to confusion.
- Hence remorse does not enter into consideration here.
- It is true that if we cannot be influenced ourselves, we cannot influence the outside world.
- The influence shows itself in the jaws, cheeks, and tongue.
- The influence produced by such mere tongue wagging must necessarily remain insignificant.
- Hence no indication is added regarding good or bad fortune.
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32. Hêng / Duration
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- In the latter we have influence, here we have union as an enduring condition.
- The two images are thunder and wind, which are likewise constantly paired phenomena.
- The lower trigram indicates gentleness within; the upper, movement without.
- During courtship the young man subordinates himself to the girl,
- But in marriage, which is represented by the coming together of the eldest son and the eldest daughter, the husband is the directing and moving force outside, while the wife, inside, is gentle and submissive.
- DURATION. Success. No blame.
- Perseverance furthers.
- It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
- It is not a state of rest, for mere standstill is regression.
- Duration is rather the self-contained and therefore self-renewing movement of an organized, firmly integrated whole, taking place in accordance with immutable laws and beginning anew at every ending.
- The end is reached by an inward movement, by inhalation, systole, contraction, and this movement turns into a new beginning, in which the movement is directed outward, in exhalation, diastole, expansion.
- They move in their fixed orbits, and because of this their light-giving power endures.
- The seasons of the year follow a fixed law of change and transformation, hence can produce effects that endure.
- In that which gives things their duration, we can come to understand the nature of all beings in heaven and on earth.
- Thunder and wind: the image of DURATION.
- Thus the superior man stands firm
- And does not change his direction.
- In the same way the independence of the superior man is not based on rigidity and immobility of character.
- He always keeps abreast of the time and changes with it.
- What endures is the unswerving directive, the inner law of his being, which determines all his actions.
- Seeking duration too hastily brings misfortune persistently.
- Nothing that would further.
“If we wish to compress something, we must first let it fully expand.”
He who demands too much at once is acting precipitately, and because he attempts too much, he ends by succeeding in nothing.
- Remorse disappears.
- A man’s force of character is greater than the available material power.
- Thus he might be afraid of allowing himself to attempt something beyond his strength.
- However, since it is the time of DURATION, it is possible for him to control his inner strength and so to avoid excess.
- Cause for remorse then disappears.
- He who does not give duration to his character
- Meets with disgrace.
- Persistent humiliation.
- Such inconsistency invariably leads to distressing experiences.
- These humiliations often come from an unforeseen quarter.
- Such experiences are not merely effects produced by the external world, but logical consequences evoked by his own nature.
- No game in the field.
- A man who persists in stalking game in a place where there is none may wait forever without finding any.
- Persistence in search is not enough. What is not sought in the right way is not found.
- Giving duration to one’s character through perseverance.
- This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.
- Should he persistently seek to conform to the woman, it would be a mistake for him.
- Accordingly it is altogether right for a woman to hold conservatively to tradition,
- But a man must always be flexible and adaptable and allow himself to be guided solely by what his duty requires of him at the moment.
- Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune.
- Restlessness not only prevents all thoroughness but actually becomes a danger if it is dominant in places of authority.
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33. Tun / Retreat
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- The light retreats to security, so that the dark cannot encroach upon it.
“But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil” (Matt. 5:39).
- Therefore in this case withdrawal is proper; it is the correct way to behave in order not to exhaust one’s forces.1
- RETREAT. Success.
- In what is small, perseverance furthers.
- In this case retreat is the right course, and it is through retreat that success is achieved.
- But success consists in being able to carry out the retreat correctly.
- Flight means saving oneself under any circumstances, whereas retreat is a sign of strength.
- Then we shall be able to interpret the signs of the time before it is too late and to prepare for provisional retreat instead of being drawn into a desperate life-and-death struggle.
- Thus we do not simply abandon the field to the opponent; we make it difficult for him to advance by showing perseverance in single acts of resistance.
- In this way we prepare, while retreating, for the counter-movement.
- The meaning that lies hidden in such a time is important.
- Mountain under heaven: the image of RETREAT.
- Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance,
- Not angrily but with reserve.
- Heaven on the other hand retreats upward before it into the distance and remains out of reach.
- He does not hate him, for hatred is a form of subjective involvement by which we are bound to the hated object.
- The superior man shows strength (heaven) in that he brings the inferior man to a standstill (mountain) by his dignified reserve.
- At the tail in retreat. This is dangerous.
- One must not wish to undertake anything.
- In a retreat it is advantageous to be at the front. Here one is at the back, in immediate contact with the pursuing enemy.
- This is dangerous, and under such circumstances it is not advisable to undertake anything.
- Keeping still is the easiest way of escaping from the threatening danger.
- He holds him fast with yellow oxhide.
- No one can tear him loose.
- It indicates that which is correct and in line with duty.
- Oxhide is strong and not to be torn.
- The inferior man represented here holds on so firmly and tightly to the superior men that the latter cannot shake him off.
“I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Gen. 32:26).
- And because he is in quest of what is right and so strong in purpose, he reaches his goal.2
- “In what is small” — here equivalent to “in the inferior man” — “perseverance furthers”.
- A halted retreat
- Is nerve-wracking and dangerous.
- To retain people as men- and maidservants
- Brings good fortune.
- In such a case the only expedient is to take into one’s service, so to speak, those who refuse to let one go, so that one may at least keep one’s initiative and not fall helplessly under their domination.
- But even with this expedient the situation is far from satisfactory — for what can one hope to accomplish with such servants?
- Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man
- And downfall to the inferior man.
- He easily adjusts his mind to retreat, because in retreating he does not have to do violence to his convictions.
- The only one who suffers is the inferior man from whom he retreats, who will degenerate when deprived of the guidance of the superior man.
- Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.
- If the right moment is chosen, the retreat can be carried out within the forms of perfect friendliness, without the necessity of disagreeable discussions.
- Yet, for all the observance of amenities, absolute firmness of decision is necessary if one is not to be led astray by irrelevant considerations.
- Cheerful retreat. Everything serves to further.
- Inner detachment has become an established fact, and we are at liberty to depart.
- Such a clear path ahead always leads to the good.
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34. Ta Chuang / The Power of the Great
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- Four light lines have entered the hexagram from below and are about to ascend higher.
- Ch’ien is strong, Chên produces movement.
- The union of movement and strength gives the meaning of THE POWER OF THE GREAT.
- THE POWER OF THE GREAT. Perseverance furthers.
- But its strength has already passed beyond the median line, hence there is danger that one may rely entirely on one’s own power and forget to ask what is right.
- There is danger too that, being intent on movement, we may not wait for the right time.
- Therefore the added statement that perseverance furthers.
- When we understand this point — namely, that greatness and justice must be indissolubly united — we understand the true meaning of all that happens in heaven and on earth.
- Thunder in heaven above:
- The image of THE POWER OF THE GREAT
- Thus the superior man does not tread upon paths
- That do not accord with established order.
- The direction of this movement is in harmony with that of the movement of heaven.
- It is therefore a movement in accord with heaven, producing great power.
- Therefore in times of great power the superior man avoids doing anything that is not in harmony with the established order.
- Power in the toes.
- Continuing brings misfortune.
- This is certainly true.
- So likewise great power in lowly station is inclined to effect advance by force.
- This, if carried further, would certainly lead to misfortune, and therefore by way of advice a warning is added.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Resistance gives way and we forge ahead.
- This is the point at which, only too easily, we become the prey of exuberant self-confidence.
- This is why the oracle says that perseverance (i.e., perseverance in inner equilibrium, without excessive use of power) brings good fortune.
- The inferior man works through power.
- The superior man does not act thus.
- To continue is dangerous.
- A goat butts against a hedge
- And gets its horns entangled.
- Whereas an inferior man revels in power when he comes into possession of it, the superior man never makes this mistake.
- He is conscious at all times of the danger of pushing ahead regardless of circumstances, and therefore renounces in good time the empty display of force.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Remorse disappears.
- The hedge opens; there is no entanglement.
- Power depends upon the axle of a big cart.
- The obstructions give way and all occasion for remorse arising from excessive use of power disappears.
- Such a man’s power does not show externally, yet it can move heavy loads, like a big cart whose real strength lies in its axle.
- The less that power is applied outwardly, the greater its effect.
- Loses the goat with ease.
- No remorse.
- Now the situation is such that everything is easy; there is no more resistance.
- One can give up a belligerent, stubborn way of acting and will not have to regret it.
- A goat butts against a hedge.
- It cannot go backward, it cannot go forward.
- Nothing serves to further.
- If one notes the difficulty, this brings good fortune.
- Such obstinacy leads to insuperable difficulties.
- But if, realizing the situation, we compose ourselves and decide not to continue, everything will right itself in time.
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35. Chin / Progress
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- It is therefore the symbol of rapid, easy progress, which at the same time means ever widening expansion and clarity.
- PROGRESS. The powerful prince
- Is honored with horses in large numbers.
- In a single day he is granted audience three times.
- The sovereign rewards him richly and invites him to a closer intimacy.
- The actual effect of the progress emanates from a man who is in a dependent position and whom the others regard as their equal and are therefore willing to follow.
- This leader has enough clarity of vision not to abuse his great influence but to use it rather for the benefit of his ruler.
- His ruler in turn is free of all jealousy, showers presents on the great man, and invites him continually to his court.
- The sun rises over the earth:
- The image of PROGRESS.
- Thus the superior man himself
- Brightens his bright virtue.
- The higher the sun rises, the more it emerges from the dark mists, spreading the pristine purity of its rays over an ever widening area.
- Progressing, but turned back.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- If one meets with no confidence, one should remain calm.
- No mistake.
- Then the thing to do is simply to continue in what is right; in the end this will bring good fortune.
- In this case we ought not to try to win confidence regardless of the situation, but should remain calm and cheerful and refuse to be roused to anger.
- Thus we remain free of mistakes.
- Progressing, but in sorrow.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Then one obtains great happiness from one’s ancestress.
- When this happens, he must remain persevering, although he is grieved; then with a maternal gentleness the man in question will bestow great happiness upon him.
- This happiness comes to him — and is well deserved — because in this case mutual attraction does not rest on selfish or partisan motives but on firm and correct principles.
- All are in accord. Remorse disappears.
- This dispels any cause for regret over the fact that he does not have enough independence to triumph unaided over every hostile turn of fate.
- Progress like a hamster.
- Perseverance brings danger.
- But such conduct shuns the light.
- And since times of progress are also always times in which dubious procedures are inevitably brought to light, perseverance in such action always leads to danger.
- Remorse disappears.
- Take not gain and loss to heart.
- Undertakings bring good fortune.
- Everything serves to further.
- He might reproach himself for lack of energy in making the most of the propitiousness of the time and obtaining all possible advantage.
- However, this regret passes away. He must not take either loss or gain to heart; they are minor considerations.
- What matters much more is the fact that in this way he has assured himself of opportunities for successful and beneficent influence.
- Making progress with the horns is permissible
- Only for the purpose of punishing one’s own city.
- To be conscious of danger brings good fortune.
- No blame.
- Perseverance brings humiliation.
- Even then we must bear in mind that proceeding on the offensive may always be dangerous.
- In this way we avoid the mistakes that otherwise threaten, and succeed in what we set out to do.
- On the other hand, perseverance in such overenergetic behavior, especially toward persons with whom there is no close connection, will lead to humiliation.
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36. Ming / Darkening of the Light
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- The name of the hexagram means literally “wounding of the bright”; hence the individual lines contain frequent references to wounding.
- In the latter a wise man at the head of affairs has able helpers, and in company with them makes progress;
- Here a man of dark nature is in a position of authority and brings harm to the wise and able man.
- DARKENING OF THE LIGHT. In adversity
- It furthers one to be persevering.
- He can avoid this by maintaining his inner light, while remaining outwardly yielding and tractable.
- With this attitude he can overcome even the greatest adversities.
- Perseverance must dwell in inmost consciousness and should not be discernible from without.
- Only thus is a man able to maintain his will in the face of difficulties.
- The light has sunk into the earth:
- The image of DARKENING OF THE LIGHT.
- Thus does the superior man live with the great mass:
- He veils his light, yet still shines.
- One should not needlessly awaken overwhelming enmity by inconsiderate behavior.
- In such times one ought not to fall in with the practices of others; neither should one drag them censoriously into the light.
- In social intercourse one should not try to be all-knowing. One should let many things pass, without being duped.
- Darkening of the light during flight.
- He lowers his wings.
- The superior man does not eat for three days
- On his wanderings.
- But he has somewhere to go.
- The host has occasion to gossip about him.
- He retreats and evades the issue. The time is difficult.
- Without rest, he must hurry along, with no permanent abiding place.
- If he does not want to make compromises within himself, but insists on remaining true to his principles, he suffers deprivation.
- Nevertheless he has a fixed goal to strive for, even though the people with whom he lives do not understand him and speak ill of him.
- Darkening of the light injures him in the left thigh.
- He gives aid with the strength of a horse.
- Good fortune.
- But the injury is not fatal; it is only a hindrance.
- Rescue is still possible.
- Therefore he tries with all his strength to save all that can be saved.
- There is good fortune in thus acting according to duty.
- Darkening of the light during the hunt in the south.
- Their great leader is captured.
- One must not expect perseverance too soon.
- While the strong, loyal man is striving eagerly and in good faith to create order, he meets the ringleader of the disorder, as if by accident, and seizes him.
- Thus victory is achieved.
- This would turn out badly because the abuses have been in existence so long.
- He penetrates the left side of the belly.
- One gets at the very heart of the darkening of the light,
- And leaves gate and courtyard.
- In this way we realize that there is no longer any hope of improvement, and thus we are enabled to leave the scene of disaster before the storm breaks.
- Darkening of the light as with Prince Chi.
- Perseverance furthers.
- Prince Chi was a relative of the tyrant and could not withdraw from court; therefore he concealed his true sentiments and feigned insanity.
- This provides a teaching for those who cannot leave their posts in times of darkness.
- In order to escape danger, they need invincible perseverance of spirit and redoubled caution in their dealings with the world.
- Not light but darkness.
- First he climbed up to heaven,
- Then he plunged into the depths of the earth.
- The dark power at first held so high a place that it could wound all who were on the side of good and of the light.
- For evil must itself fall at the very moment when it has wholly overcome the good, and thus consumed the energy to which it owed its duration.
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37. Chia Jên / The Family [The Clan]
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- The strong line at the top represents the father, the lowest the son.
- The strong line in the fifth place represents the husband, the yielding second line the wife.
- On the other hand, the two strong lines in the fifth and the third place represent two brothers,
- And the two weak lines correlated with them in the fourth and the second place stand for their respective wives.
- Thus all the connections and relationships within the family find their appropriate expression.
- The fact that a strong line occupies the sixth place — where a weak line might be expected — indicates very clearly the strong leadership that must come from the head of the family.
- The line is to be considered here not in its quality as the sixth but in its quality as the top line.
- The influence that goes out from within the family is represented by the symbol of the wind created by fire
- THE FAMILY. The perseverance of the woman furthers.
- The tie that holds the family together lies in the loyalty and perseverance of the wife.
- Her place is within (second line), while that of the husband is without (fifth line).
- It is in accord with the great laws of nature that husband and wife take their proper places.
- If the father is really a father and the son a son, if the elder brother fulfills his position, and the younger fulfills his, if the husband is really a husband and the wife a wife,then the family is in order.
- When the family is in order, all the social relationships of mankind will be in order.
- That between father and son, which is the relation of love,
- That between husband and wife, which is the relation of chaste conduct,
- And that between elder and younger brother, which is the relation of correctness.
- The affection and correctness of behavior existing between the two brothers are extended to a friend in the form of loyalty,
- And to a person of superior rank in the form of deference.
- Wind comes forth from fire:
- The image of THE FAMILY.
- Thus the superior man has substance in his words
- And duration in his way of life.
- This represents influence working from within outward.
- The same thing is needed in the regulation of the family.
- Here too the influence on others must proceed from one’s own person.
- Words have influence only when they are pertinent and clearly related to definite circumstances.
- General discourses and admonitions have no effect whatsoever.
- Furthermore, the words must be supported by one’s entire conduct, just as the wind is made effective by its duration.
- Only firm and consistent conduct will make such an impression on others that they can adapt and conform to it.
- If words and conduct are not in accord and not consistent, they will have no effect.
- Firm seclusion within the family.
- Remorse disappears.
- From the beginning each child must be accustomed to firmly established rules of order, before ever its will is directed to other things.
- If we begin too late to enforce order, when the will of the child has already been overindulged, the whims and passions, grown stronger with the years, offer resistance and give cause for remorse.
- For there is nothing more easily avoided and more difficult to carry through than “breaking a child’s will.”1
- She should not follow her whims.
- She must attend within to the food.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Her place is within the house.
- There, without having to look for them, she has great and important duties.
- She must attend to the nourishment of her family and to the food for the sacrifice.
- In this way she becomes the center of the social and religious life of the family, and her perseverance in this position brings good fortune to the whole house.
- When tempers flare up in the family,
- Too great severity brings remorse.
- Good fortune nonetheless.
- When woman and child dally and laugh,
- It leads in the end to humiliation.
- Too great severity toward one’s own flesh and blood leads to remorse.
- The wise thing is to build strong dikes within which complete freedom of movement is allowed each individual.
- But in doubtful instances too great severity, despite occasional mistakes, is preferable, because it preserves discipline in the family, whereas too great weakness leads to disgrace.
- She is the treasure of the house.
- Great good fortune.
- Well-being prevails when expenditures and income are soundly balanced.
- This leads to great good fortune.
- As a king he approaches his family.
- Fear not.
- Good fortune.
- He does nothing to make himself feared; on the contrary, the whole family can trust him, because love governs their intercourse.
- His character of itself exercises the right influence.
- His work commands respect.
- In the end good fortune comes.
- If he cultivates his personality so that it works impressively through the force of inner truth, all goes well with the family.
- In a ruling position one must of his own accord assume responsibility.
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38. K’uei / Opposition
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- These two movements are in direct contrast.
- Furthermore, Li is the second daughter and Tui the youngest daughter, and although they live in the same house they belong to different men; hence their wills are not the same but are divergently directed.
- OPPOSITION. In small matters, good fortune.
- In such circumstances one should above all not proceed brusquely, for that would only increase the existing opposition;
- Instead, one should limit oneself to producing gradual effects in small matters.
- Here success can still be expected, because the situation is such that the opposition does not preclude all agreement.
- The oppositions of heaven and earth, spirit and nature, man and woman, when reconciled, bring about the creation and reproduction of life.
- Above, fire; below, the lake:
- The image of OPPOSITION.
- Thus amid all fellowship
- The superior man retains his individuality.
- So the cultured man is never led into baseness or vulgarity through intercourse or community of interests with persons of another sort;
- Regardless of all commingling, he will always preserve his individuality.
- Remorse disappears.
- If you lose your horse, do not run after it;
- It will come back of its own accord.
- When you see evil people,
- Guard yourself against mistakes.
- When opposition begins to manifest itself, a man must not try to bring about unity by force, for by so doing he would only achieve the contrary, just as a horse goes farther and farther away if one runs after it.
- If it is one’s own horse, one can safely let it go; it will come back of its own accord.
- On the other hand, it is well to be cautious when evil men who do not belong with us force themselves upon us, again as the result of a misunderstanding.
- Here the important thing is to avoid mistakes.
- We must simply endure them.
- They will eventually withdraw of their own accord.
- One meets his lord in a narrow street.
- No blame.
- This being so, an accidental meeting under informal circumstances may serve the purpose, provided there is an inner affinity between them.
- One sees the wagon dragged back,
- The oxen halted,
- A man’s hair and nose cut off.
- Not a good beginning, but a good end.
- He sees himself checked and hindered in his progress, insulted and dishonored.1
- However, he must not let himself be misled; despite this opposition, he must cleave to the man with whom he knows he belongs.
- Thus, notwithstanding the bad beginning, the matter will end well.
- Isolated through opposition,
- One meets a like-minded man
- With whom one can associate in good faith.
- Despite the danger, no blame.
- But if in such a situation a man meets someone who fundamentally, by the very law of his being, is kin to him, and whom he can trust completely, he overcomes all the dangers of isolation.
- His will achieves its aim, and he becomes free of faults.
- Remorse disappears.
- The companion bites his way through the wrappings.
- If one goes to him,
- How could it be a mistake?
- However, he bites his way through the wrappings that are causing the separation.
- When such a companion thus reveals himself in his true character, it is one’s duty to go to meet him and to work with him.
- Isolated through opposition,
- One sees one’s companion as a pig covered with dirt,
- As a wagon full of devils.
- First one draws a bow against him,
- Then one lays the bow aside.
- He is not a robber; he will woo at the right time.
- As one goes, rain falls; then good fortune comes.
- A man misjudges his best friends, taking them to be as unclean as a dirty pig and as dangerous as a wagon full of devils.
- He adopts an attitude of defense.
- But in the end, realizing his mistake, he lays aside the bow, perceiving that the other is approaching with the best intentions for the purpose of close union.
- Thus the tension is relieved.
- All goes well, for just when opposition reaches its climax it changes over to its antithesis.
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39. Chien / Obstruction
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- We are surrounded by obstacles; at the same time, since the mountain has the attribute of keeping still, there is implicit a hint as to how we can extricate ourselves.
- Therefore all the instruction given is directed to overcoming them.
- OBSTRUCTION. The southwest furthers.
- The northeast does not further.
- It furthers one to see the great man.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Here an individual is confronted by obstacles that cannot be overcome directly.
- In such a situation it is wise to pause in view of the danger and to retreat.
- However, this is merely a preparation for overcoming the obstructions.
- This requires the will to persevere just when one apparently must do something that leads away from his goal.
- This unswerving inner purpose brings good fortune in the end.
- An obstruction that lasts only for a time is useful for self-development.
- This is the value of adversity.
- Water on the mountain:
- The image of OBSTRUCTION.
- Thus the superior man turns his attention to himself
- And molds his character.
- While the inferior man seeks to put the blame on other persons, bewailing his fate,
- The superior man seeks the error within himself, and through this introspection the external obstacle becomes for him an occasion for inner enrichment and education.
- Going leads to obstructions,
- Coming meets with praise.
- The correct thing is, on the contrary, to retreat for the time being, not in order to give up the struggle but to await the right moment for action.
- The correct thing is, on the contrary, to retreat for the time being, not in order to give up the struggle but to await the right moment for action.
- The king’s servant is beset by obstruction upon obstruction,
- But it is not his own fault.
- But there is one instance in which a man must go out to meet the trouble, even though difficulty piles upon difficulty: this is when the path of duty leads directly to it — in other words, when he cannot act of his own volition but is duty bound to go and seek out danger in the service of a higher cause.
- Then he may do it without compunction, because it is not through any fault of his that he is putting himself in this difficult situation.
- Going leads to obstructions;
- Hence he comes back.
- If he were to plunge recklessly into danger, it would be a useless act, because those entrusted to his care cannot get along by themselves.
- But if he withdraws and turns back to his own, they welcome him with great joy.
- Going leads to obstructions,
- Coming leads to union.
- In such a case the direct way is not the shortest.
- If a person were to forge ahead on his own strength and without the necessary preparations, he would not find the support he needs and would realize too late that he has been mistaken in his calculations, inasmuch as the conditions on which he hoped he could rely would prove to be inadequate.
- In this case it is better, therefore, to hold back for the time being and to gather together trustworthy companions who can be counted upon for help in overcoming the obstructions.
- In the midst of the greatest obstructions,
- Friends come.
- He should not seek to evade the obstructions, no matter how dangerously they pile up before him.
- But because he is really called to the task, the power of his spirit is strong enough to attract helpers whom he can effectively organize, so that through the well-directed co-operation of all participants the obstruction is overcome.
- Going leads to obstructions,
- Coming leads to great good fortune.
- It furthers one to see the great man.
- When the time of obstructions arrives, it might seem that the simplest thing for him to do would be to turn his back upon the world and take refuge in the beyond.
- But this road is barred to him.
- He must not seek his own salvation and abandon the world to its adversity.
- Duty calls him back once more into the turmoil of life.
- And it is favorable to see the great man in alliance with whom one can achieve the work of rescue.
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40. Hsieh / Deliverance
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- The obstacle has been removed, the difficulties are being resolved.
- Deliverance is not yet achieved; it is just in its beginning, and the hexagram represents its various stages.
- DELIVERANCE. The southwest furthers.
- If there is no longer anything where one has to go,
- Return brings good fortune.
- If there is still something where one has to go,
- Hastening brings good fortune.
- At such times we ought to make our way back to ordinary conditions as soon as possible; this is the meaning of “the southwest.”
- Just as rain relieves atmospheric tension, making all the buds burst open, so a time of deliverance from burdensome pressure has a liberating and stimulating effect on life.
- One thing is important, however: in such times we must not overdo our triumph.
- The point is not to push on farther than is necessary.
- Returning to the regular order of life as soon as deliverance is achieved brings good fortune.
- If there are any residual matters that ought to be attended to, it should be done as quickly as possible, so that a clean sweep is made and no retardations occur.
- Thunder and rain set in:
- The image of DELIVERANCE.
- Thus the superior man pardons mistakes
- And forgives misdeeds.
- Through clarity he brings deliverance.
- He forgives misdeeds, the intentional transgressions, just as water washes everything clean.
- Without blame.
- The hindrance is past, deliverance has come.
- One recuperates in peace and keeps still.
- This is the right thing to do in times when difficulties have been overcome.
- One kills three foxes in the field
- And receives a yellow arrow.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- The obstacles in public life are the designing foxes who try to influence the ruler through flattery.
- They must be removed before there can be any deliverance.
- The yellow color points to measure and mean in proceeding against the enemy; the arrow signifies the straight course.
- If one devotes himself wholeheartedly to the task of deliverance, he develops so much inner strength from his rectitude that it acts as a weapon against all that is false and low.
- If a man carries a burden on his back
- And nonetheless rides in a carriage,
- He thereby encourages robbers to draw near.
- Perseverance leads to humiliation.
- If now, in the manner of an upstart, he tries to take his ease in comfortable surroundings that do not suit his nature, he thereby attracts robbers.
- If he goes on thus he is sure to bring disgrace upon himself.
“Carrying a burden on the back is the business of a common man; a carriage is the appurtenance of a man of rank. Now, when a common man uses the appurtenance of a man of rank, robbers plot to take it away from him. If a man is insolent toward those above him and hard toward those below him, robbers plot to attack him. Carelessness in guarding things tempts thieves to steal. Sumptuous ornaments worn by a maiden are an enticement to rob her of her virtue.”
- Deliver yourself from your great toe.
- Then the companion comes,
- And him you can trust.
- But when the time of deliverance draws near, with its call to deeds, a man must free himself from such chance acquaintances with whom he has no inner connection.
- For otherwise the friends who share his views, on whom he could really rely and together with whom he could accomplish something, mistrust him and stay away.
- If only the superior man can deliver himself,
- It brings good fortune.
- Thus he proves to inferior men that he is in earnest.
- Inferior people cannot be driven off by prohibitions or any external means.
- If one desires to be rid of them, he must first break completely with them in his own mind; they will see for themselves that he is in earnest and will withdraw.
- The prince shoots at a hawk on a high wall.
- He kills it. Everything serves to further.
- He withstands the force of inner influences, because he is hardened in his wickedness.
- He must be forcibly removed, and this requires appropriate means.
“The hawk is the object of the hunt; bow and arrow are the tools and means. The marksman is man (who must make proper use of the means to his end). The superior man contains the means in his own person. He bides his time and then acts. Why then should not everything go well? He acts and is free. Therefore all he has to do is to go forth, and he takes his quarry. This is how a man fares who acts after he has made ready the means.”
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41. Sun / Decrease
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- What is below is decreased to the benefit of what is above.
- This is out-and-out decrease.
- If the foundations of a building are decreased in strength and the upper walls are strengthened, the whole structure loses its stability.
- And the entire theme of the hexagram is directed to showing how this shift of wealth can take place without causing the sources of wealth in the nation and its lower classes to fail.
- DECREASE combined with sincerity
- Brings about supreme good fortune
- Without blame.
- One may be persevering in this.
- It furthers one to undertake something.
- How is this to be carried out?
- One may use two small bowls for the sacrifice.
- Increase and decrease come in their own time.
- What matters here is to understand the time and not to try to cover up poverty with empty pretense.
- Indeed, there need be no concern if the outward beauty of the civilization, even the elaboration of religious forms, should have to suffer because of simplicity.
- One must draw on the strength of the inner attitude to compensate for what is lacking in externals;
- then the power of the content makes up for the simplicity of form.
- Even with slender means, the sentiment of the heart can be expressed.2
- At the foot of the mountain, the lake:
- The image of DECREASE.
- Thus the superior man controls his anger
- And restrains his instincts.
- In this way it decreases to the benefit of the mountain, which is enriched by its moisture.
- By this decrease of the lower powers of the psyche, the higher aspects of the soul are enriched.
- Going quickly when one’s tasks are finished
- Is without blame.
- But one must reflect on how much one may decrease others.
- But the man in a superior position who is thus aided must weigh carefully how much he can accept without doing the helpful servant or friend real harm.
- Only where such delicacy of feeling exists can one give oneself unconditionally and without hesitation.
- Perseverance furthers.
- To undertake something brings misfortune.
- Without decreasing oneself,
- One is able to bring increase to others.
- He who throws himself away in order to do the bidding of a superior diminishes his own position without thereby giving lasting benefit to the other. This is wrong.
- To render true service of lasting value to another, one must serve him without relinquishing oneself
- When three people journey together,
- Their number decreases by one.
- When one man journeys alone,
- He finds a companion.
- A very close bond is possible only between two people.
- But when one man is lonely, he is certain to find a companion who complements him.
- If a man decreases his faults,
- It makes the other hasten to come and rejoice.
- No blame.
- His faults are sometimes reinforced by the environment in which he lives.
- But if in humility he can bring himself to the point of giving them up, he frees his well-disposed friends from an inner pressure and causes them to approach the more quickly, and there is mutual joy.
- Someone does indeed increase him.
- Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it.
- Supreme good fortune.
- All oracles — as for instance those that are read from the shells of tortoises — are bound to concur in giving him favorable signs.
- He need fear nothing, because his luck is ordained from on high.
- If one is increased without depriving others,
- There is no blame.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- It furthers one to undertake something.
- One obtains servants
- But no longer has a separate home.
- Every increase in power that comes to them benefits the whole of mankind and therefore does not bring decrease to others.
- Through perseverance and zealous work a man wins success and finds helpers as they are needed.
- But what he accomplishes is not a limited private advantage; it is a public good and available to everyone.
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42. I / Increase
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- To rule truly is to serve.
- It indicates the spirit that alone has power to help the world.
- INCREASE. It furthers one
- To undertake something.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- When people are thus devoted to their leaders, undertakings are possible, and even difficult and dangerous enterprises will succeed.
- Therefore in such times of progress and successful development it is necessary to work and make the best use of the time.
- The time of INCREASE does not endure, therefore it must be utilized while it lasts.
- Wind and thunder: the image of INCREASE.
- Thus the superior man:
- If he sees good, he imitates it;
- If he has faults, he rids himself of them.
- When he discovers good in others, he should imitate it and thus make everything on earth his own.
- If he perceives something bad in himself, let him rid himself of it.
- In this way he becomes free of evil.
- It furthers one to accomplish great deeds.
- Supreme good fortune. No blame.
- Great good fortune is produced by selflessness, and in bringing about great good fortune, he remains free of reproach
- Someone does indeed increase him;
- Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it.
- Constant perseverance brings good fortune.
- The king presents him before God.
- Good fortune.
- Thus the thing for which he strives comes of itself, with the inevitability of natural law.
- But everything depends on his not letting unexpected good fortune make him heedless; he must make it his own through inner strength and steadfastness.
- Then he acquires meaning before God and man, and can accomplish something for the good of the world.
- One is enriched through unfortunate events.
- No blame, if you are sincere
- And walk in the middle,
- And report with a seal to the prince.
- These persons become free of error, and by acting in harmony with truth they gain such inner authority that they exert influence as if sanctioned by letter and seal.
- If you walk in the middle
- And report to the prince,
- He will follow.
- It furthers one to be used
- In the removal of the capital.
- These should be disinterested people, especially in times of increase, since the benefit is to spread from the leader to the people.
- Nothing of this benefit should be held back in a selfish way; it should really reach those for whom it is intended.
- This sort of intermediary, who also exercises a good influence on the leader, is especially important in times when it is a matter of great undertakings, decisive for the future and requiring the inner assent of all concerned.
- If in truth you have a kind heart, ask not.
- Supreme good fortune.
- Truly, kindness will be recognized as your virtue.
- And such a truly kind heart finds itself rewarded in being recognized, and thus the beneficent influence will spread unhindered.
- He brings increase to no one.
- Indeed, someone even strikes him.
- He does not keep his heart constantly steady.
- Misfortune.
- By neglecting this duty and helping no one, they in turn lose the furthering influence of others and soon find themselves alone.
- In this way they invite attacks.
- An attitude not permanently in harmony with the demands of the time will necessarily bring misfortune with it.
“The superior man sets his person at rest before he moves; he composes his mind before he speaks; he makes his relations firm before he asks for something. By attending to these three matters, the superior man gains complete security. But if a man is brusque in his movements, others will not co-operate. If he is agitated in his words, they awaken no echo in others. If he asks for something without having first established relations, it will not be given to him. If no one is with him, those who would harm him draw near.”
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43. Kuai / Break-through (Resoluteness)
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- As a swollen river breaks through its dikes, or in the manner of a cloudburst.
- Their influence is on the wane; as a result of resolute action, a change in conditions occurs, a break-through.
- BREAK-THROUGH. One must resolutely make the matter known
- At the court of the king.
- It must be announced truthfully. Danger.
- It is necessary to notify one’s own city.
- It does not further to resort to arms.
- It furthers one to undertake something.
- Even a single passion still lurking in the heart has power to obscure reason.
- Passion and reason cannot exist side by side — therefore fight without quarter is necessary if the good is to prevail.
- Evil must under all circumstances be openly discredited.
- Nor must our own passions and shortcomings be glossed over.
- If evil is branded, it thinks of weapons, and if we do it the favor of fighting against it blow for blow, we lose in the end because thus we ourselves get entangled in hatred and passion.
- In this way, finding no opponent, the sharp edges of the weapons of evil become dulled.
- As long as we wrestle with them, they continue victorious.
- The lake has risen up to heaven:
- The image of BREAK-THROUGH.
- Thus the superior man
- Dispenses riches downward
- And refrains from resting on his virtue.
- Taking this as a warning, the superior man forestalls a violent collapse.
- If a man were to pile up riches for himself alone, without considering others, he would certainly experience a collapse.
- For all gathering is followed by dispersion.
- In the same way, in developing his character he takes care not to become hardened in obstinacy but to remain receptive to impressions by help of strict and continuous self-examination.
- Mighty in the forward-striding toes.
- When one goes and is not equal to the task,
- One makes a mistake.
- We feel inspired to press forward but resistance is still strong; therefore we ought to gauge our own strength and venture only so far as we can go with certainty of success.
- To plunge blindly ahead is wrong, because it is precisely at the beginning that an unexpected setback can have the most disastrous results.
- A cry of alarm. Arms at evening and at night.
- Fear nothing.
- If an individual is careful and keeps his wits about him, he need not become excited or alarmed.
- If he is watchful at all times, even before danger is present, he is armed when danger approaches and need not be afraid.
- Therefore he dwells in the midst of difficulties as though they did not exist.
- To be circumspect and not to forget one’s armor is the right way to security.
- To be powerful in the cheekbones
- Brings misfortune.
- The superior man is firmly resolved.
- He walks alone and is caught in the rain.
- He is bespattered,
- And people murmur against him.
- No blame.
- While all others are engaged in a resolute fight against all that is inferior, he alone has a certain relationship with an inferior man.
- If he were to show strength outwardly and turn against this man before the time is ripe, he would only endanger the entire situation, because the inferior man would too quickly have recourse to countermeasures.
- He must be firmly resolved within himself and, while maintaining association with the inferior man, avoid any participation in his vileness.
- He will of course be misjudged.
- It will be thought that he belongs to the party of the inferior man.
- He will be lonely because no one will understand him.
- His relations with the inferior man will sully him in the eyes of the multitude, and they will turn against him, grumbling.
- But he can endure this lack of appreciation and makes no mistake, because he remains true to himself.
- There is no skin on his thighs,
- And walking comes hard.
- If a man were to let himself be led like a sheep,
- Remorse would disappear.
- But if these words are heard
- They will not be believed.
- He would like to push forward under any circumstances, but encounters insuperable obstacles.
- Thus his situation entails an inner conflict.
- This is due to the obstinacy with which he seeks to enforce his will.
- But this advice, like so much other good counsel, will be ignored.
- For obstinacy makes a man unable to hear, for all that he has ears.
- In dealing with weeds,
- Firm resolution is necessary.
- Walking in the middle
- Remains free of blame.
- So too the struggle against an inferior man in a high position demands firm resolution.
- One has certain relations with him, hence there is danger that one may give up the struggle as hopeless.
- But this must not be.
- Only in this way does one remain free of blame.
- No cry.
- In the end misfortune comes.
- There remains merely a remnant of the evil resolutely to be eradicated as the time demands.
- Everything looks easy.
- If we are not on guard, evil will succeed in escaping by means of concealment, and when it has eluded us new misfortunes will develop from the remaining seeds, for evil does not die easily.
- If out of carelessness anything were to be overlooked, new evil would arise from it.
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44. Kou / Coming to Meet
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- Of its own accord the female principle comes to meet the male.
- It is an unfavorable and dangerous situation, and we must understand and promptly prevent the possible consequence
- COMING TO MEET. The maiden is powerful.
- One should not marry such a maiden.
- This would not be possible if the strong and light-giving element had not in turn come halfway.
- The inferior thing seems so harmless and inviting that a man delights in it;
- It looks so small and weak that he imagines he may dally with it and come to no harm.
- If he were resisted from the first, he could never gain influence.
- Although as a general rule the weak should not come to meet the strong, there are times when this has great significance.
- When heaven and earth come to meet each other, all creatures prosper;
- When a prince and his official come to meet each other, the world is put in order.
- But the coming together must be free of dishonest ulterior motives, otherwise harm will result.
- Under heaven, wind:
- The image of COMING TO MEET.
- Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands
- And proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.
- In the latter the wind blows over the earth, here it blows under heaven; in both cases it goes everywhere.
- There the wind is on the earth and symbolizes the ruler taking note of the conditions in his kingdom;
- Here the wind blows from above and symbolizes the influence exercised by the ruler through his commands.
- The ruler is far from his people, but he sets them in motion by means of his commands and decrees.
- It must be checked with a brake of bronze.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- If one lets it take its course, one experiences misfortune.
- Even a lean pig has it in him to rage around.
- By consistently checking it, bad effects can be avoided.
- The insignificance of that which creeps in should not be a temptation to underrate it.
- A pig that is still young and lean cannot rage around much, but after it has eaten its fill and become strong, its true nature comes out if it has not previously been curbed.
- There is a fish in the tank. No blame.
- Does not further guests.
- Then nothing evil is to be feared.
- But care must be taken not to let it come in contact with those further away, because once free it would unfold its evil aspects unchecked.
- There is no skin on his thighs,
- And walking comes hard.
- If one is mindful of the danger,
- No great mistake is made.
- Fortunately circumstances prevent this; one would like to do it, but cannot.
- This leads to painful indecision in behavior.
- But if we gain clear insight into the danger of the situation, we shall at least avoid more serious mistakes.
- No fish in the tank.
- This leads to misfortune.
- Then we can make use of them if we should need them.
- If we become alienated from them and do not meet them halfway, they turn their backs on us and are not at our disposal when we need them.
- But this is our own fault.
- A melon covered with willow leaves.
- Hidden lines.
- Then it drops down to one from heaven.
- It is sweet but spoils easily and for this reason is protected with a cover of willow leaves.
- He has the firm lines of order and beauty within himself but he does not lay stress upon them.
- He does not bother his subordinates with outward show or tiresome admonitions but leaves them quite free, putting his trust in the transforming power of a strong and upright personality.
- And behold! Fate is favorable. His inferiors respond to his influence and fall to his disposition like ripe fruit.
- He comes to meet with his horns.
- Humiliation. No blame.
- There are many people who in a noble pride hold themselves aloof from all that is low and rebuff it brusquely wherever it comes to meet them.
- Such persons are reproached for being proud and distant, but since active duties no longer hold them to the world, this does not greatly matter.
- They know how to bear the dislike of the masses with composure.
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45. Ts’ui / Gathering Together [Massing]
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- In the latter, water is over the earth;
- Here a lake is over the earth.
- The same idea also arises from the fact that in the present case it is two strong lines (the fourth and the fifth) that bring about the gathering together,
- Whereas in the former case one strong line (the fifth) stands in the midst of weak lines.
- GATHERING TOGETHER. Success.
- The king approaches his temple.
- It furthers one to see the great man.
- This brings success. Perseverance furthers.
- To bring great offerings creates good fortune.
- It furthers one to undertake something.
- The family gathers about the father as its head.
- Through the collective piety of the living members of the family, the ancestors become so integrated in the spiritual life of the family that it cannot be dispersed or dissolved.
- But there must also be a human leader to serve as the center of the group.
- In order to be able to bring others together, this leader must first of all be collected within himself.
- Such great times of unification will leave great achievements behind them.
- This is the significance of the great offerings that are made.
- Over the earth, the lake:
- The image of GATHERING TOGETHER.
- Thus the superior man renews his weapons
- In order to meet the unforeseen.
- Precautions must be taken to prevent this.
- Where possessions are collected, robbery is likely to occur.
- Thus in the time of GATHERING TOGETHER we must arm promptly to ward off the unexpected.
- Human woes usually come as a result of unexpected events against which we are not forearmed.
- If we are prepared, they can be prevented.
- If you are sincere, but not to the end,
- There will sometimes be confusion, sometimes gathering together.
- If you call out,
- Then after one grasp of the hand you can laugh again.
- Regret not. Going is without blame.
- But they are in a large group, by which they allow themselves to be influenced, so that they waver in their decision.
- Thus they lack a firm center around which to gather.
- Therefore they must not allow themselves to be led astray.
- It is undoubtedly right that they should attach themselves to this leader.
- Letting oneself be drawn
- Brings good fortune and remains blameless.
- If one is sincere,
- It furthers one to bring even a small offering.
- There are secret forces at work, leading together those who belong together.
- We must yield to this attraction; then we make no mistakes.
- People understand one another forthwith, just as the Divinity graciously accepts a small offering if it comes from the heart.
- Gathering together amid sighs.
- Nothing that would further.
- Going is without blame.
- Slight humiliation.
- The whole situation proves untenable.
- Then he ought to choose the way of progress, resolutely allying himself with a man who stands nearer to the center of the group, and can help him to gain admission to the closed circle.
- This is not a mistake, even though at first his position as an outsider is somewhat humiliating.
- Great good fortune. No blame.
- Since he is not striving for any special advantages for himself but is working unselfishly to bring about general unity, his work is crowned with success, and everything becomes as it should be.
- If in gathering together one has position,
- This brings no blame.
- If there are some who are not yet sincerely in the work,
- Sublime and enduring perseverance is needed.
- Then remorse disappears.
- It gives him a certain influence that can be altogether useful.
- But of course there is also the possibility that many may gather around him not because of a feeling of confidence but merely because of his influential position.
- This is certainly to be regretted.
- In this way secret mistrust will gradually be overcome, and there will be no occasion for regret.
- Lamenting and sighing, floods of tears.
- No blame.
- Then he becomes sad and laments. But this is the right course.
- For it may cause the other person to come to his senses, so that the alliance that has been sought and so painfully missed is after all achieved.
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46. Shêng / Pushing Upward
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- Linked with this is the idea that wood in the earth grows upward.
- That is why this hexagram, although it is connected with success, is associated with effort of the will.
- PUSHING UPWARD has supreme success.
- One must see the great man.
- Fear not.
- Departure toward the south
- Brings good fortune.
- The pushing upward is made possible not by violence but by modesty and adaptability.
- He must go to see authoritative people.
- He need not be afraid to do this, because success is assured.
- But he must set to work, for activity (this is the meaning of “the south.”) brings good fortune.
- Within the earth, wood grows:
- The image of PUSHING UPWARD.
- Thus the superior man of devoted character
- Heaps up small things
- In order to achieve something high and great.
- Thus too the superior man is devoted in character and never pauses in his progress.
- Pushing upward that meets with confidence
- Brings great good fortune.
- Just as wood draws strength for its upward push from the root, which in itself is in the lowest place, so the power to rise comes from this low and obscure station.
- But there is a spiritual affinity with the rulers above, and this solidarity creates the confidence needed to accomplish something.
- If one is sincere,
- It furthers one to bring even a small offering.
- No blame.
- It is true that he does not fit in with his environment, inasmuch as he is too brusque and pays too little attention to form.
- But as he is upright in character, he meets with response, and his lack of outward form does no harm.
- Here uprightness is the outcome of sound qualities of character, whereas in the corresponding line of the preceding hexagram it is the result of innate humility.
- One pushes upward into an empty city.
- Things proceed with remarkable ease.
- Unhesitatingly one follows this road, in order to profit by one’s success.
- However, no promise of good fortune is added.
- It is a question how long such unobstructed success can last.
- Instead, the point is to profit by the propitiousness of the time.
- The king offers him Mount Ch’i.
- Good fortune. No blame.
- The pronouncement takes us back to a time when the Chou dynasty was coming into power.
- At that time King Wên introduced his illustrious helpers to the god of his native mountain, and they received their places in the halls of the ancestors by the side of the ruler.
- One acquires fame in the sight of gods and men, is received into the circle of those who foster the spiritual life of the nation, and thereby attains a significance that endures beyond time.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- One pushes upward by steps.
- Precisely when he experiences great success it is necessary to remain sober and not to try to skip any stages; he must go on slowly, step by step, as though hesitant.
- Only such calm, steady progress, overleaping nothing, leads to the goal.
- Pushing upward in darkness.
- It furthers one
- To be unremittingly persevering.
- He knows only advance, not retreat. But this means exhaustion.
- In such a case it is important to be constantly mindful that one must be conscientious and consistent and must remain so.
- Only thus does one become free of blind impulse, which is always harmful.
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47. K’un / Oppression (Exhaustion)
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- At the top, a dark line is holding down two light lines;
- Below, a light line is hemmed in between two dark ones.
- The upper trigram belongs to the principle of darkness,
- The lower to the principle of light.
- Thus everywhere superior men are oppressed and held in restraint by inferior men.
- OPPRESSION. Success. Perseverance.
- The great man brings about good fortune.
- No blame.
- When one has something to say,
- It is not believed.
- When a strong man meets with adversity, he remains cheerful despite all danger, and this cheerfulness is the source of later successes;
- It is that stability which is stronger than fate.
- He who lets his spirit be broken by exhaustion certainly has no success.
- No inferior man is capable of this.
- Only the great man brings about good fortune and remains blameless.
- Therefore in times of adversity it is important to be strong within and sparing of words.
- There is no water in the lake:
- The image of EXHAUSTION.
- Thus the superior man stakes his life
- On following his will.
- That is fate.
- In such times there is nothing a man can do but acquiesce in his fate and remain true to himself.
- This concerns the deepest stratum of his being, for this alone is superior to all external fate.
- One sits oppressed under a bare tree
- And strays into a gloomy valley.
- For three years one sees nothing.
- If he is weak, the trouble overwhelms him.
- This makes the situation only more and more hopeless.
- Such an attitude comes from an inner delusion that he must by all means overcome.
- One is oppressed while at meat and drink.
- The man with the scarlet knee bands is just coming.
- It furthers one to offer sacrifice.
- To set forth brings misfortune.
- No blame.
- Externally, all is well, one has meat and drink.
- Then help comes from a high place.
- A prince — in ancient China princes wore scarlet knee bands — is in search of able helpers.
- Therefore it is important to meet these obstructions in the invisible realm by offerings and prayer.
- To set forth without being prepared would be disastrous, though not morally wrong.
- Here a disagreeable situation must be overcome by patience of spirit.
- A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone,
- And leans on thorns and thistles.
- He enters his house and does not see his wife.
- Misfortune.
- At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true, mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with.
- He butts his head against a wall and in consequence feels himself oppressed by the wall.
- Then he leans on things that have in themselves no stability and that are merely a hazard for him who leans on them.
- Thereupon he turns back irresolutely and retires into his house, only to find, as a fresh disappointment, that his wife is not there.
“If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced. If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. For him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he then still see his wife?”
- He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage.
- Humiliation, but the end is reached.
- But instead of proceeding with speed and energy where there is need, he begins in a hesitant and measured way.
- Powerful and wealthy acquaintances draw him into their circle;
- He has to do as they do and cannot withdraw from them.
- Hence he finds himself in great embarrassment.
- The original strength of his nature offsets the mistake he has made, and the goal is reached.
- His nose and feet are cut off.
- Oppression at the hands of the man with the purple knee bands.
- Joy comes softly.
- It furthers one to make offerings and libations.
- He finds no help among the people whose duty it would be to aid in the work of rescue (ministers wore purple knee bands).
- But little by little, things take a turn for the better.
- Until that time, he should turn to God, firm in his inner composure, and pray and offer sacrifice for the general well-being.
- He is oppressed by creeping vines.
- He moves uncertainly and says, “Movement brings remorse.”
- If one feels remorse over this and makes a start,
- Good fortune comes.
- The distress is drawing to an end.
- But he is still irresolute; he is still influenced by the previous condition and fears that he may have cause for regret if he makes a move.
- But as soon as he grasps the situation, changes this mental attitude, and makes a firm decision, he masters the oppress
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48. Ching / The Well
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- The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water.
- The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well.
- The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers.
- THE WELL. The town may be changed,
- But the well cannot be changed.
- It neither decreases nor increases.
- They come and go and draw from the well.
- If one gets down almost to the water
- And the rope does not go all the way,
- Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
- The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day.
- Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms.
- Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same — this cannot be changed.
- It grows neither less nor more; it exists for one and for all.
- The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance.
- We must go down to the very foundations of life.
- For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made.
- Carelessness — by which the jug is broken — is also disastrous.
- If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug.
- However men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone.
- And every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man’s nature.
- A man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention — a partial education of this sort is as bad as none
- Or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development.
- Water over wood: the image of THE WELL.
- Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work,
- And exhorts them to help one another.
- Wood sucks water upward.
- Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.
- One does not drink the mud of the well.
- No animals come to an old well.
- Such a man loses all significance for mankind.
- He who throws himself away is no longer sought out by others.
- In the end no one troubles about him any more.
- At the wellhole one shoots fishes.
- The jug is broken and leaks.
- Thus the well is a place where only fish will stay, and whoever comes to it, comes only to catch fish.
- But the jug is broken, so that the fish cannot be kept in it.
- No one bothers about him.
- As a result he deteriorates in mind.
- He associates with inferior men and can no longer accomplish anything worthwhile.
- The well is cleaned, but no one drinks from it.
- This is my heart’s sorrow.
- For one might draw from it.
- If the king were clear-minded,
- Good fortune might be enjoyed in common.
- He is like a purified well whose water is drinkable.
- But no use is made of him.
- This is the sorrow of those who know him.
- One wishes that the prince might learn about it; this would be good fortune for all concerned.
- The well is being lined. No blame.
- But the work is not in vain; the result is that the water stays clear.
- During such a time he can do nothing for others, but his work is nonetheless valuable, because by enhancing his powers and abilities through inner development, he can accomplish all the more later on.
- In the well there is a clear, cold spring
- From which one can drink.
- A man who has virtues like a well of this sort is born to be a leader and savior of men, for he has the water of life.
- Nevertheless, the character for “good fortune” is left out here.
- The best water is only a potentiality for refreshment as long as it is not brought up.
- So too with leaders of mankind: it is all-important that one should drink from the spring of their words and translate them into life.
- One draws from the well
- Without hindrance.
- It is dependable.
- Supreme good fortune.
- No one is forbidden to take water from it.
- No matter how many come, all find what they need, for the well is dependable.
- It has a spring and never runs dry.
- Therefore it is a great blessing to the whole land.
- The more that people draw from him, the greater his wealth becomes.
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49. Ko / Revolution (Molting)
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- From this the word is carried over to apply to the “moltings” in political life, the great revolutions connected with changes of governments.
- But while there the elder of the two daughters is above, and what results is essentially only an opposition of tendencies, here the younger daughter is above.
- The influences are in actual conflict, and the forces combat each other like fire and water (lake), each trying to destroy the other.
- Hence the idea of revolution.
- REVOLUTION. On your own day
- You are believed.
- Supreme success,
- Furthering through perseverance.
- Remorse disappears.
- They should be undertaken only under stress of direst necessity, when there is no other way out.
- He must then proceed in the right way, so that he gladdens the people and, by enlightening them, prevents excesses.
- Furthermore, he must be quite free of selfish aims and must really relieve the need of the people.
- Only then does he have nothing to regret.
- Thus the seasons change in the course of the year.
- In the world cycle also there are spring and autumn in the life of peoples and nations, and these call for social transformations.
- Fire in the lake: the image of REVOLUTION.
- Thus the superior man
- Sets the calendar in order
- And makes the seasons clear.
- So too in the course of the year a combat takes place between the forces of light and the forces of darkness, eventuating in the revolution of the seasons.
- In this way order and clarity appear in the apparently chaotic changes of the seasons, and man is able to adjust himself in advance to the demands of the different times.
- Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.
- Therefore at first the utmost restraint is necessary.
- One must become firm in one’s mind, control oneself — yellow is the color of the mean, and the cow is the symbol of docility — and refrain from doing anything for the time being, because any premature offensive will bring evil results.
- When one’s own day comes, one may create revolution.
- Starting brings good fortune. No blame.
- But such a thoroughgoing upheaval must be carefully prepared.
- There must be available a man who has the requisite abilities and who possesses public confidence.
- To such a man we may well turn.
- This brings good fortune and is not a mistake.
- We have to go out to meet it, as it were.
- Only in this way can it be prepared for.
- Starting brings misfortune.
- Perseverance brings danger.
- When talk of revolution has gone the rounds three times,
- One may commit himself,
- And men will believe him.
- One lies in excessive haste and ruthlessness, which bring disaster.
- The other lies in excessive hesitation and conservatism, which are also dangerous.
- Not every demand for change in the existing order should be heeded.
- When talk of change has come to one’s ears three times, and has been pondered well, he may believe and acquiesce in it.
- Then he will meet with belief and will accomplish something.1
- Remorse disappears. Men believe him.
- Changing the form of government brings good fortune.
- A man must have inner strength as well as influential position.
- What he does must correspond with a higher truth and must not spring from arbitrary or petty motives; then it brings great good fortune.
- For in the end men will support only those undertakings which they feel instinctively to be just.
- The great man changes like a tiger.
- Even before he questions the oracle
- He is believed.
- It is the same with a revolution brought about by a great man: large, clear guiding lines become visible, understandable to everyone.
- Therefore he need not first consult the oracle, for he wins the spontaneous support of the people.
- The superior man changes like a panther.
- The inferior man molts in the face.
- Starting brings misfortune.
- To remain persevering brings good fortune.
- These detailed reforms may be likened to the equally distinct but relatively small marks of the panther’s coat.
- As a consequence, a change also takes place among the inferior people.
- In conformity with the new order, they likewise “molt.”
- We must be satisfied with the attainable.
- If we should go too far and try to achieve too much, it would lead to unrest and misfortune.
- For the object of a great revolution is the attainment of clarified, secure conditions ensuring a general stabilization on the basis of what is possible at the moment.
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50. Ting / The Caldron
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- At the bottom are the legs,
- Over them the belly,
- Then come the ears (handles),
- And at the top the carrying rings.
- The ting, cast of bronze, was the vessel that held the cooked viands in the temple of the ancestors and at banquets.
- The German word used by Wilhelm for ting is Tiegel, meaning literally “caldron” and, in another sense, “crucible.”
- Since this characteristic Chinese vessel is unique in form, so different from either a caldron or a crucible in the usual sense, the word ting has been retained wherever feasible here.
- The head of the family served the food from the ting into the bowls of the guests.1
- The ting, as a utensil pertaining to a refined civilization, suggests the fostering and nourishing of able men, which redounded to the benefit of the state.2
- Yet here too the thought has its abstract connotation.
- Thus together they stand for the flame kindled by wood and wind, which likewise suggests the idea of preparing food.
- THE CALDRON. Supreme good fortune.
- Success.
- Here it is the wood that serves as nourishment for the flame, the spirit.
- All that is visible must grow beyond itself, extend into the realm of the invisible.
- Thereby it receives its true consecration and clarity and takes firm root in the cosmic order.
- The ting serves in offering sacrifice to God.
- The highest earthly values must be sacrificed to the divine.
- The supreme revelation of God appears in prophets and holy men.
- To venerate them is true veneration of God.
- This brings inner enlightenment and true understanding of the world, and this leads to great good fortune and success.
- Fire over wood:
- The image of THE CALDRON.
- Thus the superior man consolidates his fate
- By making his position correct.
- It is the same in human life; there is in man likewise a fate that lends power to his life.
- And if he succeeds in assigning the right place to life and to fate, thus bringing the two into harmony, he put his fate on a firm footing.
- A ting with legs upturned.
- Furthers removal of stagnating stuff.
- One takes a concubine for the sake of her son.
- No blame.
- A concubine’s position is lowly, but because she has a son she comes to be honored.
- No matter how lowly he may be, provided he is ready to purify himself, he is accepted.
- He attains a station in which he can prove himself fruitful in accomplishment, and as a result he gains recognition.
- There is food in the ting.
- My comrades are envious,
- But they cannot harm me.
- Good fortune.
- If a man concentrates on such real undertakings, he may indeed experience envy and disfavor, but that is not dangerous.
- The more he limits himself to his actual achievements, the less harm can the envious inflict on him.
- The handle of the ting is altered.
- One is impeded in his way of life.
- The fat of the pheasant is not eaten.
- Once rain falls, remorse is spent.
- Good fortune comes in the end.
- If the handle is altered, the ting cannot be lifted up and used, and, sad to say, the delicious food in it, such as pheasant fat, cannot be eaten by anyone.
- This is a severe block to his effectiveness.
- All of his good qualities and gifts of mind thus needlessly go to waste.
- The fall of rain symbolizes here, as in other instances, release of tension.
- The legs of the ting are broken.
- The prince’s meal is spilled
- And his person is soiled.
- Misfortune.
- Moreover, he does not devote himself to it with all his strength but goes about with inferior people;
- Therefore the execution of the work fails. In this way he also incurs personal opprobrium.
“Weak character coupled with honored place, meager knowledge with large plans, limited powers with heavy responsibility, will seldom escape disaster.”
- The ting has yellow handles, golden carrying rings.
- Perseverance furthers.
- As a result of this attitude he succeeds in finding strong and able helpers who complement and aid him in his work.
- Having achieved this attitude, which requires constant self-abnegation, it is important for him to hold to it and not to let himself be led astray.
- The ting has rings of jade.
- Great good fortune.
- Nothing that would not act to further.
- Jade is notable for its combination of hardness with soft luster.
- Here the counsel is described in relation to the sage who imparts it.
- In imparting it, he will be mild and pure, like precious jade.
- Thus the work finds favor in the eyes of the Deity, who dispenses great good fortune, and becomes pleasing to men, wherefore all goes well.
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51. Chên / The Arousing (Shock, Thunder)
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- A yang line develops below two yin lines and presses upward forcibly.
- This movement is so violent that it arouses terror.
- It is symbolized by thunder, which bursts forth from the earth and by its shock causes fear and trembling.
- SHOCK brings success.
- Shock comes — oh, oh!
- Laughing words — ha, ha!
- The shock terrifies for a hundred miles,
- And he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon and chalice.
- Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around: he remains so composed and reverent in spirit that the sacrificial rite is not interrupted.
- This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men — a profound inner seriousness from which all outer terrors glance off harmlessly.
- Thunder repeated: the image of SHOCK.
- Thus in fear and trembling
- The superior man sets his life in order
- And examines himself.
- The superior man is always filled with reverence at the manifestation of God;
- He sets his life in order and searches his heart, lest it harbor any secret opposition to the will of God.
- Thus reverence is the foundation of true culture.
- Shock comes — oh, oh!
- Then follow laughing words — ha, ha!
- Good fortune.
- But this is only transitory.
- When the ordeal is over, he experiences relief, and thus the very terror he had to endure at the outset brings good fortune in the long run.
- Shock comes bringing danger.
- A hundred thousand times
- You lose your treasures
- And must climb the nine hills.
- Do not go in pursuit of them.
- After seven days you will get them back again.
- Resistance would be contrary to the movement of the time and for this reason unsuccessful.
- Therefore he must simply retreat to heights inaccessible to the threatening forces of danger.
- He must accept his loss of property without worrying too much about it.
- When the time of shock and upheaval that has robbed him of his possessions has passed, he will get them back again without going in pursuit of them.
- Shock comes and makes one distraught.
- If shock spurs to action
- One remains free of misfortune.
- The present hexagram refers less to inner shock than to the shock of fate.
- The individual overlooks all opportunities for action and mutely lets fate take its course.
- But if he allows the shocks of fate to induce movement within his mind, he will overcome these external blows with little effort.
- Shock is mired.
- If there is neither a resistance that might be vigorously combated, nor yet a yielding that permits of victory — if, instead, everything is tough and inert like mire — movement is crippled.
- Shock goes hither and thither.
- Danger.
- However, nothing at all is lost.
- Yet there are things to be done.
- Nonetheless, the shock causes no loss, because one takes care to stay in the center of movement and in this way to be spared the fate of being helplessly tossed hither and thither.
- Shock brings ruin and terrified gazing around.
- Going ahead brings misfortune.
- If it has not yet touched one’s own body
- But has reached one’s neighbor first,
- There is no blame.
- One’s comrades have something to talk about.
- In such a state of shock it is of course impossible to act with presence of mind.
- Then the right thing is to keep still until composure and clarity are restored.
- If he withdraws from the affair in time, he remains free of mistakes and injury.
- But his comrades, who no longer heed any warning, will in their excitement certainly be displeased with him.
- However, he must not take this into account.
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52. Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
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- The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward by nature;
- The female principle is below, since the direction of its movement is downward.
- Thus there is rest because the movement has come to its normal end.
- It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart.
- While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana,
- The Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement.
- KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still
- So that he no longer feels his body.
- He goes into his courtyard
- And does not see his people.
- No blame.
- In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life.
- If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were.
- When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world.
- He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them.
- Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.
- Mountains standing close together:
- The image of KEEPING STILL.
- Thus the superior man
- Does not permit his thoughts
- To go beyond his situation.
- This cannot be changed, but the movements of the heart — that is, a man’s thoughts — should restrict themselves to the immediate situation.
- All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.
- Keeping his toes still.
- No blame.
- Continued perseverance furthers.
- The beginning is the time of few mistakes.
- At that time one is still in harmony with primal innocence.
- Not yet influenced by obscuring interests and desires, one sees things intuitively as they really are.
- But persisting firmness is needed to keep one from drifting irresolutely.
- Keeping his calves still.
- He cannot rescue him whom he follows.
- His heart is not glad.
- If a leg is suddenly stopped while the whole body is in vigorous motion, the continuing body movement will make one fall.
- He is swept along, and even though he may himself halt on the path of wrongdoing, he can no longer check the other in his powerful movement.
- Where the master presses forward, the servant, no matter how good his intentions, cannot save him.
- Keeping his hips still.
- Making his sacrum stiff.
- Dangerous. The heart suffocates.
- The restless heart is to be subdued by forcible means.
- Therefore, in exercises in meditation and concentration, one ought not to try to force results.
- Rather, calmness must develop naturally out of a state of inner composure.
- Keeping his trunk still.
- No blame.
- This is the highest stage of rest.
- The individual in this instance, though able to keep the ego, with its thoughts and impulses, in a state of rest, is not yet quite liberated from its dominance.
- Even though at this point one does not yet remain free from all the dangers of doubt and unrest, this frame of mind is not a mistake, as it leads ultimately to that other, higher level.
- Keeping his jaws still.
- The words have order.
- Remorse disappears.
- But injudicious speech easily leads to situations that subsequently give much cause for regret.
- However, if a man is reserved in speech, his words take ever more definite form, and every occasion for regret vanishes.
- Noblehearted keeping still.
- Good fortune.
- One is at rest, not merely in a small, circumscribed way in regard to matters of detail,
- But one has also a general resignation in regard to life as a whole, and this confers peace and good fortune in relation to every individual matter.
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53. Chien / Development (Gradual Progress)
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- A tree on a mountain develops slowly according to the law of its being and consequently stands firmly rooted.
- This gives the idea of a development that proceeds gradually, step by step.
- Within is tranquility, which guards against precipitate actions, and
- Without is penetration, which makes development and progress possible.
- DEVELOPMENT. The maiden
- Is given in marriage.
- Good fortune.
- Perseverance furthers.
- The various formalities must be disposed of before the marriage takes place.
- It is always applicable where it is a matter of correct relationships of co-operation, as for instance in the appointment of an official.
- The development must be allowed to take its proper course.
- Hasty action would not be wise.
- No influence such as that exerted by agitators has a lasting effect.
- Gentleness that is adaptable, but at the same time penetrating, is the outer form that should proceed from inner calm.
- On the mountain, a tree:
- The image of DEVELOPMENT.
- Thus the superior man abides in dignity and virtue,
- In order to improve the mores.
- It does not shoot up like a swamp plant; its growth proceeds gradually.
- No sudden influence or awakening is of lasting effect.
- This comes about through careful and constant work on one’s own moral development.
- The wild goose gradually draws near the shore.
- The young son is in danger.
- There is talk. No blame.
- The wild goose is the symbol of conjugal fidelity, because it is believed that this bird never takes another mate after the death of the first.
- The initial line suggests the first resting place in the flight of water birds from the water to the heights. The shore is reached.
- Since no one comes to help him, his first steps are slow and hesitant, and he is surrounded by danger.
- Naturally he is subjected to much criticism.
- But these very difficulties keep him from being too hasty, and his progress is successful.
- The wild goose gradually draws near the cliff.
- Eating and drinking in peace and concord.
- Good fortune.
- The initial insecurity has been overcome, and a safe position in life has been found, giving one enough to live on.
- This first success, opening up a path to activity, brings a certain joyousness of mood, and one goes to meet the future reassured.
- This is the symbol of peace and concord in good fortune.
- A man does not want to keep his good luck for himself only, but is ready to share it with others.
- The wild goose gradually draws near the plateau.
- The man goes forth and does not return.
- The woman carries a child but does not bring it forth.
- Misfortune.
- It furthers one to fight off robbers.
- If it goes there, it has lost its way and gone too far.
- This is contrary to the law of development.
- If we do not let things develop quietly but plunge of our own choice too rashly into a struggle, misfortune results.
- A man jeopardizes his own life, and his family perishes thereby.
- If one does not willfully provoke a conflict, but confines himself to vigorously maintaining his own position and to warding off unjustified attacks, all goes well.
- The wild goose gradually draws near the tree.
- Perhaps it will find a flat branch. No blame.
- But if it is clever, it will find a flat branch on which it can get a footing.
- Then it is important to be sensible and yielding.
- This enables him to discover a safe place in which life can go on, although he may be surrounded by danger.
- The wild goose gradually draws near the summit.
- For three years the woman has no child.
- In the end nothing can hinder her.
- Good fortune.
- In a high position one easily becomes isolated.
- One is misjudged by the very person on whom one is dependent — the woman by her husband, the official by his superior.
- The result is that relationships remain sterile, and nothing is accomplished.
- But in the course of further development, such misunderstandings are cleared away, and reconciliation is achieved after all.
- The wild goose gradually draws near the cloud heights.
- Its feathers can be used for the sacred dance.
- Good fortune.
- The path rises high toward heaven, like the flight of wild geese when they have left the earth far behind.
- There they fly, keeping to the order of their flight in strict formation.
- Thus the life of a man who has perfected himself is a bright light for the people of the earth, who look up to him as an example.
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54. Kuei Mei / The Marrying Maiden
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- The man leads and the girl follows him in gladness.
- The picture is that of the entrance of the girl into her husband’s house.
- Hsien, INFLUENCE (31), describes the attraction that a young couple have for each other;
- Hêng, DURATION (32), portrays the permanent relationships of marriage;
- Chien, DEVELOPMENT (53), reflects the protracted, ceremonious procedures attending the arrangement of a proper marriage; finally,
- This marriage, which is less the concern of the two participants than of their families, is contracted with strict observance of forms.
- But the husband retains the right also to indulge his more personal inclinations.
- Indeed, it is the most gracious duty of a good wife to be helpful to him in this respect.
- Of course it is a most difficult and delicate matter, requiring tact on the part of all concerned.
- But under favorable circumstances this represents the solution of a problem for which European culture has failed to find an answer.
- Needless to say, the ideal set for woman in China is achieved no oftener than is the European ideal.
- Kuei Mei, THE MARRYING MAIDEN, shows a young girl under the guidance of an older man who marries her.1
- THE MARRYING MAIDEN.
- Undertakings bring misfortune.
- Nothing that would further.
- She must not take it upon herself to supplant the mistress of the house, for that would mean disorder and lead to untenable relationships.
- While legally regulated relationships evince a fixed connection between duties and rights, relationships based on personal inclination depend in the long run entirely on tactful reserve.
- For the union of heaven and earth is the origin of the whole of nature.
- Among human beings likewise, spontaneous affection is the all-inclusive principle of union.
- Thunder over the lake:
- The image of THE MARRYING MAIDEN.
- Thus the superior man
- Understands the transitory
- In the light of the eternity of the end.
- This symbolizes the girl who follows the man of her choice.
- Therefore it is necessary constantly to remain mindful of the end.
- If we permit ourselves to drift along, we come together and are parted again as the day may determine.
- If on the other hand a man fixes his mind on an end that endures, he will succeed in avoiding the reefs that confront the closer relationships of people.
- The marrying maiden as a concubine.
- A lame man who is able to tread.
- Undertakings bring good fortune.
- Frequently they came from the family of the queen, who herself led them to her husband.
- However, if she understands how to fit herself into the pattern of things, her position will be entirely satisfactory, and she will feel sheltered in the love of the husband to whom she bears children.
- A man may enjoy the personal friendship of a prince and be taken into his confidence.
- Outwardly this man must keep tactfully in the background behind the official ministers of state, but, although he is hampered by this status, as if he were lame, he can nevertheless accomplish something through the kindliness of his nature.
- A one-eyed man who is able to see.
- The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.
- Man and wife ought to work together like a pair of eyes.
- Here the girl is left behind in loneliness; the man of her choice either has become unfaithful or has died.
- But she does not lose the inner light of loyalty.
- Though the other eye is gone, she maintains her loyalty even in loneliness.
- The marrying maiden as a slave.
- She marries as a concubine.
- He enters upon a situation not altogether compatible with self-esteem.
- Neither judgment nor warning is added to this line; it merely lays bare the actual situation, so that everyone may draw a lesson from it.
- The marrying maiden draws out the allotted time.
- A late marriage comes in due course.
- She does not wish to throw herself away, and allows the customary time for marriage to slip by.
- However, there is no harm in this; she is rewarded for her purity and, even though belatedly, finds the husband intended for her.
- The sovereign I gave his daughter in marriage.
- The embroidered garments of the princess
- Were not as gorgeous
- As those of the servingmaid.
- The moon that is nearly full
- Brings good fortune.
- This ruler decreed that the imperial princesses should be subordinated to their husbands in the same manner as other women (cf. hexagram 11, six in the fifth place).
- The emperor does not wait for a suitor to woo his daughter but gives her in marriage when he sees fit.
- Therefore it is in accord with custom for the girl’s family to take the initiative here.
- She is free of all vanity of outer adornment, and forgetting her rank in her marriage, takes a place below that of her husband, just as the moon, before it is quite full, does not directly face the sun.
- The woman holds the basket, but there are no fruits in it.
- The man stabs the sheep, but no blood flows.
- Nothing that acts to further.
- Here the ritual is only superficially fulfilled; the woman takes an empty basket and the man stabs a sheep slaughtered beforehand — solely to preserve the forms.
- This impious, irreverent attitude bodes no good for a marriage.
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55. Fêng / Abundance [Fullness]
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- Clarity within, movement without — this produces greatness and abundance.
- However, the fact that development has reached a peak suggests that this extraordinary condition of abundance cannot be maintained permanently.
- ABUNDANCE has success.
- The king attains abundance.
- Be not sad.
- Be like the sun at midday.
- Only a born ruler of men is able to do it, because his will is directed to what is great.
- Therefore a sage might well feel sad in view of the decline that must follow.
- But such sadness does not befit him.
- He must be like the sun at midday, illuminating and gladdening everything under heaven.
- Both thunder and lightning come:
- The image of ABUNDANCE.
- Thus the superior man decides lawsuits
- And carries out punishments.
- In BITING THROUGH, laws are laid down; here they are applied and enforced.
- Clarity [Li] within makes it possible to investigate the facts exactly, and
- Shock [Chên] without ensures a strict and precise carrying out of punishments.
- When a man meets his destined ruler,
- They can be together ten days,
- And it is not a mistake.
- Going meets with recognition.
- Two individuals possessed of these two attributes are suited to each other, and even if they spend an entire cycle of time together during the period of abundance, it will not be too long, nor is it a mistake.
- Therefore one may go forth, in order to make one’s influence felt; it will meet with recognition.
- The curtain is of such fullness
- That the polestars can be seen at noon.
- Through going one meets with mistrust and hate.
- If one rouses him through truth,
- Good fortune comes.
- Then, instead of the sun, we see the northern stars in the sky.
- The ruler is overshadowed by a party that has usurped power.
- The essential thing then is to hold inwardly to the power of truth, which in the end is so strong that it exerts an invisible influence on the ruler, so that all goes well.
- The underbrush is of such abundance
- That the small stars can be seen at noon.
- He breaks his right arm. No blame.
- Here the eclipse reaches totality, therefore even the small stars can be seen at noon.
- This makes it impossible for an able man, though he might be the right hand of the ruler, to undertake anything.
- It is as though his arm were broken, but he is not to blame for being thus hindered in action.
- The curtain is of such fullness
- That the polestars can be seen at noon.
- He meets his ruler, who is of like kind.
- Good fortune.
- Here too the complement must be found — the necessary wisdom to complement joy of action.
- Then everything will go well.
- In the latter, wisdom is to be complemented by energy, while here energy is complemented by wisdom.
- Lines are coming,
- Blessing and fame draw near.
- Good fortune.
- Thus he is surrounded by men who suggest to him the lines of action.
- This brings blessing, fame, and good fortune to him and all the people.
- His house is in a state of abundance.
- He screens off his family.
- He peers through the gate
- And no longer perceives anyone.
- For three years he sees nothing.
- Misfortune.
- He seeks abundance and splendor for his dwelling.
- He wishes at all odds to be master in his house, which so alienates his family that in the end he finds himself completely isolated.
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56. Lü / The Wanderer
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- Therefore the two trigrams do not stay together.
- THE WANDERER. Success through smallness.
- Perseverance brings good fortune
- To the wanderer.
- He has no large circle of acquaintances, therefore he should not give himself airs.
- He must be cautious and reserved; in this way he protects himself from evil.
- If he is obliging toward others, he wins success.
- Therefore he must take care to remain upright and steadfast, so that he sojourns only in the proper places, associating only with good people.
- Then he has good fortune and can go his way unmolested.
- Fire on the mountain:
- The image of THE WANDERER.
- Thus the superior man
- Is clear-minded and cautious
- In imposing penalties,
- And protracts no lawsuits.
- However, the fire does not linger in one place, but travels on to new fuel.
- It is a phenomenon of short duration.
- They should be a quickly passing matter, and must not be dragged out indefinitely.
- Prisons ought to be places where people are lodged only temporarily, as guests are.
- They must not become dwelling places.
- If the wanderer busies himself with trivial things,
- He draws down misfortune upon himself.
- The humbler and more defenseless his outward position, the more should he preserve his inner dignity.
- For a stranger is mistaken if he hopes to find a friendly reception through lending himself to jokes and buffoonery.
- The result will be only contempt and insulting treatment.
- The wanderer comes to an inn.
- He has his property with him.
- He wins the steadfastness1 of a young servant.
- He does not lose touch with his inner being, hence he finds a resting place.
- In the outside world he does not lose the liking of other people, hence all persons further him, so that he can acquire property.
- Moreover, he wins the allegiance of a faithful and trustworthy servant — a thing of inestimable value to a wanderer.
- The wanderer’s inn burns down.
- He loses the steadfastness of his young servant.
- Danger.
- He meddles in affairs and controversies that do not concern him; thus he loses his resting place.
- He treats his servant with aloofness and arrogance; thus he loses the man’s loyalty.
- When a stranger in a strange land has no one left on whom he can rely, the situation becomes very dangerous.
- The wanderer rests in a shelter.
- He obtains his property and an ax.
- My heart is not glad.
- Therefore he finds at least a place of shelter in which he can stay.
- He also succeeds in acquiring property, but even with this he is not secure.
- He must be always on guard, ready to defend himself with arms.
- He is persistently conscious of being a stranger in a strange land.
- He shoots a pheasant.
- It drops with the first arrow.
- In the end this brings both praise and office.
- Here the wanderer wants to enter the service of a prince.
- To this end he shoots a pheasant, killing it at the first shot.
- Thus he finds friends who praise and recommend him, and in the end the prince accepts him and confers an office upon him.
- If he knows how to meet the situation and how to introduce himself in the right way, he may find a circle of friends and a sphere of activity even in a strange country.
- The bird’s nest burns up.
- The wanderer laughs at first,
- Then must needs lament and weep.
- Through carelessness he loses his cow.
- Misfortune.
- This misfortune may overtake the bird if it is heedless and imprudent when building its nest.
- If he lets himself go, laughing and jesting, and forgets that he is a wanderer, he will later have cause to weep and lament.
- For if through carelessness a man loses his cow — i.e., his modesty and adaptability — evil will result.
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57. Sun / The Gentle (Penetrating, Wind)
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- It is the eldest daughter and symbolizes wind or wood;
- It has for its attribute gentleness, which nonetheless penetrates like the wind or like growing wood with its roots.
- In nature, it is the wind that disperses the gathered clouds, leaving the sky clear and serene.
- In human life it is penetrating clarity of judgment that thwarts all dark hidden motives.
- In the life of the community it is the powerful influence of a great personality that uncovers and breaks up those intrigues which shun the light of day.
- THE GENTLE. Success through what is small.
- It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
- It furthers one to see the great man.
- It should be effected not by an act of violation but by influence that never lapses.
- Results of this kind are less striking to the eye than those won by surprise attack, but they are more enduring and more complete.
- Small strength can achieve its purpose only by subordinating itself to an eminent man who is capable of creating order.
- Winds following one upon the other:
- The image of THE GENTLY PENETRATING.
- Thus the superior man
- Spreads his commands abroad
- And carries out his undertakings.
- This is what makes it so powerful; time is its instrument.
- This too requires a lasting influence brought about by enlightenment and command.
- Action without preparation of the ground only frightens and repels.
- In advancing and in retreating,
- The perseverance of a warrior furthers.
- One does not feel strong enough to advance resolutely.
- A thousand doubts crop up; one is, however, not minded to withdraw but drifts indecisively to and fro.
- Resolute discipline is far better than irresolute license.
- Penetration under the bed.
- Priests and magicians are used in great number.
- Good fortune. No blame.
- In instances like this, it is necessary to trace these things back to the most secret recesses, in order to determine the nature of the influences to be dealt with.
- This is the task of the priests; removing the influences is the task of the magicians.
- For when such elusive influences are brought into the light and branded, they lose their power over people.
- Repeated penetration. Humiliation.
- After a matter has been thoroughly pondered, it is essential to form a decision and to act.
- Repeated deliberation brings fresh doubts and scruples, and thereby humiliation, because one shows oneself unable to act.
- Remorse vanishes.
- During the hunt
- Three kinds of game are caught.
- The three kinds of animals referred to served for offerings to the gods, for feasting guests, and for everyday consumption.
- When the catch answered all three purposes, the hunt was considered especially successful.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Remorse vanishes.
- Nothing that does not further.
- No beginning, but an end.
- Before the change, three days.
- After the change, three days.
- Good fortune.
- The beginning has not been good, but the moment has been reached when a new direction can be taken.
- Change and improvement are called for.
- Then they will succeed, and remorse will disappear.
- Before a change is made, it must be pondered over again and again.
- After the change is made, it is necessary to note carefully for some time after how the improvements bear the test of actuality.
- Such careful work is accompanied by good fortune.
- Penetration under the bed.
- He loses his property and his ax.
- Perseverance brings misfortune.
- He follows up injurious influences into the most secret corners.
- But he no longer has the strength to combat them decisively.
- In this case any attempt to penetrate into the personal domain of darkness would only bring harm.
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58. Tui / The Joyous, Lake
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- The trigram Tui denotes the youngest daughter;
- It is symbolized by the smiling lake, and
- Its attribute is joyousness.
- The attribute of the yielding or dark principle is not joy but melancholy.
- However, joy is indicated by the fact that there are two strong lines within, expressing themselves through the medium of gentleness.
- THE JOYOUS. Success.
- Perseverance is favorable.
- But joy must be based on steadfastness if it is not to degenerate into uncontrolled mirth.
- Truth and strength must dwell in the heart, while gentleness reveals itself in social intercourse.
- In this way one assumes the right attitude toward God and man and achieves something.
- When, on the other hand, the hearts of men are won by friendliness, they are led to take all hardships upon themselves willingly, and if need be will not shun death itself, so great is the power of joy over men.
- Lakes resting one on the other:
- The image of THE JOYOUS.
- Thus the superior man joins with his friends
- For discussion and practice.
- It is the same in the field of knowledge.
- Knowledge should be a refreshing and vitalizing force.
- In this way learning becomes many-sided and takes on a cheerful lightness,
- Whereas there is always something ponderous and one-sided about the learning of the self-taught.
- Contented joyousness. Good fortune.
- In this freedom lies good fortune, because it harbors the quiet security of a heart fortified within itself.
- Sincere joyousness. Good fortune.
- Remorse disappears.
- To participate in such pleasures would certainly bring remorse, for a superior man can find no real satisfaction in low pleasures.
- Thus every cause for regret is removed.
- Coming joyousness. Misfortune.
- But if one is empty within and wholly given over to the world, idle pleasures come streaming in from without.
- This is what many people welcome as diversion.
- They attract external pleasures by the emptiness of their natures.
- Thus they lose themselves more and more, which of course has bad results.
- Joyousness that is weighed is not at peace.
- After ridding himself of mistakes a man has joy.
- Only when he clearly recognizes that passion brings suffering, can he make up his mind to turn away from the lower pleasures and to strive for the higher.
- Once this decision is sealed, he finds true joy and peace, and inner conflict is overcome.
- Sincerity toward disintegrating influences is dangerous.
- But if he recognizes the situation and can comprehend the danger, he knows how to protect himself and remains unharmed.
- Seductive joyousness.
- If a man is unstable within, the pleasures of the world that he does not shun have so powerful an influence that he is swept along by them.
- Here it is no longer a question of danger, of good fortune or misfortune.
- He has given up direction of his own life, and what becomes of him depends upon chance and external influences.
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59. Huan / Dispersion [Dissolution]
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- This suggests that when a man’s vital energy is dammed up within him (indicated as a danger by the attribute of the lower trigram), gentleness serves to break up and dissolve the blockage.
- DISPERSION. Success.
- The king approaches his temple.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- Perseverance furthers.
- In the latter, the subject is the bringing together of elements that have been separated, as water collects in lakes upon the earth.
- Here the subject is the dispersing and dissolving of divisive egotism.
- This explains the similarity of the two texts.
- The common celebration of the great sacrificial feasts and sacred rites, which gave expression simultaneously to the interrelation and social articulation of family and state, was the means employed by the great rulers to unite men.
- The sacred music and the splendor of the ceremonies aroused a strong tide of emotion that was shared by all hearts in unison, and that awakened a consciousness of the common origin of all creatures.
- In this way disunity was overcome and rigidity dissolved.
- In the common concentration on this goal, all barriers dissolve, just as, when a boat is crossing a great stream, all hands must unite in a joint task.
- The wind drives over the water:
- The image of DISPERSION.
- Thus the kings of old sacrificed to the Lord
- And built temples.
- When the warm breezes of spring come, the rigidity is dissolved, and the elements that have been dispersed in ice floes are reunited.
- Through hardness and selfishness the heart grows rigid, and this rigidity leads to separation from all others.
- Egotism and cupidity isolate men.
- They must be shaken by a religious awe in face of eternity
- Stirred with an intuition of the One Creator of all living beings, and
- United through the strong feeling of fellowship experienced in the ritual of divine worship.
- He brings help with the strength of a horse.
- Good fortune.
- At such times when hidden divergences in temper make themselves felt and lead to mutual misunderstandings,
- We must take quick and vigorous action to dissolve the misunderstandings and mutual distrust.
- At the dissolution
- He hurries to that which supports him.
- Remorse disappears.
- He must rouse himself inwardly, hasten to that which supports him.
- Such support is never found in hatred, but always in a moderate and just judgment of men, linked with good will.
- If he regains this unobstructed outlook on humanity, while at the same time all saturnine ill humor is dissolved, all occasion for remorse disappears.
- He dissolves his self. No remorse.
- He must set aside all personal desires and disperse whatever the self gathers about it to serve as a barrier against others.
- Only on the basis of a great renunciation can he obtain the strength for great achievements.
- By setting his goal in a great task outside himself, he can attain this standpoint.
- He dissolves his bond with his group.1
- Supreme good fortune.
- Dispersion leads in turn to accumulation.
- This is something that ordinary men do not think of.
- Only by rising above party interests can we achieve something decisive.
- He who has the courage thus to forego what is near wins what is afar.
- But in order to comprehend this standpoint, one must have a wide view of the interrelationships of life, such as only unusual men attain.
- His loud cries are as dissolving as sweat.
- Dissolution! A king abides without blame.
- Just as an illness reaches its crisis in a dissolving sweat, so a great and stimulating idea is a true salvation in times of general deadlock.
- It gives the people a rallying point-a man in a ruling position who can dispel misunderstandings.
- He dissolves his blood.
- Departing, keeping at a distance, going out,
- Is without blame.
- But here the thought is not that a man avoids difficulties for himself alone, but rather that he rescues his kin
- Helps them to get away before danger comes, or to
- Keep at a distance from an existing danger, or to
- Find a way out of a danger that is already upon them.
- In this way he does what is right.
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60. Chieh / Limitation
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- When more water comes into it, it overflows.
- Therefore limits must be set for the water.
- In relation to ordinary life it means the thrift that sets fixed limits upon expenditures.
- In relation to the moral sphere it means the fixed limits that the superior man sets upon his actions — the limits of loyalty and disinterestedness.
- LIMITATION. Success.
- Galling limitation must not be persevered in.
- If we live economically in normal times, we are prepared for times of want.
- To be sparing saves us from humiliation.
- In nature there are fixed limits for summer and winter, day and night, and these limits give the year its meaning.
- In the same way, economy, by setting fixed limits upon expenditures, acts to preserve property and prevent injury to the people.
- If a man should seek to impose galling limitations upon his own nature, it would be injurious.
- And if he should go too far in imposing limitations on others, they would rebel.
- Therefore it is necessary to set limits even upon limitation.
- Water over lake: the image of LIMITATION.
- Thus the superior man
- Creates number and measure,
- And examines the nature of virtue and correct conduct.
- A lake can contain only a definite amount of the infinite quantity of water; this is its peculiarity.
- Therefore what concerns us here is the problem of clearly defining these discriminations, which are, so to speak, the backbone of morality.
- To become strong, a man’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted.
- The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding himself with these limitations and by determining for himself what his duty is.
- Not going out of the door and the courtyard
- Is without blame.
- Then he must know where to stop.
- If he rightly understands this and does not go beyond the limits set for him, he accumulates an energy that enables him, when the proper time comes, to act with great force.
- Discretion is of prime importance in preparing the way for momentous things.
“Where disorder develops, words are the first steps. If the prince is not discreet, he loses his servant. If the servant is not discreet, he loses his life. If germinating things are not handled with discretion, the perfecting of them is impeded. Therefore the superior man is careful to maintain silence and does not go forth.”
- Not going out of the gate and the courtyard
- Brings misfortune.
- Just as water first collects in a lake without flowing out, yet is certain to find an outlet when the lake is full, so it is in the life of man.
- It is a good thing to hesitate so long as the time for action has not come, but no longer.
- Once the obstacles to action have been removed, anxious hesitation is a mistake that is bound to bring disaster, because one misses one’s opportunity.
- He who knows no limitation
- Will have cause to lament.
- No blame.
- If he gives himself over to extravagance, he will have to suffer the consequences, with accompanying regret.
- He must not seek to lay the blame on others.
- Only when we realize that our mistakes are of our own making will such disagreeable experiences free us of errors.
- Contented limitation. Success.
- When, however, the limitation is a natural one (as for example, the limitation by which water flows only downhill), it necessarily leads to success, for then it means a saving of energy.
- The energy that otherwise would be consumed in a vain struggle with the object, is applied wholly to the benefit of the matter in hand, and success is assured.
- Sweet limitation brings good fortune.
- Going brings esteem.
- If we seek to impose restrictions on others only, while evading them ourselves, these restrictions will always be resented and will provoke resistance.
- If, however, a man in a leading position applies the limitation first to himself, demanding little from those associated with him, and with modest means manages to achieve something, good fortune is the result.
- Where such an example occurs, it meets with emulation, so that whatever is undertaken must succeed.
- Galling limitation.
- Perseverance brings misfortune.
- Remorse disappears.
- The more consistent such severity, the worse it is, for in the long run a reaction is unavoidable.
- In the same way, the tormented body will rebel against excessive asceticism.
- In such situations ruthlessness toward oneself is the only means of saving one’s soul, which otherwise would succumb to irresolution and temptation.
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61. Chung Fu / Inner Truth
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- Thus visible effects of the invisible manifest themselves.
- This indicates a heart free of prejudices and therefore open to truth.
- This indicates the force of inner truth in the influences they represent.
- Above, gentleness, forbearance toward inferiors;
- Below, joyousness in obeying superiors.
- Such conditions create the basis of a mutual confidence that makes achievements possible.
- It suggests the idea of brooding. An egg is hollow.
- Far-reaching speculations can be linked with these ideas.
- INNER TRUTH. Pigs and fishes.
- Good fortune.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- Perseverance furthers.
- The force of inner truth must grow great indeed before its influence can extend to such creatures.
- One must first rid oneself of all prejudice and, so to speak, let the psyche of the other person act on one without restraint.
- Then one will establish contact with him, understand and gain power over him.
- When a door has thus been opened, the force of one’s personality will influence him.
- If in this way one finds no obstacles insurmountable, one can undertake even the most dangerous things, such as crossing the great water, and succeed.
- This force is not identical with simple intimacy or a secret bond.
- Close ties may exist also among thieves; it is true that such a bond acts as a force but, since it is not invincible, it does not bring good fortune.
- Where the community of interest ceases, the holding together ceases also, and the closest friendship often changes into hate.
- Only when the bond is based on what is right, on steadfastness, will it remain so firm that it triumphs over everything.
- Wind over lake: the image of INNER TRUTH.
- Thus the superior man discusses criminal cases
- In order to delay executions.
- Thus the superior man, when obliged to judge the mistakes of men, tries to penetrate their minds with understanding, in order to gain a sympathetic appreciation of the circumstances.
- This system was not without success, for its aim was to make so strong a moral impression that there was no reason to fear abuse of such mildness.
- For it sprang not from weakness but from a superior clarity.
- Being prepared brings good fortune.
- If there are secret designs, it is disquieting.
- From this state of mind springs the correct attitude toward the outer world.
- The more reliance he places on the support of others, the more uneasy and anxious he will become as to whether these secret ties are really tenable.
- In this way inner peace and the force of inner truth are lost.
- A crane calling in the shade.
- Its young answers it.
- I have a good goblet.
- I will share it with you.
- The crane need not show itself on a high hill.
- It may be quite hidden when it sounds its call; yet its young will hear its note, will recognize it and give answer.
- Where there is a joyous mood, there a comrade will appear to share a glass of wine.
- Whenever a feeling is voiced with truth and frankness, whenever a deed is the clear expression of sentiment, a mysterious and far-reaching influence is exerted.
- At first it acts on those who are inwardly receptive. But the circle grows larger and larger.
- The effect is but the reflection of something that emanates from one’s own heart.
- Any deliberate intention of an effect would only destroy the possibility of producing it.
“The superior man abides in his room. If his words are well spoken, he meets with assent at a distance of more than a thousand miles. How much more then from near by! If the superior man abides in his room and his words are not well spoken, he meets with contradiction at a distance of more than a thousand miles. How much more then from near by! Words go forth from one’s own person and exert their influence on men. Deeds are born close at hand and become visible far away. Words and deeds are the hinge and bowspring of the superior man. As hinge and bowspring move, they bring honor or disgrace. Through words and deeds the superior man moves heaven and earth. Must one not, then, be cautious?”
- He finds a comrade.
- Now he beats the drum, now he stops.
- Now he sobs, now he sings.
- No matter how close to them he may be, if his center of gravity depends on them, he is inevitably tossed to and fro between joy and sorrow.
- Rejoicing to high heaven, then sad unto death — this is the fate of those who depend upon an inner accord with other persons whom they love.
- Whether this condition is felt to be an affliction or the supreme happiness of love, is left to the subjective verdict of the person concerned.
- The moon nearly at the full.
- The team horse goes astray.
- No blame.
- However, this requires a certain humility, like that of the moon when it is not yet quite full.
- At the moment when the moon becomes full and stands directly opposite the sun, it begins to wane.
- Only by pursuing one’s course like a horse that goes straight ahead without looking sidewise at its mate, can one retain the inner freedom that helps one onward.
- He possesses truth, which links together.
- No blame.
- Only when the strength of his character is so ample that he can influence all who are subject to him, is he as he needs to be.
- The power of suggestion must emanate from the ruler.
- It will firmly knit together and unite all his adherents.
- Without this central force, all external unity is only deception and breaks down at the decisive moment.
- Cockcrow penetrating to heaven.
- Perseverance brings misfortune.
- But it cannot itself fly to heaven. It just crows.
- This may succeed now and then, but if persisted in, it will have bad consequences.
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62. Hsiao Kuo / Preponderance of the Small
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- This indeed is the basis of the exceptional situation indicated by the hexagram.
- When strong elements within preponderate, they necessarily enforce their will.
- This creates struggle and exceptional conditions in general.
- PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL. Success.
- Perseverance furthers.
- Small things may be done; great things should not be done.
- The flying bird brings the message:
- It is not well to strive upward,
- It is well to remain below.
- Great good fortune.
- However, if a man is not to throw himself away, it is important that they should not become empty form and subservience but be combined always with a correct dignity in personal behavior.
- In any event we must not count on great success, since the requisite strength is lacking.
- In this lies the importance of the message that one should not strive after lofty things but hold to lowly things.
- The structure of the hexagram gives rise to the idea that this message is brought by a bird.
- Here the supporting weak lines are both outside and preponderant; this gives the image of a soaring bird.
- But a bird should not try to surpass itself and fly into the sun;
- It should descend to the earth, where its nest is.
- In this way it gives the message conveyed by the hexagram.
- Thunder on the mountain:
- The image of PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL.
- Thus in his conduct the superior man gives preponderance to reverence.
- In bereavement he gives preponderance to grief.
- In his expenditures he gives preponderance to thrift.
- In the mountains, thunder seems much nearer;
- Outside the mountains, it is less audible than the thunder of an ordinary storm.
- He must always fix his eyes more closely and more directly on duty than does the ordinary man, even though this might make his behavior seem petty to the outside world.
- He is exceptionally conscientious in his actions.
- In bereavement emotion means more to him than ceremoniousness.
- In all his personal expenditures he is extremely simple and unpretentious.
- In comparison with the man of the masses, all this makes him stand out as exceptional.
- But the essential significance of his attitude lies in the fact that in external matters he is on the side of the lowly.
- The bird meets with misfortune through flying.
- If it tries to fly before this, it invites misfortune.
- Extraordinary measures should be resorted to only when all else fails.
- At first we ought to put up with traditional ways as long as possible; otherwise we exhaust ourselves and our energy and still achieve nothing.
- She passes by her ancestor
- And meets her ancestress.
- He does not reach his prince
- And meets the official.
- No blame.
- In the temple of ancestors, where alternation of generations prevails, the grandson stands on the same side as the grandfather.
- Hence his closest relations are with the grandfather.
- This unusual behavior is, however, an expression of her modesty.
- She ventures rather to approach the ancestress, for she feels related to her by their common sex.
- Hence here deviation from the rule is not a mistake.
- If he is not successful in this, he does not try to force anything but goes about conscientious fulfillment of his duty, taking his place among the other officials.
- This extraordinary restraint is likewise not a mistake in exceptional times.
- (The rule is that every official should first have an audience with the prince by whom he is appointed. Here the appointment is made by the minister.)
- If one is not extremely careful,
- Somebody may come up from behind and strike him.
- Misfortune.
- But it is just in such life situations that we find upright and strong personalities who, conscious of being in the right, disdain to hold themselves on guard, because they consider it petty.
- Instead, they go their way proud and unconcerned.
- But this self-confidence deludes them.
- Yet such danger is not unavoidable;
- One can escape it if he understands that the time demands that he pay especial attention to small and insignificant things.
- No blame. He meets him without passing by.
- Going brings danger. One must be on guard.
- Do not act. Be constantly persevering.
- The situation here calls for extreme caution; one must make no attempt of one’s own initiative to reach the desired end.
- And if one were to go on, endeavoring to force his way to the goal, he would be endangered.
- Therefore one must be on guard and not act but continue inwardly to persevere.
- Dense clouds,
- No rain from our western territory.
- The prince shoots and hits him who is in the cave.
- But dense as the clouds are, they race across the sky and give no rain.
- In such times a man must seek out helpers with whose aid he can carry out the task.
- But these helpers must be modestly sought out in the retirement to which they have withdrawn.
- It is not their fame nor their great names but their genuine achievements that are important.
- Through such modesty the right man is found, and the exceptional task is carried out in spite of all difficulties.
- He passes him by, not meeting him.
- The flying bird leaves him.
- Misfortune.
- This means bad luck and injury.
- If a bird will not come to its nest but flies higher and higher, it eventually falls into the hunter’s net.
- He who in times of extraordinary salience of small things does not know how to call a halt, but restlessly seeks to press on and on, draws upon himself misfortune at the hands of gods and men, because he deviates from the order of nature.
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63. Chi Chi / After Completion
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- The transition from confusion to order is completed, and everything is in its proper place even in particulars.
- The strong lines are in the strong places, the weak lines in the weak places.
- For it is just when perfect equilibrium has been reached that any movement may cause order to revert to disorder.
- The one strong line that has moved to the top, thus effecting complete order in details, is followed by the other lines, each moving according to its nature, and thus suddenly there arises again the hexagram P’i, STANDSTILL (12).
- AFTER COMPLETION. Success in small matters.
- Perseverance furthers.
- At the beginning good fortune,
- At the end disorder.
- In principle, everything stands systematized, and it is only in regard to details that success is still to be achieved.
- Everything proceeds as if of its own accord, and this can all too easily tempt us to relax and let things take their course without troubling over details.
- Such indifference is the root of all evil.
- Symptoms of decay are bound to be the result.
- But this rule is not an inescapable law.
- He who understands it is in position to avoid its effects by dint of unremitting perseverance and caution.
- Water over fire: the image of the condition
- In AFTER COMPLETION.
- Thus the superior man
- Takes thought of misfortune
- And arms himself against it in advance.
- But the resulting tension demands caution.
- If the water boils over, the fire is extinguished and its energy is lost.
- If the heat is too great, the water evaporates into the air.
- Only the most extreme caution can prevent damage.
- In such times only the sage recognizes the moments that bode danger and knows how to banish it by means of timely precautions.
- He brakes his wheels.
- He gets his tail in the water.
- No blame.
- But this pressing forward at the beginning is not good; it overshoots the mark and leads with certainty to loss and collapse.
- Therefore a man of strong character does not allow himself to be infected by the general intoxication but checks his course in time.
- He will not suffer any real harm, because his behavior has been correct.
- The woman loses the curtain of her carriage.
- Do not run after it;
- On the seventh day you will get it.
- It was regarded as a breach of propriety to drive on if this curtain was lost.
- Especially in times “after completion” it may happen that those who have come to power grow arrogant and conceited and no longer trouble themselves about fostering new talent.
- If a man’s superiors withhold their trust from him, he will seek ways and means of getting it and of drawing attention to himself.
- Do not throw yourself away on the world, but wait tranquilly and develop your personal worth by your own efforts.
- Times change. When the six stages of the hexagram have passed, the new era dawns.
- That which is a man’s own cannot be permanently lost.
- It comes to him of its own accord. He need only be able to wait.
- The Illustrious Ancestor
- Disciplines the Devil’s Country.
- After three years he conquers it.
- Inferior people must not be employed.
- After putting his realm in order with a strong hand, he waged long colonial wars for the subjection of the Huns who occupied the northern borderland with constant threat of incursions.
- After times of completion, when a new power has arisen and everything within the country has been set in order, a period of colonial expansion almost inevitably follows.
- Then as a rule long-drawn-out struggles must be reckoned with.
- The territory won at such bitter cost must not be regarded as an almshouse for people who in one way or another have made themselves impossible at home, but who are thought to be quite good enough for the colonies.
- Such a policy ruins at the outset any chance of success.
- The finest clothes turn to rags.
- Be careful all day long.
- But since the situation is favorable on the whole, such evils can easily be glossed over and concealed from the public.
- Then everything is forgotten and peace apparently reigns complacently once more.
- However, to the thoughtful man such occurrences are grave omens that he does not neglect.
- This is the only way of averting evil consequences.
- The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox
- Does not attain as much real happiness
- As the neighbor in the west
- With his small offering.
- In divine worship the simple old forms are replaced by an ever more elaborate ritual and an ever greater outward display.
- But inner seriousness is lacking in this show of magnificence; human caprice takes the place of conscientious obedience to the divine will.
- Therefore a simple sacrifice offered with real piety holds a greater blessing than an impressive service without warmth.
- He gets his head in the water. Danger.
- After crossing a stream, a man’s head can get into the water only if he is so imprudent as to turn back.
- As long as he goes forward and does not look back, he escapes this danger.
- However, such vain self-admiration brings misfortune.
- It leads only to danger, and unless one finally resolves to go forward without pausing, one falls a victim to this danger.
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64. Wei Chi / Before Completion
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- However, they are not yet in their places.
- While the preceding hexagram offers an analogy to autumn, which forms the transition from summer to winter, this hexagram presents a parallel to spring, which leads out of winter’s stagnation into the fruitful time of summer.
- With this hopeful outlook the Book of Changes comes to its close.
- BEFORE COMPLETION. Success.
- But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing,
- Gets his tail in the water,
- There is nothing that would further.
- The task is great and full of responsibility.
- It is nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order.
- At first, however, one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice.
- The caution of a fox walking over ice is proverbial in China.
- His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice, as he carefully and circumspectly searches out the safest spots.
- Then of course his effort has been all in vain.
- Accordingly, in times “before completion,” deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.
- Fire over water:
- The image of the condition before transition.
- Thus the superior man is careful
- In the differentiation of things,
- So that each finds its place.
- If we wish to achieve an effect, we must first investigate the nature of the forces in question and ascertain their proper place.
- If we can bring these forces to bear in the right place, they will have the desired effect, and completion will be achieved.
- But in order to handle external forces properly, we must above all arrive at the correct standpoint ourselves, for only from this vantage can we work correctly.
- He gets his tail in the water.
- Humiliating.
- But this enthusiasm leads only to failure and humiliation if the time for achievement has not yet arrived.
- In such a time it is wise to spare ourselves the opprobrium of failure by holding back.2
- He brakes his wheels.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- But the patience needed is not that of idle waiting without thought of the morrow.
- Kept up indefinitely, this would not lead to any success.
- Instead, an individual must develop in himself the strength that will enable him to go forward.
- But he must for the time being use the brakes.
- Patience in the highest sense means putting brakes on strength.
- Therefore he must not fall asleep and lose sight of the goal.
- If he remains strong and steadfast in his resolve, all goes well in the end.
- Before completion, attack brings misfortune.
- It furthers one to cross the great water.
- If one should attempt to force it, disaster would result, because collapse would then be unavoidable.
- What is to be done? A new situation must be created; one must engage the energies of able helpers and in this fellowship take the decisive step — cross the great water.
- Then completion will become possible.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- Remorse disappears.
- Shock, thus to discipline the Devil’s Country.
- For three years, great realms are awarded.
- The transition must be completed.
- We must make ourselves strong in resolution; this brings good fortune.
- All misgivings that might arise in such grave times of struggle must be silenced.
- But the struggle also has its reward.
- Now is the time to lay the foundations of power and mastery for the future.
- Perseverance brings good fortune.
- No remorse.
- The light of the superior man is true.
- Good fortune.
- The power of steadfastness has not been routed.
- Everything has gone well.
- All misgivings have been overcome.
- Success has justified the deed.
- The new time has arrived, and with it good fortune.
- And just as the sun shines forth in redoubled beauty after rain, or as a forest grows more freshly green from charred ruins after a fire, so the new era appears all the more glorious by contrast with the misery of the old.
- There is drinking of wine
- In genuine confidence. No blame.
- But if one wets his head,
- He loses it, in truth.
- Since the new era is hard on the threshold, there is no blame in this.
- But one must be careful in all this to keep within proper bounds.
- If in his exuberance a man gets drunk, he forfeits the favorableness of the situation through his intemperance.
- The hexagram BEFORE COMPLETION represents a transition from chaos to order.
- It points to the fact that every end contains a new beginning.
- Thus it gives hope to men.
Introduction
The text forming the nucleus of the Book of Changes has been presented in the first part of this work (bk. I). In that portion the chief concern has been to bring to light the spiritual aspect of the book, the wisdom concealed under its frequently odd forms. What our commentary offers is a summary of what has been said and thought in connection with the hexagrams and the lines in the course of many centuries by China’s most distinguished philosophers. However, the reader will often be assailed by the thought: Why is it all like this? Why are these images, frequently so startling, coupled with the hexagrams and the lines? From what depths of consciousness do they come? Are they purely arbitrary creations or do they follow definite laws? Moreover, how does it happen that, in a given case, the image used is connected with the particular thought? Is it not mere caprice to seek a profound philosophy where, according to all appearances, only a grotesque fantasy is at play?
The second part (bks. II, III) is meant to answer these questions, as far as possible. It is intended to disclose the material out of which that world of ideas arose—to present the body corresponding with that spirit. We see that a hidden connection actually exists, that even apparently arbitrary images have, in one way or another, a basis in the structure of the hexagrams, when our understanding of it goes deep enough.
The oldest commentaries, which as a rule combine structural interpretation of the hexagrams with philosophical explanations, go back to Confucius himself or at least to his circle. Their philosophical content has already been utilized in the first portion of the work (bk. I). Here they are used again, in conjunction with the text material, apart from which they are unintelligible, and explained in their technical aspect.
This technical side is indispensable for a complete understanding of the book, and no Chinese commentator omits it. Nonetheless, it has seemed advisable to separate it at the beginning from the philosophical aspect, in order that the Western reader should not be too much bewildered by unaccustomed matter. I do not regret the unavoidable repetitions. The Book of Changes is a work that represents thousands of years of slow organic growth, and that can be assimilated only through prolonged reflection and meditation. And in the course of this, the apparent repetition serves constantly to open up new perspectives. The material presented in the second portion of our translation consists chiefly of what has come to be known as the Ten Wings. These ten wings, or expositions, contain in substance the oldest commentary literature relating to the Book of Changes.
Legge does not say why he holds the Sung period to be more closely related to the original text than Confucius [551—479 B.C.].
What he does is to follow with meticulous literalness the edition called Chou I Chê Chung, belonging to the K’ang Hsi period [1662-1722], which I also have used. The rendering is very inferior to Legge’s other translations.
For example, he does not take the trouble to translate the names of the hexagrams—a task of course not easy but by so much the more necessary. In other respects also, definite misconceptions occur.
The first of the commentaries [FIRST and SECOND WING] is called T’uan Chuan. Actually, t’uan means the boar’s head offered at sacrifices; by reason of similarity of sound, the word took on the additional meaning of “decision.” The judgments pertaining to the individual hexagrams were called t’uan, “decisions,” or tz’u, “judgments,” or hsi tz’u, “appended judgments.” These judgments or decisions are attributed to King Wên of Chou (ca. 1150 B.C.), and this premise regarding their origin has on the whole not been questioned. The T’uan Chuan, or Commentary on the Decision,1 gives exact interpretations of King Wên’s decisions [judgments], on the basis of the structure and the other elements of the hexagrams. This commentary is an extremely thorough and valuable piece of work and throws much light upon the inner organization of the hexagrams of the I Ching. The Chinese ascribe it to Confucius. I see no reason for doubting this ascription, inasmuch as it is well known that Confucius devoted much thought to the Book of Changes, and since the views expressed in this commentary nowhere conflict with his views. The commentary is made up of two parts, corresponding with parts I and II of the text of the I Ching, and forms the first two wings or expositions. In this translation the commentary has been divided and each comment has been placed with the hexagram to which it pertains.2
The THIRD and the FOURTH WING are formed by the so-called Hsiang Chuan, Commentary on the Images. This commentary is also made up of two parts corresponding with the two divisions of the text. In its present form it consists of the so-called Great Images,3 which refer to the images associated with the two trigrams in each hexagram; from these the commentary in each case deduces the meaning of the hexagram as a whole, and from this contemplation in turn draws conclusions applicable to the life of man.
The whole range of ideas contained in this commentary places it in proximity to the Great Learning, Ta Hsüeh,4 and hence in very close proximity to Confucius as well.
Besides the Great Images, this commentary contains also the Small Images.5 These are very brief references to the Duke of Chou’s comments on the individual lines of the hexagrams. However, they do not deal in any way with images, and it must have been owing to some misapprehension, or perhaps to chance, that this commentary on the text of the individual lines found its way into the Commentary on the Images.
This commentary on the lines contains only brief suggestions, mostly in rhyme. It may be that the Small Images are mnemonic phrases taken from a more detailed commentary. It is certain that they are very old and originated with the Confucian school, but I should not like to say definitely how close the connection with Confucius himself may be.
These commentaries [Great Images, Small Images] have also been divided and apportioned to the hexagrams to which they refer.
7 [Famous historian known in China as the “father of history.” Born about 145 B.C., died 86 B.C.]
8 [The full title is Hsi Tz’u Chuan, Commentary on the Appended Judgments.]
The FIFTH and the SIXTH WING constitute a treatise that presents many difficulties. It is entitled Hsi Tz’u, or Ta Chuan, and likewise has two parts.6 The title Ta Chuan occurs in Ssŭ-ma Ch’ien7 and means Great Commentary, or Great Treatise. As regards the title Hsi Tz’u, Appended Judgments,8 Chu Hsi says:
“The appended judgments are the judgments originally made by King Wên and the Duke of Chou and appended by them to the hexagrams and their lines; they make up the present text of the book. The section before us is the commentary in which Confucius explains the appended judgments, at the same time giving a general introduction to the whole text of the complete work.”9
The lack of clarity in the definition is immediately apparent. If the “appended judgments” are really the comments of King Wên and the Duke of Chou on the hexagrams and the lines, we should expect from a “commentary on the appended judgments” a discussion of the judgments in question and not a treatise on the work in general. But we have a commentary10 dealing with the decisions [judgments] on the hexagrams, that is, with the text of King Wên. On the other hand, there is no detailed commentary on the Duke of Chou’s judgments on the lines.
What we have are only the brief catch phrases that go under the obviously incorrect title of Small Images. It is true that there are also fragments of another such commentary, or rather, of a number of such commentaries. Several of these fragments—referring to the first two hexagrams—are contained in the Wên Yen (Commentary on the Words of the Text), which will be further discussed below. Explanations of single lines do occur, scattered here and there in the Commentary on the Appended Judgments [Hsi Tz’u Chuan], Thus it is highly probable that two quite different things appear together in what is today known as Hsi Tz’u Chuan: first, a collection of essays on the Book of Changes in general, probably constituting what Ssŭ-ma Ch’ien called the Great Commentary, Ta Chuan; second, scattered among these, and cursorily arranged according to standpoints, fragments of a commentary on the judgments appended to the individual lines. There is much evidence to show that these fragments are derived from the same source as the collection of commentaries known as Wên Yen.
It is quite evident that the treatises known as Hsi Tz’u or Ta Chuan were not set down by Confucius, because many passages in them are cited as sayings of the Master. 11 Of course this commentary does contain traditional material of the Confucian school, dating from various periods.
The so-called SEVENTH WING, named Wên Yen (Commentary on the Words of the Text), is a very important section. It is the remnant of a commentary on the Book of Changes—or rather of a whole series of such commentaries—and contains very valuable material deriving from the Confucian school. Unfortunately it does not go beyond the second hexagram, K’un.
The Wên Yen (in the present translation divided between Ch’ien and K’un12) contains in all four different commentaries on the hexagram Ch’ien, the creative. In the translation they have been designated as a, b, c, d. Commentary a of this series belongs to the same stratum as the fragments found scattered through the Hsi Tz’u Chuan. The text is given with the appended question, “What does this mean?” This is like the form used in the Kung Yang, a commentary on the Ch’un Ch’iu. Commentaries b and c contain brief remarks on the individual lines, in the style of the Small Images. Commentary d, like a, again deals with the judgment on the hexagram as a whole and with the individual lines, but in a freer manner than a.
Only one commentary on the second hexagram, K’un, survives in the Wên Yen. It is related in character to a, although it represents a different stratum (the text is placed after the explanations by the Master). The same stratum is likewise represented in the Hsi Tz’u Chuan.
The EIGHTH WING, Shuo Kua, Discussion of the Trigrams, contains material of great antiquity in explanation of the eight primary trigrams.13 Probably it embodies many fragments antedating Confucius and treated in commentary by him or by his school.
The NINTH WING, Hsü Kua, the Sequence—or Order—of the Hexagrams, offers a rather unconvincing explanation of the present sequence of the hexagrams. It is interesting only because the names of the hexagrams are sometimes given peculiar interpretations that are undoubtedly based on ancient tradition. This commentary, which of course has nothing to do with Confucius, has likewise been divided and apportioned to the individual hexagrams, under the heading “The Sequence.”14
The last [TENTH] wing, Tsa Kua, Miscellaneous Notes on the Hexagrams, is made up of definitions of the hexagrams in mnemonic verses, for the most part contrasting them in pairs.
However, the order followed in the Tsa Kua differs essentially from the arrangement in the present Book of Changes. These definitions have also been separated and placed with the respective hexagrams under the heading “Miscellaneous Notes.”15
In the pages following there appear, first, translations of the Shuo Kua, Discussion of the Trigrams, and of the Hsi Tz’u Chuan, Commentary on the Appended Judgments, more correctly called Ta Chuan, Great Commentary. Then follows some material on the structure of the hexagrams, derived from various sources, that is important for the understanding of the second portion of the work.
Shuo Kua I Discussion of the Trigrams1
CHAPTER I
1. In ancient times the holy sages made the Book of Changes thus:
They invented the yarrow-stalk oracle in order to lend aid in a mysterious way to the light of the gods. To heaven they assigned the number three and to earth the number two; from these they computed the other numbers.
They contemplated the changes in the dark and the light and established the hexagrams in accordance with them. They brought about movements in the firm and the yielding, and thus produced the individual lines.
They put themselves in accord with tao and its power, and in conformity with this laid down the order of what is right. By thinking through the order of the outer world to the end, and by exploring the law of their nature to the deepest core, they arrived at an understanding of fate.
This first section refers to the Book of Changes as a whole and to the fundamental principles underlying it. The original purpose of the hexagrams was to consult destiny. As divine beings do not give direct expression to their knowledge, a means had to be found by which they could make themselves intelligible.
Suprahuman intelligence has from the beginning made use of three mediums of expression—men, animals, and plants, in each of which life pulsates in a different rhythm. Chance came to be utilized as a fourth medium; the very absence of an immediate meaning in chance permitted a deeper meaning to come to expression in it. The oracle was the outcome of this use of chance. The Book of Changes is founded on the plant oracle as manipulated by men with mediumistic powers.
The established language for communication with suprahuman intelligences was based on numbers and their symbolism. The fundamental principles of the world are heaven and earth, spirit and matter. Earth is the derived principle; therefore the number two is assigned to it. Heaven is the ultimate unity; yet it includes the earth within itself, and is therefore assigned the number three. The number one could not be used, as it is too abstract and rigid and does not include the idea of the manifold. Following out this conception, the uneven numbers were assigned to the world of heaven, the even numbers to the world of earth.
The hexagrams, consisting of six lines each, are, so to speak, representations of actual conditions in the world, and of the combinations of the light-giving, heavenly power and the dark, earthly power that occur in these situations. Within the hexagrams, however, it is always possible for the individual lines to change and regroup themselves; just as world situations continually change and reconstitute themselves, so out of each hexagram there arises a new one. The process of change is to be observed in the lines that move, and the end result in the new hexagram thus formed.
In addition to its use as an oracle, the Book of Changes also serves to further intuitive understanding of conditions in the world, penetration to the uttermost depths of nature and spirit. The hexagrams give complete images of conditions and relationships existing in the world; the individual lines treat particular situations as they change within these general conditions. The Book of Changes is in harmony with tao and its power (natural law and moral law). Therefore it can lay down the rules of what is right for each person. The ultimate meaning of the world—fate, the world as it is, how it has come to be so through creative decision (ming)—can be apprehended by going down to the ultimate sources in the world of outer experience and of inner experience. Both paths lead to the same goal. (Cf. the first chapter of Lao-tse.)
2. In ancient times the holy sages made the Book of Changes thus:
Their purpose was to follow the order of their nature and of fate. Therefore they determined the tao of heaven and called it the dark and the light. They determined the tao of the earth and called it the yielding and the firm. They determined the tao of man and called it love2 and rectitude. They combined these three fundamental powers and doubled them; therefore in the Book of Changes a sign is always formed by six lines.
The places are divided into the dark and the light. The yielding and the firm occupy these by turns. Therefore the Book of Changes has six places, which constitute the linear figures.
This section deals with the elements of the individual hexagrams and their interrelation with the cosmic process. Just as in the heavens, evening and morning make a day through the alternation of dark and light (yin and yang), so the alternating even and uneven places in the hexagrams are respectively designated as dark and light. The first, third, and fifth places are light; the second, fourth, and sixth are dark. Furthermore, just as on earth all beings are formed from both firm and yielding elements, so the individual lines are firm, i.e., undivided, or yielding, i.e., divided. In correspondence with these two basic powers in heaven and on earth, there exist in man the polarities of love and rectitude—love being related to the light principle and rectitude to the dark. These human attributes, because they belong to the category of the subjective, not of the objective, are not represented specifically in the places and lines of the hexagrams.
The trinity of world principles, however, does come to expression in the hexagram as a whole and in its parts. These three principles are differentiated as subject (man), object having form (earth), and content (heaven). The lowest place in the trigram is that of earth; the middle place belongs to man and the top place to heaven. In correspondence with the principle of duality in the universe, the original three-line signs are doubled; thus in the hexagrams there are two places each for earth, for man, and for heaven. The two lowest places are those of the earth, the third and fourth are those of man, and the two at the top are those of heaven.
A fully rounded concept of the universe is expressed here, directly related to that expressed in the Doctrine of the Mean.3
All the ideas set forth in this first chapter link it to the collection of essays on the meaning and structure of the hexagrams called the Appended Judgments,4 and are not connected with what follows here.
CHAPTER II
3. Heaven and earth determine the direction. The forces of mountain and lake are united. Thunder and wind arouse each other. Water and fire do not combat each other. Thus are the eight trigrams intermingled.
Counting that which is going into the past depends on the forward movement. Knowing that which is to come depends on the backward movement. This is why the Book of Changes has backward-moving numbers.
Here, in what is probably a very ancient saying, the eight primary trigrams are named in a sequence of pairs that, according to tradition, goes back to Fu Hsi—that is to say, it was already in existence at the time of the compilation of the Book of Changes under the Chou dynasty. It is called the Sequence of Earlier Heaven, or the Primal Arrangement.1 The different trigrams are correlated with the cardinal points, as shown in the accompanying diagram [fig. 1]. (It is to be noted that the Chinese place south at the top.)
Fig. 1. Sequence of Earlier Heaven, or Primal Arrangement
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Ch’ien, heaven, and K’un, earth, determine the north-south axis. Then follows the axis Kên-Tui, mountain and lake. Their forces are interrelated in that the wind blows from the mountain to the lake, and the clouds and mists rise from the lake to the mountain. Chên, thunder, and Sun, wind, strengthen each other when they appear. Li, fire, and K’an, water, are irreconcilable opposites in the phenomenal world. In the primal relationships, however, their effects do not conflict; on the contrary, they balance each other.
When the trigrams intermingle, that is, when they are in motion, a double movement is observable: first, the usual clockwise movement, cumulative and expanding as time goes on, and determining the events that are passing; second, an opposite, backward movement, folding up and contracting as time goes on, through which the seeds of the future take form.
To know this movement is to know the future. In figurative terms, if we understand how a tree is contracted into a seed, we understand the future unfolding of the seed into a tree.
4. Thunder brings about movement, wind brings about dispersion, rain brings about moisture, the sun brings about warmth. Keeping Still brings about standstill, the Joyous brings about pleasure, the Creative brings about rulership, the Receptive brings about shelter.
Here again the forces for which the eight primary trigrams stand are presented in terms of their effects in nature. The first four are referred to by their images, the last four by their names, because only the first four indicate in their images natural forces at work throughout time, while the last four point to conditions that come about in the course of the year.
Thus we have first a forward-moving (rising) line, in which the forces of the preceding year take effect. According to section 3, following this line leads to knowledge of the past, which is present as a latent cause in the effects it produces. In the second group, named not according to the images (phenomena) but according to the attributes of the trigrams, a backward movement sets in (a jump from Li in the east back to Kên in the northwest) . Along this line the forces of the coming year develop, and following it leads to knowledge of the future, which is being prepared as an effect by its causes—like seeds that, in contracting, consolidate.
Within the Primal Arrangement the forces always take effect as pairs of opposites. Thunder, the electrically charged force, awakens the seeds of the old year. Its opposite, the wind, dissolves the rigidity of the winter ice. The rain moistens the seeds, enabling them to germinate, while its opposite, the sun, provides the necessary warmth. Hence the sayings “Water and fire do not combat each other.” Then come the backward-moving forces. Keeping Still stops further expansion; germination begins.
Its opposite, the Joyous, brings about the joys of the harvest. Finally there come into play the directing forces—the Creative, representing the great law of existence, and the Receptive, representing shelter in the womb, into which everything returns after completing the cycle of life.
As in the course of the year, so in human life we find ascending and backward-moving lines of force from which the present and the future can be deduced.
5. God comes forth in the sign of the Arousing; he brings all things to completion in the sign of the Gentle; he causes creatures to perceive one another in the sign of the Clinging (light); he causes them to serve one another in the sign of the Receptive. He gives them joy in the sign of the Joyous; he battles in the sign of the Creative; he toils in the sign of the Abysmal; he brings them to perfection in the sign of Keeping Still.
Here the sequence of the eight trigrams is given according to King Wên’s arrangement, which is called the Sequence of Later Heaven, or the Inner-World Arrangement. The trigrams are taken out of their grouping in pairs of opposites and shown in the temporal progression in which they manifest themselves in the phenomenal world in the cycle of the year. Hereby the arrangement of the trigrams is essentially changed. The cardinal points and the seasons are correlated. The arrangement is represented as in figure 2.
The year begins to show the creative activity of God in the trigram Chên, the Arousing, which stands in the east and signifies the spring. The passage following explains more fully how this activity of God proceeds in nature.
It is highly probable that section 5 represents a cryptic saying of great antiquity that in the passage below has received an interpretation referable no doubt to the Confucian school of thought.
Fig. 2. Sequence of Later Heaven, or Inner-World Arrangement
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All living things come forth in the sign of the Arousing. The Arousing stands in the east.
They come to completion in the sign of the Gentle. The Gentle stands in the southeast. Completion means that all creatures become pure and perfect.
The Changing is the brightness in which all creatures perceive one another. It is the trigram of the south. That the holy sages turned their faces to the south while they gave ear to the meaning of the universe means that in ruling they turned toward what is light. This they evidently took from this trigram.
The Receptive means the earth. It takes care that all creatures are nourished. Therefore it is said: “He causes them to serve one another in the sign of the Receptive.”
The Joyous is midautumn, which rejoices all creatures. Therefore it is said: “He gives them joy in the sign of the Joyous.”
“He battles in the sign of the Creative.” The Creative is the trigram of the northwest. It means that here the dark and the light arouse each other.
The Abysmal means water. It is the trigram of due north, the trigram of toil, to which all creatures are subject. Therefore it is said: “He toils in the sign of the Abysmal.”
Keeping Still is the trigram of the northeast, where beginning and end of all creatures are completed. Therefore it is said: “He brings them to perfection in the sign of Keeping Still.”
Here the course of the year and the course of the day are harmonized. What is pictured in the foregoing passage as the unfolding of the divine is here shown as it appears in nature. The trigrams are allotted to the seasons and to the cardinal points without schematization, by cursory allusions that result in the diagram shown in figure 2.
Spring begins to stir and in nature there is germination and sprouting. This corresponds with the morning of a day. This awakening belongs to the trigram Chên, the Arousing, which streams out of the earth as thunder and electrical energy. Then gentle winds blow, renewing the plant world and clothing the earth in green; this corresponds with the trigram Sun, the Gentle, the Penetrating. Sun has for its image both wind, which melts the rigid ice of winter, and wood, which develops organically. The characteristic of this trigram is to make things flow into their forms, to make them develop and grow into the shape prefigured in the seed.
Then comes the high point of the year, midsummer, or, in terms of the day, noontide. Here is the place of the trigram Li, the Clinging, light. Creatures now perceive one another. What was vegetative organic life passes over into psychic consciousness. Thus we have likewise an image of human society, in which the ruler, turned to the light, governs the world. It is to be noted that the trigram Li occupies the place in the south that in the Primal Arrangement is held by the trigram Ch’ien, the Creative. Li consists essentially of the top and bottom lines of Ch’ien, which have taken to themselves the middle line of K’un.
To understand fully, one must always visualize the Inner-World Arrangement as transparent, with the Primal Arrangement shining through it. Thus when we come to the trigram Li, we come at the same time upon the ruler Ch’ien, who governs with his face turned to the south.
Thereupon follows the ripening of the fruits of the field, which K’un, the earth, the Receptive, bestows. It is the season of harvesting, of joint labor. Next, as evening follows day, midautumn follows under the trigram of the Joyous, Tui, which, as autumn, leads the year toward its fruition and joy.
Then follows the stern season, when proof of deeds accomplished must be forthcoming. Judgment is in the air. From earth our thoughts return to heaven, to Ch’ien, the Creative. A battle is being fought, for it is just when the Creative is coming to dominance that the dark yin force is most powerful in its external effects. Hence the dark and the light now arouse each other. There is no doubt as to the outcome of this battle, for it is only the final effect of pre-existing causes that comes to judgment through the Creative.
Now winter ensues, in the trigram K’an, the Abysmal. K’an, in the north—the place of the Receptive in the Primal Arrangement—is symbolized by the gorge. Now comes the toil of gathering the crops into the barns. Water shuns no effort, always seeking the lowest level, so that everything flows to it; in the same way, winter in the course of the year, and midnight in the course of the day, are the time of concentration.
The trigram Keeping Still, whose symbol is the mountain, is of mysterious significance. Here, in the seed, in the deep-hidden stillness, the end of every thing is joined to a new beginning. Death and life, dying and resurrection—these are the thoughts awakened by the transition from the old year to the new.
Thus the cycle is closed. Like the day or the year in nature, so every life, indeed every cycle of experience, is a continuity by which old and new are linked together. In view of this we can understand why, in several of the sixty-four hexagrams, the southwest represents the period of work and fellowship, while the northeast stands for the time of solitude, when the old is brought to an end and the new is begun.
6. The spirit is mysterious in all living things and works through them. Of all the forces that move things, there is none swifter than thunder. Of all the forces that bend things, there is none swifter than wind. Of all the forces that warm things, there is none more drying than fire. Of all the forces that give joy to things, there is none more gladdening than the lake. Of all the forces that moisten things, there is none more moist than water. Of all the forces that end and begin things, there is none more glorious than keeping still.
Therefore: Water and fire complement each other, thunder and wind do not interfere with each other, and the forces of mountain and lake are united in their action. Thus only are change and transformation possible, and thus only can all things come to perfection.
Only the action of the six derived trigrams is described here. It is the action of the spiritual, which is not a thing among things, but the force that manifests its existence through the various effects of thunder, wind, and so on. The two primary trigrams, the Creative and the Receptive, are not mentioned because, as heaven and earth, they actually are those emanations of the spirit within which, through the action of the derived forces, the visible world comes into being and changes. Each of these forces acts in a definite direction, but movement and change come about only because the forces acting as pairs of opposites, without canceling each other, set going the cyclic movement on which the life of the world depends.
CHAPTER III
The third chapter deals with the eight trigrams separately and presents the symbols with which they are associated. It is important inasmuch as the words of the text on the individual lines in each hexagram are very often to be explained against the background of these symbols. A knowledge of these associations is important as a tool in understanding the structure of the Book of Changes.
7. The Symbolic AnimalsThe Attributes
The Creative is strong. The Receptive is yielding. The Arousing means movement. The Gentle is penetrating. The Abysmal is dangerous. The Clinging means dependence. Keeping Still means standstill. The Joyous means pleasure.
8. The Symbolic Animals
The Creative acts in the horse, the Receptive in the cow, the Arousing in the dragon, the Gentle in the cock, the Abysmal in the pig, the Clinging in the pheasant. Keeping Still in the dog, the Joyous in the sheep.
The Creative is symbolized by the horse,1 swift and tireless as it runs, and the Receptive by the gentle cow. The Arousing, whose image is thunder, is symbolized by the dragon, which, rising out of the depths, soars up to the stormy sky—in correspondence with the single strong line pushing upward below the two yielding lines. The Gentle, the Penetrating, is symbolized by the cock, time’s watchman, whose voice pierces the stillness—pervasive as the wind, the image of the Gentle. Water is the image associated with the Abysmal; of the domestic animals, the pig is the one that lives in mud and water. In Li as its trigram, the Clinging, brightness, has originally the image of a pheasant-like firebird. The dog, the faithful guardian, belongs to Kên, Keeping Still. The Joyous is linked with the sheep, which is regarded as the animal belonging to the west; the two parts of the divided line at the top are the horns of the sheep.
9. The Parts of the Body
The Creative manifests itself in the head, the Receptive in the belly, the Arousing in the foot, the Gentle in the thighs, the Abysmal in the ear, the Clinging (brightness) in the eye, Keeping Still in the hand, the Joyous in the mouth.
The head governs the entire body. The belly serves for storing up. The foot steps on the ground and moves; the hand holds fast. The thighs under their covering branch downward; the mouth in plain sight opens upward. The ear is hollow outside; the eye is hollow inside. All these are pairs of opposites corresponding with the trigrams.
10. The Family of the Primary Trigrams
The Creative is heaven, therefore it is called the father. The Receptive is the earth, therefore it is called the mother.
In the trigram of the Arousing she seeks for the first, time the power of the male and receives a son. Therefore the Arousing is called the eldest son.
In the trigram of the Gentle the male seeks for the first time the power of the female and receives a daughter. Therefore the Gentle is called the eldest daughter.
In the Abysmal she seeks for a second time and receives a son. Therefore it is called the middle son.
In the Clinging he seeks for a second time and receives a daughter. Therefore it is called the middle daughter.
In Keeping Still she seeks for a third time and receives a son. Therefore it is called the youngest son.
In the Joyous he seeks for a third time and receives a daughter. Therefore it is called the third daughter.
In the sons, according to this derivation, the substance comes from the mother—hence the two female lines—while the dominant or determining line comes from the father. The opposite holds in the case of the daughters. The child is opposite in sex to the parent who “seeks” it.
Here we note a difference between the Inner-World Arrangement and the Primal Arrangement with respect to the sex of the derived trigrams. In the Primal Arrangement the lowest line is always the sex determinant and the sons are: (1) Chên, the Arousing [☳]; (2) Li, the Clinging (the sun) [☲]; (3) Tui, the Joyous [☱]. In the arrangement shown in the diagram [fig. 1] they stand in the eastern half. The daughters are: (1) Sun, the Gentle [☴]; (2) K’an, the Abysmal (the moon) [☵]; (3) Kên, Keeping Still [☶]. They stand in the western half. In the Inner-World Arrangement, therefore, only Chên and Sun have not changed in sex. The diagram [fig. 2] shows the three sons to the left of Ch’ien, the Creative, while K’un has the two elder daughters at the right and the youngest daughter at the left between itself and Ch’ien.
11. Additional Symbols
The Creative is heaven. It is round, it is the prince, the father, jade, metal, cold, ice; it is deep red, a good horse, an old horse, a lean horse, a wild horse, tree fruit.
Most of these symbols explain themselves. Jade is the symbol of spotless purity and of firmness; so likewise is metal. Cold and ice are accounted for by the position of the trigram in the northwest. Deep red is the intensified color of the light principle (in the text itself, midnight blue is the color of the Creative, according with the color of the sky). The various horses denote power, endurance, firmness, strength (the “wild” horse is a mythical saw-toothed animal, able to tear even a tiger to pieces). Fruit is a symbol of duration in change.
Later commentaries add the following: it is straight, it is the dragon, the upper garment, the word.
The Receptive is the earth, the mother. It is cloth, a kettle, frugality, it is level, it is a cow with a calf, a large wagon, form, the multitude, a shaft. Among the various kinds of soil, it is the black.
The first of these symbols are intelligible at a glance. Cloth is something spread out; the earth is covered with life as with a garment. In the kettle, things are cooked until they are done; similarly, the earth is the great melting pot of life. Frugality is a fundamental characteristic of nature. “It is level” means that the earth knows no partiality. A cow with a calf is a symbol of fertility. The large wagon symbolizes the fact that the earth carries all living things. Form and ornament are the opposite of content, which finds expression in the Creative. The multitude, plurality, is the opposite of the oneness of the Creative. The shaft is the body of the tree, from which the branches spring, as all life sprouts forth from the earth. Black is intensified darkness.2
The Arousing is thunder, the dragon. It is dark yellow, it is a spreading out, a great road, the eldest son. It is decisive and vehement; it is bamboo that is green and young, it is reed and rush.
Among horses it signifies those which can neigh well, those with white hind legs, those which gallop, those with a star on the forehead.
Among useful plants it is the pod-bearing ones. Finally, it is the strong, that which grows luxuriantly.
Dark yellow is a mixture of the dark heavens and the yellow earth. A “spreading out” (perhaps to be read “blossoms”) suggests the luxuriant growth of spring, which covers the earth with a garment of plants. A great road suggests the universal way to life in the spring. Bamboo, reed, and rush are especially fast-growing plants. The neighing of horses denotes their relationship to thunder. White hind legs gleam from afar as the horses run. The gallop is the liveliest gait. The seedlings of pod-bearing plants retain the pods.
The Gentle is wood, wind, the eldest-daughter, the guideline, work; it is the white, the long, the high; it is advance and retreat, the undecided, odor.
Among men it means the gray-haired; it means those with broad foreheads; it means those with much white in their eyes; it means those close to gain, so that in the market they get threefold value. Finally, it is the sign of vehemence.
The first of these meanings need no further explanation. The guideline belongs to this trigram in that it refers to a windlike dissemination of commands. White is the color of the yin principle. Here yin is in the lowest place at the beginning. Wood grows long; the wind goes up to great heights. Advance and retreat refer to the changeableness of the wind; indecision and the odor wafted by the wind belong in this same context. Gray-haired, scanty-haired people have a great deal of white in their hair. People with much white in their eyes are arrogant and vehement; those who are eager for gain are likewise vehement, so that finally the trigram turns into its opposite and represents vehemence, Chên.
The Abysmal is water, ditches, ambush, bending and straightening out, bow and wheel.
Among men it means the melancholy, those with sick hearts, those with earache.
It is the blood sign; it is red.
Among horses it means those with beautiful backs, those with wild courage, those which let their heads hang, those with thin hoofs, those which stumble.
Among chariots it means those with many defects.
It is penetration, the moon.
It means thieves.
Among varieties of wood it means those which are firm and have much pith.
The first of these attributes are again self-explanatory. Bending and straightening out are implied by the winding course of water; this leads to the thought of something bent, of bow and wheel. Melancholy is expressed by the fact that one strong line is hemmed in between two weak lines; thus also sickness of the heart. The trigram signifies toil and also the ear. Pains in the ear come from laborious listening.
Blood is the fluid of the body, therefore the symbolic color of K’an is red, though a somewhat brighter red than that of Ch’ien, the Creative. Because of its penetrating quality K’an, when applied to a carriage, is made to symbolize a broken-down3 vehicle that serves as a wagon. Penetration is suggested by the penetrating line in the middle wedged in between the two weak lines. As a water element, K’an means the moon, which therefore appears as masculine. Persons who secretly penetrate a place and sneak away are thieves. The pithiness of wood is also connected with the attribute of penetration.
The Clinging is fire, the sun, lightning, the middle daughter.
It means coats of mail and helmets; it means lances and weapons. Among men it means the big-bellied.
It is the sign of dryness. It means the tortoise, the crab, the snail, the mussel, the hawkbill tortoise.
Among trees it means those which dry out in the upper part of the trunk.
Where the various symbols are not self-explanatory, they are suggested by the meaning of fire, of heat and dryness, and further by the character of the trigram, which is firm without and hollow, or yielding, within. This aspect accounts for the weapons, the fat belly, the shell-bearing creatures, and the hollow trees beginning to wither at the top.
Keeping Still is the mountain; it is a bypath; it means little stones, doors and openings, fruits and seeds, eunuchs and watchmen, the fingers; it is the dog, the rat, and the various kinds of black-billed birds.
Among trees it signifies the firm and gnarled.
A bypath is suggested by the mountain path, and so are stones. A gate is suggested by the form of the trigram. Fruits and seeds are the link between the end and the beginning of plants. Eunuchs are doorkeepers, and watchmen guard the streets; both protect and watch. The fingers serve to hold fast, the dog keeps guard, the rat gnaws, birds with black beaks grip things easily; likewise, gnarled tree trunks possess the greatest power of resistance.
The Joyous is the lake, the youngest daughter; it is a sorceress; it is mouth and tongue. It means smashing and breaking apart; it means dropping off and bursting open. Among the kinds of soil it is the hard and salty. It is the concubine. It is the sheep.
The sorceress is a woman who speaks. The trigram is open above, hence it denotes mouth and tongue. It stands in the west and is therefore connected with the idea of autumn, destruction, hence the smashing and breaking apart, the dropping off and bursting open of ripe fruits. Where lakes have dried up, the ground is hard and salty. The concubine derives from the idea of the youngest daughter. The sheep, outwardly weak and inwardly stubborn, is suggested by the form of the trigram, as already mentioned. (It should be noted that in China sheep and goats are regarded as practically the same animal and have the same name.)
Ta Chuan / The Great Treatise [Great Commentary1
(also called Hsi Tz’u Chuan, Commentary on the Appended Judgments)
PART I
A. UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER I. The Changes in the Universe and in the Book of Changes
1. Heaven is high, the earth is low; thus the Creative and the Receptive are determined. In correspondence with this difference between low and high, inferior and superior places are established.
Movement and rest have their definite laws; according to these, firm and yielding lines are differentiated.
Events follow definite trends, each according to its nature. Things are distinguished from one another in definite classes. In this way good fortune and misfortune come about. In the heavens phenomena take form; on earth shapes take form. In this way change and transformation become manifest.
In the Book of Changes a distinction is made between three kinds of change: nonchange, cyclic change, and sequent change.2 Nonchange is the background, as it were, against which change is made possible.
For in regard to any change there must be some fixed point to which the change can be referred; otherwise there can be no definite order and everything is dissolved in chaotic movement. This point of reference must be established, and this always requires a choice and a decision. It makes possible a system of co-ordinates into which everything else can be fitted. Consequently at the beginning of the world, as at the beginning of thought, there is the decision, the fixing of the point of reference. Theoretically any point of reference is possible, but experience teaches that at the dawn of consciousness one stands already inclosed within definite, prepotent systems of relationships. The problem then is to choose one’s point of reference so that it coincides with the point of reference for cosmic events. For only then can the world created by one’s decision escape being dashed to pieces against prepotent systems of relationships with which it would otherwise come into conflict. Obviously the premise for such a decision is the belief that in the last analysis the world is a system of homogeneous relationships—that it is a cosmos, not a chaos. This belief is the foundation of Chinese philosophy, as of all philosophy. The ultimate frame of reference for all that changes is the nonchanging.
The Book of Changes takes as the foundation for this system of relationships the distinction between heaven and earth. There is heaven, the upper world of light, which, though incorporeal, firmly regulates and determines everything that happens, and over against heaven there is the earth, the lower, dark world, corporeal, and dependent in its movements upon the phenomena of heaven. With this differentiation of above and below there is posited, in one way or another, a difference in value, so that the one principle, heaven, is the more exalted and honored, while the other, earth, is regarded as lesser and lower. These two cardinal principles of all existence are then symbolized in the two fundamental hexagrams of the Book of Changes, THE CREATIVE and THE RECEPTIVE. In the last analysis, this cannot be called a dualism. The two principles are united by a relation based on homogeneity; they do not combat but complement each other. The difference in level creates a potential, as it were, by virtue of which movement and living expression of energy become possible.
This association of high and low with value differentiations leads to the differentiation of superior and inferior. This is expressed symbolically in the hexagrams of the Book of Changes, which are considered to have high and low, superior and inferior places. Each hexagram consists of six places, of which the odd-numbered ones are superior and the even-numbered ones inferior.
There is another difference bound up with this one. In the heavens constant movement and change prevail; on earth fixed and apparently lasting conditions are to be observed. On closer scrutiny, this is only delusion. In the philosophy of the Book of Changes nothing is regarded as being absolutely at rest; rest is merely an intermediate state of movement, or latent movement. However, there are points at which the movement becomes visible. This is symbolized by the fact that the hexagrams are built up of both firm and yielding lines. The firm, the strong, is designated as the principle of movement, the yielding as the principle of rest. The firm is represented by an undivided line, corresponding with the light principle, the yielding by a divided line that corresponds with the dark principle.
The fact that the character of the line (firm, yielding) combines with the character of the place (superior, inferior) results in a great multiplicity of possible situations. This serves to symbolize a third nexus of events in the world. There are conditions of equilibrium, in which a certain harmony prevails, and conditions of disturbed equilibrium, in which confusion prevails. The reason is that there is a system of order pervading the entire world. When, in accordance with this order, each thing is in its appropriate place, harmony is established. Such a tendency toward order can be observed in nature. The places attract related elements, as it were, so that harmony may come about. However, a parallel tendency is also at work. Not only are things determined by their tendency toward order: they move also by virtue of forces imparted to them, so to speak, mechanically from the outside. Hence it is not possible for equilibrium to be attained under all circumstances, for deviations may occur, bringing with them confusion and disorder.
In the sphere of human affairs, the condition of harmony assures good fortune, that of disharmony predicates misfortune. These complexes of occurrences can be represented by the combinations of lines and places, as pointed out above.
Another law is to be noted. Owing to changes of the sun, moon, and stars, phenomena take form in the heavens. These phenomena obey definite laws. Bound up with them, shapes come into being on earth, in accordance with identical laws. Therefore the processes on earth—blossom and fruit, growth and decay—can be calculated if we know the laws of time. If we know the laws of change, we can precalculate in regard to it, and freedom of action thereupon becomes possible. Changes are the imperceptible tendencies to divergence that, when they have reached a certain point, become visible and bring about transformations.
These are the immutable laws under which, according to Chinese thought, changes are consummated. It is the purpose of the Book of Changes to demonstrate these laws by means of the laws of change operating in the respective hexagrams. Once we succeed in completely reproducing these laws, we acquire a comprehensive view of events; we can understand past and future equally well and bring this knowledge to bear in our actions.
2. Therefore the eight trigrams succeed one another by turns, as the firm and the yielding displace each other.
Here cyclic change is explained. It is a rotation of phenomena, each succeeding the other until the starting point is reached again. Examples are furnished by the course of the day and year, and by the phenomena that occur in the organic world during these cycles. Cyclic change, then, is recurrent change in the organic world, whereas sequent change means the progressive [nonrecurrent] change of phenomena produced by causality.
The firm and the yielding displace each other within the eight trigrams. Thus the firm is transformed, melts as it were, and becomes the yielding; the yielding changes, coalesces, as it were, and becomes the firm.
In this way the eight trigrams change from one into another in turn, and the regular alternation of phenomena within the year takes its course. But this is the case in all cycles, the life cycle included. What we know as day and night, summer and winter—this, in the life cycle, is life and death.
To make more intelligible the nature of cyclic change and the alternations of the trigrams produced by it, their sequence in the Primal Arrangement is shown once again [fig. 3]. There are two directions of movement, the one rightward, ascending, the other backward, descending. The former starts from the low point, K’un, the Receptive, earth; the latter starts from the high point, Ch’ien, the Creative, heaven.
Figure 3
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3. Things are aroused by thunder and lightnings they are fertilized by wind and rain. Sun and moon follow their courses and it is now hot, now cold.
Here we have the sequence of the trigrams in the changing seasons of the year, and in such a way that each is the cause of the one next following. Deep in the womb of earth there stirs the creative force, Chên, the Arousing, symbolized by thunder. As this electrical force appears there are formed centers of activation that are then discharged in lightning. Lightning is Li, the Clinging, flame. Hence thunder is put before lightning. Thunder is, so to speak, the agent evoking the lightning; it is not merely the sounding thunder. Now the movement shifts; thunder’s opposite, Sun, the wind, sets in. The wind brings rain, K’an. Then there is a new shift.
The trigrams Li and K’an, formerly acting in their secondary forms as lightning and rain, now appear in their primary forms as sun and moon. In their cyclic movement they cause cold and heat. When the sun reaches the zenith, heat sets in, symbolized by the trigram of the southeast, Tui, the Joyous, the lake. When the moon is at its zenith in the sky, cold sets in, symbolized by the trigram of the northwest. Kên, the mountain. Keeping Still. Hence the sequence is (cf. fig. 3):
| 1a — 2a | 1b — 2b | ||
| 2a — 3a | 2b — 3b |
Thus 2a (Li) and 2b (K’an) are named twice, once in their secondary forms (lightning and rain), once in their primary forms (sun and moon).
4. The way of the Creative brings about the male. The way of the Receptive brings about the female.
Here the beginning of sequent change appears, manifested in the succession of the generations, an onward-moving process that never returns to its starting point. This shows the extent to which the Book of Changes confines itself to life. For according to Western ideas, sequent change would be the realm in which causality operates mechanically; but the Book of Changes takes sequent change to be the succession of the generations, that is, still something organic.
The Creative, in so far as it enters as a principle into the phenomenon of life, is embodied in the male sex; the Receptive is embodied in the female sex. Thus the Creative in the lowest line of each of the sons (Chên, Li, Tui, in the Primal Arrangement), and the Receptive in the lowest line of each of the daughters (Sun, K’an, Kên, in the Primal Arrangement), is the sex determinant of the given trigram.
5. The Creative knows the great beginnings.
The Receptive completes the finished things.
Here the principles of the Creative and the Receptive are traced further. The Creative produces the invisible seeds of all development. At first these seeds are purely abstract, therefore with respect to them there can be no action nor acting upon; here it is knowledge that acts creatively.
While the Creative acts in the world of the invisible, with spirit and time for its field, the Receptive acts upon matter in space and brings material things to completion. Here the processes of generation and birth are traced back to their ultimate metaphysical meanings.3
6. The Creative knows through the easy.
The Receptive can do things through the simple.
The nature of the Creative is movement. Through movement it unites with ease what is divided. In this way the Creative remains effortless, because it guides infinitesimal movements when things are smallest. Since the direction of movement is determined in the germinal stage of being, everything else develops quite effortlessly of itself, according to the law of its nature.
The nature of the Receptive is repose. Through repose the absolutely simple becomes possible in the spatial world. This simplicity, which arises out of pure receptivity, becomes the germ of all spatial diversity.
7. What is easy, is easy to know; what is simple, is easy to follow. He who is easy to know attains fealty. He who is easy to follow attains works. He who possesses attachment can endure for long; he who possesses works can become great. To endure is the disposition of the sage; greatness is the field of action of the sage.
This passage points out how the easy and the simple take effect in human life. What is easy is readily understood, and from this comes its power of suggestion. He whose ideas are clear and easily understood wins men’s adherence because he embodies love. In this way he becomes free of confusing conflicts and disharmonies. Since the inner movement is in harmony with the environment, it can take effect undisturbed and have long duration. This consistency and duration characterize the disposition of the sage.
It is exactly the same in the realm of action. Whatever is simple can easily be imitated. Consequently, others are ready to exert their energy in the same direction; everyone does gladly what is easy for him, because it is simple. The result is that energy is accumulated, and the simple develops quite naturally into the manifold. Thus it grows, and the sage’s mission to lead the multitude to the performance of great works is fulfilled.
8. By means of the easy and the simple we grasp the laws of the whole world. When the laws of the whole world are grasped, therein lies perfection.
Here we are shown how the fundamental principles demonstrated above are applied in the Book of Changes. The easy and the simple are symbolized by very slight changes in the individual lines. The divided lines become undivided lines as the result of an easy movement that joins their separated ends; undivided lines become divided ones by means of a simple division in the middle. Thus the laws of all processes of growth under heaven are depicted in these easy and simple changes, and thereby perfection is attained.
Hereby the nature of change is defined as change of the smallest parts. This is the fourth meaning of the Chinese word I—a connotation that has, it is true, only a loose connection with the meaning “change.”
CHAPTER II. On the Composition and the Use of the Book of Changes
1 . The holy sages instituted the hexagrams, so that phenomena might be perceived therein. They appended the judgments, in order to indicate good fortune and misfortune.
The hexagrams of the Book of Changes are representations of earthly phenomena. In their interrelation they show the interrelation of events in the world. Thus the hexagrams were representations of ideas.
But these images or phenomena revealed only the actual; there still remained the problem of extracting counsel from them, in order to determine whether a line of action derived from the image was favorable or harmful, whether it should be adopted or avoided. To this extent the foundation of the Book of Changes was already in existence in the time of King Wên. The hexagrams were, so to speak, oracle pictures showing what event might be expected to occur under certain circumstances. King Wên and his son then added the interpretations; from these it could be ascertained whether the course of action indicated by the images augured good or ill. This marked the entrance of freedom of choice. From that time on one could see, in the representation of events, not only what might be expected to happen but also where it might lead. With the complex of events immediately before one in image form, one could follow the courses that promised good fortune and avoid those that promised misfortune, before the train of events had actually begun.
2. As the firm and the yielding lines displace one another, change and transformation arise.
This brings out specifically the degree to which events in the world are represented in the Book of Changes. The hexagrams are made up of firm and yielding lines. Under certain conditions the firm and the yielding lines change: the firm lines are transformed and softened, the yielding lines change and become firm. Thus we have a reproduction of the alternation in world phenomena.
3. Therefore good fortune and misfortune are the images of gain and loss; remorse and humiliation are the images of sorrow and forethought.
When the trend of an action is in harmony with the laws of the universe, it leads to attainment of the desired goal; this is expressed in the appended phrase “Good fortune.” If the trend is in opposition to the laws of the universe, it necessarily leads to loss; this is indicated by the judgment “Misfortune.” There are also trends that do not lead directly to a goal but are rather what might be called deviations in direction.
However, if a trend has been wrong, and we feel sorrow in time, we can avoid misfortune; if we turn back, we can still achieve good fortune. This situation is indicated by the judgment “Remorse.” This judgment, then, contains an exhortation to feel sorrow and turn back. On the other hand, a given trend may have been right at the start, but one may become indifferent and arrogant, and heedlessly slip from good fortune into misfortune. This is indicated by the judgment “Humiliation.” This judgment, then, contains an admonition to exercise forethought, to check oneself when on the wrong path and turn back to good fortune.
4. Change and transformation are images of progress and retrogression. The firm and the yielding are images of day and night. The movements of the six lines contain the ways of the three primal powders.
Change is the conversion of a yielding line into a firm one. This means progress. Transformation is the conversion of a firm line into a yielding one. This means retrogression. The firm lines are representations of light; the yielding lines, of darkness.1 The six lines of each hexagram are divided among the three primal powers, heaven, earth, and man. The two lower places are those of the earth, the two middle places belong to man, and the two upper ones to heaven. This section shows the extent to which the content of the Book of Changes reproduces the conditions of the world.
5. Therefore it is the order of the Changes that the superior man devotes himself to and that he attains tranquility by. It is the judgments on the individual lines that the superior man takes pleasure in and that he ponders on.
From this point on we are shown the correct use of the Book of Changes. For the very reason that the Book of Changes is a reproduction of all existing conditions—with its appended judgments indicating the right course of action—it becomes our task to shape our lives according to these ideas, so that life in its turn becomes a reproduction of this law of change.
This is not the kind of idealism that artificially imposes an inflexible abstract pattern on a life of quite different mold. On the contrary, the Book of Changes embraces the essential meaning of the various situations of life: thus we are in position to shape our lives meaningfully, by acting in accordance with order and sequence, and doing in each case what the situation requires. In this way we are equal to every situation, because we accept its meaning without resistance, and so we attain peace of soul. Thus our actions are set in order, and the mind also is satisfied, for when we meditate upon the judgments on the individual lines, we intuitively perceive the interrelationships in the world.
6. Therefore the superior man contemplates these images in times of rest and meditates on the judgments. When he undertakes something, he contemplates the changes and ponders on the oracles. Therefore he is blessed by heaven. “Good fortune. Nothing that does not further.”
Here times of rest and of action are mentioned. During times of rest, experience and wisdom are obtained by meditation on the images and judgments of the book. During times of action we consult the oracle through the medium of the changes arising in the hexagrams as a result of manipulation of the yarrow stalks, and follow according to indication the counsels for action thus supplied.
B. DETAILED DISCUSSION
CHAPTER III. On the Words Attached to the Hexagrams and the Lines
1. The decisions refer to the images. The judgments on the lines refer to the changes.
King Wên’s decisions (judgments) refer in each case to the situation imaged by the hexagram as a whole. The judgments appended by the Duke of Chou to the individual lines refer in each instance to the changes taking place within this situation. In consulting the oracle, the judgment on the line is to be considered only when the line in question “moves,” that is, when it is represented either by a nine or by a six (cf. explanation of the method of consulting the oracle in the appendix).
2. “Good fortune” and “misfortune” refer to gain and loss, “remorse” and “humiliation” to minor imperfections. “No blame” means that one is in position to correct one’s mistakes in the right way.
This passage is an amplification of section 3 of the preceding chapter. Always making the right choice in words and acts means gain; failing in this results in loss. Slight deviations from what is right are called imperfections. When one does not know what is right and does wrong inadvertently, it is called a mistake. If we become conscious of these small lapses from the right and feel a wish to remedy them, we are moved by remorse. If we remain unaware of them, or if we have the opportunity to remedy them but are either unable or unwilling to do so, humiliation results. Mistakes are like rents in a garment; when a garment has been torn and one mends it, it is whole again. If we amend mistakes by a return to the right path, no blame remains.
3. Therefore the classification of superior and inferior is based upon the individual places; the equalizing of great and small is based upon the hexagrams, and the discrimination between good fortune and misfortune is based upon the judgments.
The six places in the hexagram are distinguished as follows: The lowest and the topmost are, so to speak, outside the situation. Of these, the lowest is inferior, because it has not yet entered the situation. The uppermost is superior; it is the place of the sage who is no longer involved in worldly affairs, or, under certain circumstances, of an eminent man who is without power.
Of the inner places, the second and fourth are those of officials, or of sons or women. The fourth is the higher, the second inferior to it. The third and fifth are authoritative places, the former because it is at the top of the lower trigram, and the latter because it is the place of the ruler of the hexagram.
“Great” and “small” signify firm and yielding lines respectively. They are equalized in the hexagram considered as a whole. Both can be favorable and indicative of good fortune when in their proper places, but the appropriateness of the places cannot be determined in the abstract; it depends on the character of the hexagram as a whole. The situation may frequently be such that yielding is advantageous ; in that case a yielding line in a yielding place will be especially favorable, while a firm line in a firm place may be unfavorable. In many cases strength is required, and then a firm place is more advantageous for a yielding line. In other cases the situation may demand that character and place coincide. In a word, the specific distribution is determined by the hexagram in question, that is to say, by the situation it reproduces. Therefore the judgments are appended, to indicate the good or ill fortune arising from the situation.
4. Concern over remorse and humiliation depends on the borderline. The urge to blamelessness depends on remorse.
Remorse and humiliation are the results of a deviation from the right path and consequently always require a reversal of attitude. One can avoid both by being on guard in time. The point at which concern must set in, if one is to be spared remorse and humiliation, is that point at which good or evil has begun to stir in the mind but has not yet crossed the threshold into actuality. If at this moment one takes action and directs the movement in its germinal phase toward the good, one will be spared remorse and humiliation. If, however, a mistake has already been made, remorse is the psychological force leading to repentance and improvement.
5. This is why there are small and great among the hexagrams, and therefore the appended judgments speak of danger or safety. The judgments in each case indicate the trend of development.
Among the situations reproduced by the hexagrams there are some of ascending and expanding potentiality and some of descending, contracting potentiality. Accordingly, at some times one must be prepared for danger, while at others one may hope for safety and tranquility. In order to adapt oneself completely to the given situation, it is of great value to know these conditions. This is the function of the judgments: they indicate in each case the direction in which the situation is developing.
CHAPTER IV. The Deeper Implications of the Book of Changes
1. The Book of Changes contains the measure of heaven and earth; therefore it enables us to comprehend the tao of heaven and earth and its order.
This chapter sets forth the mysterious connections existing between the reproductions given in the Book of Changes and reality. Since the book presents a complete image of heaven and earth, a microcosm of all possible relationships, it enables us to calculate the movements in every situation to which these reproductions apply. If we ask how the Book of Changes can be a reproduction of the cosmos, the answer is that it is the work of men with cosmic intelligence, men who have incorporated their wisdom in the symbols of this book. Hence it contains the standard of heaven and earth.
The following section explains how the fact that the Book of Changes contains the measure, the standard of heaven and earth, makes it possible for us to investigate with its help the laws of the universe. Section 3 deduces from the resemblance of the Changes to heaven and earth a complete representation of inner predispositions. The fourth section, starting from the fact that the Changes comprise all forms and situations, shows how we can attain ultimate mastery of fate.
2. Looking upward, we contemplate with its help the signs in the heavens; looking down, we examine the lines of the earth. Thus we come to know the circumstances of the dark and the light. Going back to the beginnings of things and pursuing them to the end, we come to know the lessons of birth and of death. The union of seed and power produces all things; the escape of the soul brings about change. Through this we come to know the conditions of outgoing and returning spirits.
The Book of Changes is based on the two fundamental principles of the light and the dark. The hexagrams are built up out of these elements. The individual lines are either at rest or in motion. When at rest—that is, when represented by the number seven (firm) or eight (yielding)—they build up the hexagram, When in motion—that is, when represented by the number nine (firm) or six (yielding)—they break down the hexagram again and transform it into a new hexagram. These are the processes that open our eyes to the secrets of life.
When we apply these principles to the signs in the heavens (the sun standing for light, the moon for darkness) and to the lines of direction on the earth (the cardinal points), we learn to know the circumstances concerning the dark and the light, i.e., the laws that bring about the course and alternation of the seasons and that condition the appearance and withdrawal of the vegetative life force. Thus we learn by observing the beginnings and endings of life that birth and death form one recurrent cycle. Birth is the coming forth into the world of the visible; death is the return into the regions of the invisible. Neither of these signifies an absolute beginning nor an absolute ending, any more than do the changes of the seasons within the year. Nor is it otherwise in the case of man. Just as the resting lines build up the hexagrams and produce change when they begin to move, so bodily existence is built up by the union of “outgoing” life streams of seed (male) with power (female). This corporeal existence remains relatively constant as long as the constructive forces are in the resting state, in equilibrium.
When they begin to move, disintegration sets in. The psychic element escapes—the higher part mounting upward, the lower sinking to earth; the body disintegrates.
The spiritual forces that produce the building up and the breaking down of visible existence likewise belong either to the light principle or to the dark principle. The light spirits (shên) are outgoing; they are the active spirits, which can also enter upon new incarnations. The dark spirits (kuei), return home; they are the withdrawing forces and have the task of assimilating what life has yielded.1
This idea of returning and outgoing spirits by no means entails the notion of good and evil beings; it only differentiates the expanding and the contracting phase of the underlying life energy. These are the ebb and flow in the great ocean of life.
3. Since in this way man comes to resemble heaven and earth, he is not in conflict with them. His wisdom embraces all things, and his tao brings order into the whole world; therefore he does not err. He is active everywhere but does not let himself be carried away. He rejoices in heaven and has knowledge of fate, therefore he is free of care. He is content with his circumstances and genuine in his kindness, therefore he can practice love.
Here we are shown how with the help of the fundamental principles of the Book of Changes it is possible to arrive at a complete realization of man’s innate capacities. This unfolding rests on the fact that man has innate capacities that resemble heaven and earth, that he is a microcosm. Now, since the laws of heaven and earth are reproduced in the Book of Changes, man is provided with the means of shaping his own nature, so that his inborn potentialities for good can be completely realized. In this process two factors are to be taken into account: wisdom and action, or intellect and will. If intellect and will are correctly centered, the emotional life takes on harmony.
We have here four propositions based on wisdom and love, justice and mores, reminding us of the combination of these principles with the four words in the hexagram Ch’ien, THE CREATIVE: “Sublime success; perseverance furthers.”
The effect of wisdom, love, and justice is shown in the first proposition. On the basis of all-embracing wisdom, the regulations springing from a love of the world can be so shaped that all goes well for everyone and no mistakes are made. This is what furthers. The second proposition pictures wisdom and love, excluding no person or thing; these are regulated by the mores, which do not allow one to be carried away into anything improper or one-sided, and therefore have success. The third proposition shows the harmony of mind, perfect in wisdom, that rejoices in heaven and understands its dispensations. This provides the basis for perseverance. Finally, the last proposition shows the love that acquiesces trustingly in every situation and, out of its store of inner kindness, manifests itself in good will toward all men, thereby attaining sublimity, the root of all good.
4. In it are included the forms and the scope of everything in the heavens and on earth, so that nothing escapes it. In it all things everywhere are completed, so that none is missing. Therefore by means of it we can penetrate the tao of day and night, and so understand it. Therefore the spirit is bound to no one place, nor the Book of Changes to any one form.
We are shown here how the individual can attain mastery over fate by means of the Book of Changes. Its principles contain the categories of all that is—literally, the molds and the scope of all transformations. These categories are in the mind of man; everything, all that happens and everything that undergoes transformation, must obey the laws prescribed by the mind of man. Not until these categories become operative do things become things. These categories are laid down in the Book of Changes; hence it enables us to penetrate and understand the movements of the light and the dark, of life and death, of gods and demons.
This knowledge makes possible mastery over fate, because fate can be shaped if its laws are known. The reason why we can oppose fate is that reality is always conditioned, and these conditions of time and space limit and determine it. The spirit, however, is not bound by these determinants and can bring them about as its own purposes require. The Book of Changes is so widely applicable because it contains only these purely spiritual relationships, which are so abstract that they can find expression within every framework of reality. They contain only the tao that underlies events. Therefore all chance contingencies can be shaped according to this tao. The conscious application of these possibilities assures mastery over fate.
CHAPTER V. Tao in Its Relation to the Light Power and to the Dark Power
1 . That which lets now the dark, now the light appear is tao.
The light and the dark are the two primal powers, designated hitherto in the text as firm and yielding, or as day and night. Firm and yielding are the terms applied to the lines of the Book of Changes, while light and dark designate the two primal powers of nature. It must be left to a later discussion to explain why up to this point the designations day and night have been used, and now suddenly the terms light and dark appear. Possibly we are dealing here with a later stratum of text. At any rate, we can observe that in the course of time the use of these expressions steadily increases.
The terms yin, the dark, and yang, the light, denote respectively the shadowed and the light side of a mountain or a river. Yang represents the south side of the mountain, because this side receives the sunlight, but it connotes the north side of the river, because the light of the river is reflected to that side. The reverse is true as regards yin. These terms are gradually extended to include the two polar forces of the universe, which we may call positive and negative.1
It may be that these designations, which emphasize the cycle of change more than change itself, led also to the representation in circular form of the Primal Beginning, ☯ [t’ai chi t’u], the symbol that was later to play such an important part in Chinese thought.
2. As continuer, it is good. As completer, it is the essence.
The primal powers never come to a standstill; the cycle of becoming continues uninterruptedly. The reason is that between the two primal powers there arises again and again a state of tension, a potential that keeps the powers in motion and causes them to unite, whereby they are constantly regenerated. Tao brings this about without ever becoming manifest. The power of tao to maintain the world by constant renewal of a state of tension between the polar forces, is designated as good2 (cf. Lao-tse, chap. 8).
As the power that completes things, the power that lends them their individuality and gives them a center around which they organize, tao is called the essence, that with which things are endowed at their origin.3
3. The kind man discovers it and calls it kind. The wise man discovers it and calls it wise. The people use it day by day and are not aware of it, for the way of the superior man is rare.
Tao reveals itself differently to each individual, according to his own nature. The man of deeds, for whom kindness and the love of his fellow man are supreme, discovers the tao of cosmic events and calls it supreme kindness—“God is love.”
The contemplative man, for whom calm wisdom is supreme, discovers the tao of the universe and calls it supreme wisdom. The common people live from day to day, continually borne and nourished by tao, but they know nothing of it; they see only what meets the eye. For the way of the superior man, who sees not only things but the tao of things, is rare. The tao of the universe is indeed kindness and wisdom; but essentially tao is also beyond kindness and wisdom.
4. It manifests itself as kindness but conceals its workings. It gives life to all things, but it does not share the anxieties of the holy sage. Its glorious power, its great field of action, are of all things the most sublime.
The movement from within outward shows tao in its manifestations as the force of supreme kindness. At the same time it remains mysterious even in the light of day. The movement from without inward conceals the results of its workings. It is just as when in spring and summer the seeds start growing, and the life-giving bounty of nature becomes manifest: but along with it there is at work that quiet power which conceals within the seed all the results of growth and in hidden ways prepares what the coming year is to bring. Tao works tirelessly and eternally in this way. Yet this life-giving activity, to which all beings owe their existence, is something purely spontaneous. It is not like the conscious anxiety of man, who strives for the good with inward toil.
5. It possesses everything in complete abundance: this is its great field of action. It renews everything daily: this is its glorious power.
There is nothing that tao may not possess, for it is omni-present; everything that exists, exists in and through it. But it is not lifeless possessing; by reason of its eternal power, it continually renews everything, so that each day the world becomes as glorious again as it was on the first day of creation.
6. As begetter of all begetting, it is called change.
The dark begets the light and the light begets the dark in ceaseless alternation, but that which begets this alteration, that to which all life owes its existence, is tao with its law of change.
7. As that which completes the primal images, it is called the Creative; as that which imitates them, it is called the Receptive.
This is based on the view expressed likewise in the Tao Tê Ching,4 namely, that underlying reality there is a world of archetypes, and reproductions of these make up the real things in the material world. The world of archetypes is heaven, the world of reproductions is the earth: there energy, here matter; there the Creative, here the Receptive. But it is the same tao that is active both in the Creative and in the Receptive.
8. In that it serves for exploring the laws of number and thus for knowing the future, it is called revelation. In that it serves to infuse an organic coherence into the changes, it is called the work.
The future likewise develops in accordance with the fixed laws, according to calculable numbers. If these numbers are known, future events can be calculated with perfect certainty. This is the thought on which the Book of Changes is based. This world of the immutable is the daemonic world, in which there is no free choice, in which everything is fixed. It is the world of yin. But in addition to this rigid world of number, there are living trends. Things develop, consolidate in a given direction, grow rigid, then decline; a change sets in, coherence is established once more, and the world is one again. The secret of tao in this world of the mutable, the world of light—the realm of yang—is to keep the changes in motion in such a manner that no stasis occurs and an unbroken coherence is maintained. He who succeeds in endowing his work with this regenerative power creates something organic, and the thing so created is enduring.
9. That aspect of it which cannot be fathomed in terms of the light and the dark is called spirit.
In their alternation and reciprocal effect, the two fundamental forces serve to explain all the phenomena in the world. Nonetheless, there remains something that cannot be explained in terms of the interaction of these forces, a final why. This ultimate meaning of tao is the spirit, the divine, the unfathomable in it, that which must be revered in silence.
CHAPTER VI. Tao as Applied to the Book of Changes
1. The Book of Changes is vast and great. When one speaks of what is far, it knows no limits. When one speaks of what is near, it is still and right. When one speaks of the space between heaven and earth, it embraces everything.
Here the Book of Changes is brought into relation with the macrocosm and the microcosm. First the horizontal extent of its domain, its vastness, is given; its laws are valid to the utmost distance and likewise for what is nearest, as one’s own inner laws. Then the vertical extent is given, the space between heaven and earth, because the fates of men come down to them from heaven.
2. In a state of rest the Creative is one, and in a state of motion it is straight; therefore it creates that which is great. The Receptive is closed in a state of rest, and in a state of motion it opens; therefore it creates that which is vast.
“The Creative” means here the trigram in the Book of Changes, and more especially the line, by which it is symbolized. When at rest, this is a simple unbroken line (━━━); when it is in motion, its direction is straight forward. The Receptive is symbolized by a divided line (━ ━); it is closed when at rest and opens when in motion.
Thus that which is wrought by the Creative is designated, in accordance with its nature, as great. The Creative produces quality. That which is produced by the Receptive is designated, in accordance with its form, as broad and manifold. The Receptive produces quantity.
3. Because of its vastness and greatness, it corresponds with heaven and earth. Because of its changes and its continuity, it corresponds with the four seasons. Because of the meaning of the light and the dark, it corresponds with sun and moon. Because of the good in the easy and the simple, it corresponds with the supreme power.
Here the parallels between the Book of Changes and the cosmos are shown. The Book of Changes contains material multiplicity, quantity, like the earth. It contains dynamic greatness, quality, like heaven. It shows changes and closed systems like the course of the year within the four seasons. In the light principle it reveals the same meaning as that underlying the sun. The light principle is called yang. The term for the sun is t’ai yang, the Great Light. In the dark principle, it reveals the same meaning as that underlying the moon. The dark principle is called yin. The term for the moon is t’ai yin the Great Dark.
It has been explained above that the essence of the Creative lies in the easy, the essence of the Receptive in the simple, in those seeds from which everything else develops spontaneously. This mode corresponds with the good in tao, its art of continuing life in the simplest manner (cf. chap, v, sec. 2), and thus it corresponds with the supreme power of tao (cf. chap. v, sec. 4).
CHAPTER VII. The Effects of the Book of Changes on Man
1. The Master said: Is not the Book of Changes supreme? By means of it the holy sages exalted their natures and extended their field of action.
Wisdom exalts. The mores make humble. The exalted imitate heaven. The humble follow the example of the earth.
These words are explicitly attributed to Confucius, consequently the essay of which they are a part cannot in its entirety have originated with Confucius, but is rather a product of his school. Actually the several chapters do contain commentaries of very different sorts, which probably also belong to different periods.
We are shown here how the Book of Changes, correctly used, leads to harmony with the ultimate principles of the universe. The sages exalt their natures by acquiring the wisdom preserved in this book, and thus they arrive at harmony with heaven, which is high. On the one hand, the mind gains loftiness of viewpoint; on the other hand, the field of action is widened. This comprehensiveness gives rise to the idea of mores: the individual subordinates himself to the whole. Through such humble subordination, the sages arrive at harmony with the earth, which is low. Thus the individual enlarges his field of action.
2. Heaven and earth determine the scene, and the changes take effect within it. The perfected nature of man, sustaining itself and enduring, is the gateway of tao and of justice.
Heaven is the scene of the spiritual, earth is the scene of the corporeal. In these worlds move the things that develop and are transformed according to the rules of the Book of Changes. So likewise the nature of man, which is perfected and endures, is the gateway through which the actions of man go in and out, and when man is in harmony with the teachings of the Book of Changes, these actions correspond with the tao of the universe and with justice. Tao, which manifests itself as kindness, corresponds with the light principle, and justice corresponds with the dark principle: the one relates to the exalting and the other to the broadening of man’s nature.
CHAPTER VIII. On the Use of the Appended Explanations
1. The holy sages were able to survey all the confused diversities under heaven. They observed forms and phenomena, and made representations of things and their attributes. These were called the Images.
Here we are shown how the images of the Book of Changes developed out of the archetypal images that underlie the phenomenal world.
2. The holy sages were able to survey all the movements under heaven. They contemplated the way in which these movements met and became interrelated, to take their course according to eternal laws. Then they appended judgments, to distinguish between the good fortune and misfortune indicated. These were called the Judgments.
The last word, “Judgments,” is actually “lines” in the text. The present translation incorporates the correction made by Hu Shih in his history of Chinese philosophy,1 because it brings out more clearly the contrast between Image and Judgment that is found also in other passages of the Book of Changes.
3. They speak of the most confused diversities without arousing aversion. They speak of what is most mobile without causing confusion.
4. This comes from the fact that they observed before they spoke and discussed before they moved. Through observation and discussion they perfected the changes and transformations.
These two sections present again the contrast between the observation in the Image, which gives us knowledge of the diversities of things, and the discussion in the Judgment, which gives us knowledge of the directions of movement.
We have here comments on the theory of the simple as the root of diversity in form (in conformity with the Receptive) and of the easy as the root of all movement (in conformity with the Creative), as given in chapter I (secs. 6 et seq.). The following sections (fragments of a detailed commentary on the individual lines) give examples.
5. “A crane calling in the shade. Its young answers it. I have a good goblet. I will share it with you.”
The Master said: The superior man abides in his room. If his words are well spoken, he meets with assent at a distance of more than a thousand miles. How much more then from near by! If the superior man abides in his room and his words are not well spoken, he meets with contradiction at a distance of more than a thousand miles. How much more then from near by! Words go forth from one’s own person and exert their influence on men. Deeds are born close at hand and become visible far away. Words and deeds are the hinge and bowspring of the superior man. As hinge and bowspring move, they bring honor or disgrace. Through words and deeds the superior man moves heaven and earth. Must one not, then, be cautious?
Compare book I, hexagram 61, Chung Fu, INNER TRUTH, nine in the second place, comment on the subject of speaking.
6. “Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament, but afterward they laugh.”
The Master said:
Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings.
Now the course is checked, now it runs straight again.
Here winged thoughts may pour freely forth in words,
There the heavy burden of knowledge must be shut away in silence.
But when two people are at one in their inmost hearts,
They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze.
And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,
Their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.
Compare book I, hexagram 13, T’ung Jên, FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN, nine in the fifth place, comment on the subject of
7. “To spread white rushes underneath. No blame.”
The Master said: It does well enough simply to place something on the floor. But if one puts white rushes underneath, how could that be a mistake? This is the extreme of caution. Rushes in themselves are worthless, but they can have a very important effect. If one is as cautious as this in all that one does, one remains free of mistakes.
Compare book III, hexagram 28, Ta Kuo, PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT, six at the beginning, comment on action.
8. “A superior man of modesty and merit carries things to conclusion. Good fortune.”
The Master said: When a man does not boast of his efforts and does not count his merits a virtue, he is a man of great parts. It means that for all his merits he subordinates himself to others. Noble of nature, reverent in his conduct, the modest man is full of merit, and therefore he is able to maintain his position.
Compare book III, hexagram 15, Ch’ien, MODESTY, nine in the third place, comment on action.
9. “Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.”
The Master said: He who is noble and has no corresponding position, he who stands high and has no following, he who has able people under him who do not have his support, that man will have cause for regret at every turn.
Compare book III, hexagram 1, Ch’ien, THE CREATIVE, nine at the top, comment on action. The citation there from the Wên Yen2 contains this passage, obviously from the same commentary, word for word.
10. “Not going out of the door and the courtyard is without blame.”
The Master said: Where disorder develops, words are the first steps. If the prince is not discreet, he loses his servant. If the servant is not discreet, he loses his life. If germinating things are not handled with discretion, the perfecting of them is impeded. Therefore the superior man is careful to maintain silence and does not go forth.
Compare book I, hexagram 60, Chieh, LIMITATION, nine at the beginning, comment on speaking.
11. The Master said: The authors of the Book of Changes knew what robbers are like. In the Book of Changes it is said: “If a man carries a burden on his back and nonetheless rides in a carriage, he thereby encourages robbers to draw near.” Carrying a burden on the back is the business of a common man; a carriage is the appurtenance of a man of rank. Now, when a common man uses the appurtenance of a man of rank, robbers plot to take it away from him. If a man is insolent toward those above him and hard toward those below him, robbers plot to attack him. Carelessness in guarding things tempts thieves to steal. Sumptuous ornaments worn by a maiden are an enticement to rob her of her virtue. In the Book of Changes it is said: “If a man carries a burden on his back and nonetheless rides in a carriage, he thereby encourages robbers to draw near.” For that is an invitation to robbers.
Compare book I, hexagram 40, Hsieh, DELIVERANCE, six in the third place, comment on action.
CHAPTER IX. On the Oracle
1. Heaven is one, earth is two; heaven is three, earth four; heaven is five, earth six; heaven is seven, earth eight; heaven is nine, earth ten.
In the traditional form of the text, this section comes just before chapter x. It was transposed to its present position by Ch’êng Tzŭ in the Sung period and joined with the section that follows, which originally came after section 3. The two sections undoubtedly belong together, but they are only very loosely connected with what follows. They contain speculations about numbers similar to those in the section entitled Hung Fan1 in the Book of History [Shu Ching]. Probably they represent the beginning of the connection between the number speculations of the Book of History and the yin-yang doctrine of the Book of Changes, which played an important role in Chinese thought especially under the Han dynasty.
To understand this connection, which can be mentioned here only in passing, we must go back to the diagram known as Ho T’u, the Yellow River Map, said to have originated with Fu Hsi [fig. 4]. This map shows the development out of even and odd numbers of the “five stages of change” (wu hsing, usually incorrectly called “elements”).
Figure 4
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Water in the north has sprung from the one of heaven, which is complemented by the six of earth. Fire in the south has sprung from the two of earth, which is complemented by the seven of heaven. Wood in the east has sprung from the three of heaven, which is complemented by the eight of earth. Metal in the west has sprung from the four of earth, which is complemented by the nine of heaven. Earth in the middle (t’u, the soil, the earth substance as distinguished from ti, the earth as a heavenly body) has sprung from the five of heaven, which is complemented by the ten of earth.
The second arrangement, according to which the numbers separate again and combine with the eight trigrams, is that of the Lo Shu, the Writing from the River Lo [fig. 5].
Figure 5
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2. There are five heavenly numbers. There are also five earthly numbers. When they are distributed among the five places, each finds its complement. The sum of the heavenly numbers is twenty-five, that of the earthly numbers is thirty. The sum total of heavenly numbers and earthly numbers is fifty-five. It is this which completes the changes and transformations and sets demons and gods in movement.
No further comment is needed in explanation of this. Like section 1, it undoubtedly belongs to a later period.
3. The number of the total is fifty. Of these, forty-nine are used. They are divided into two portions, to represent the two primal forces. Hereupon one is set apart, to represent the three powers. They are counted through by fours, to represent the four seasons. The remainder is put aside, to represent the intercalary month. There are two intercalary months in five years, therefore the putting aside is repeated, and this gives us the whole.
Here the process of consulting the oracle is brought into relation with cosmic processes. The procedure in consulting the oracle is as follows:
One takes fifty yarrow stalks, of which only forty-nine are used. These forty-nine are first divided into two heaps [at random], then a stalk from the right-hand heap is inserted between the ring finger and the little finger of the left hand. The left heap is counted through by fours, and the remainder (four or less) is inserted between the ring finger and the middle finger. The same thing is done with the right heap, and the remainder inserted between the forefinger and the middle finger. This constitutes one change. Now one is holding in one’s hand either five or nine stalks in all. The two remaining heaps are put together, and the same process is repeated twice. These second and third times, one obtains either four or eight stalks. The five stalks of the first counting and the four of each of the succeeding countings are regarded as a unit having the numerical value three; the nine stalks of the first counting and the eight of the succeeding countings have the numerical value two. When three successive changes produce the sum 3+3+3=9, this makes the old yang, i.e., a firm line that moves. The sum 2+2+2=6 makes the old yin, a yielding line that moves. Seven is the young yang, and eight the young yin; they are not taken into account as individual lines (cf. the section on consulting the oracle in Appendix I, pp. xviii, “On Consulting the Oracle,” ff.).
4. The numbers that yield THE CREATIVE total 216; those which yield THE RECEPTIVE total 144, making in all 360. They correspond to the days of the year.
When THE CREATIVE is made up of six old yang lines, that is, of nines only, the following numbers result when the oracle is consulted.
| Total number of stalks Subtracted the first time |
49 5+4+4=13 36 |
When this is repeated six times (for the six lines), the total of the six remainders (36×6) is 216 stalks.
When THE RECEPTIVE consists of sixes only—that is, of old yin lines—the following numbers result.
| Total number of stalks Subtracted for a six (old yin) |
49 9+8+8=25 24 |
When this has been done six times (for the six lines of a hexagram), the total of the remainders (24×6) is 144 stalks. If now one adds together the numbers obtained for THE CREATIVE and the numbers obtained for THE RECEPTIVE, the result is 216+144=360, which corresponds with the average number of days in the Chinese year.2
5. The numbers of the stalks in the two parts amount to 11,520, which corresponds with the number of the ten thousand things.
In the whole of the Book of Changes there are 192 lines of each kind—in all, 384 lines (64×6), of which half are yang and half yin. As has been shown in the section above, after a moving yang line is obtained there remain thirty-six stalks, so that we have altogether 192×36=6912. Each of the moving yin lines yields a remainder of twenty-four stalks: 192×24=4608. Together, 6912+4608=11,520.
6. Therefore four operations are required to produce a change; eighteen mutations yield a hexagram.
The words “change” and “mutation” are used here in the same sense. Each line, as shown above, is composed of three mutations or changes. The four operations are: (1) dividing the stalks into two heaps; (2) taking up one stalk and inserting this between the ring finger and the little finger; (3) counting off the left-hand heap by fours and inserting the remainder between the ring finger and the middle finger; (4) counting off the right-hand heap by fours and inserting the remainder between the forefinger and the middle finger.
These four operations yield one change or mutation—that is to say, the numerical value two or three (see above). When this change is carried out three times, one obtains the value of the line, either a six or a seven, an eight or a nine. Six lines (3 changes × 6 = 18 changes) produce the structure of the hexagram.
7. The eight signs constitute each a small completion.
The hexagram is made up of two trigrams. The “eight signs” are the eight primary trigrams. In a hexagram the lower trigram is also called the inner, and the upper trigram is also called the outer.
8. When we continue and go further and add to the situations all their transitions, all possible situations on earth are encompassed.
Each of the sixty-four hexagrams can change into another through the appropriate movement of one or more lines. Thus we arrive at a total (64×64) of 4096 transitional stages, and these represent every possible situation.
9. It reveals tao and renders nature and action divine. Therefore with its help we can meet everything in the right way, and with its help can even assist the gods themselves.
This section refers again to the Book of Changes in general. Its theme is that the book reveals the meaning of events in the universe and thereby imparts a divine mystery to the nature and action of the man who puts his trust in it, so that he is enabled to meet every event in the right way and even to aid the gods in governing the world.
10. The Master said: Whoever knows the tao of the changes and transformations, knows the action of the gods.
CHAPTER X. The Fourfold Use of the Book of Changes
1. The Book of Changes contains a fourfold tao of the holy sages. In speaking, we should be guided by its judgments; in action, we should be guided by its changes; in making objects, we should be guided by its images; in seeking an oracle, we should be guided by its pronouncements.
2. Therefore the superior man, whenever he has to make or do something, consults the Changes, and he does so in words. It takes up his communications like an echo; neither far nor near, neither dark nor deep exist for it, and thus he learns of the things of the future. If this book were not the most spiritual thing on earth, how could it do this?
Here the psychological basis of the oracle is described. The person consulting the oracle formulates his problem precisely in words, and regardless of whether it concerns something distant or near, secret or profound, he receives—as though it were an echo—the appropriate oracle, which enables him to know the future. This rests on the assumption that the conscious and the supraconscious enter into relationship. The conscious process stops with the formulation of the question. The unconscious process begins with the division of the yarrow stalks, and when we compare the result of this division with the text of the book, we obtain the oracle.
3. The three and five operations are undertaken in order to obtain a change. Divisions and combinations of the numbers are made. If one proceeds through the changes, they complete the forms of heaven and earth. If the number of changes is increased to the utmost, they determine all images on earth. If this were not the most changing thing on earth, how could it do this?
A great deal has been said about the “three and five” divisions, and even Chu Hsi1 is of the opinion that the passage is no longer comprehensible. But we need only take as a basis chapter IX, section 3, which the passage above serves to explain further, in order to establish coherence in the text. The “three” operations are the division into two heaps and the special disposition of a single stalk, “to represent the three powers.” After this each of the two heaps is counted through by fours, because “there are two intercalary months in five years,” and thus we arrive at three plus two, i.e., five operations, which yield one change. We proceed in this way with divisions and combinations until we “complete the forms of heaven and earth,” that is, until we obtain, as a first result, one of the eight primary trigrams or a “small completion” (cf. chap. IX, sec. 7). Continuing until the topmost or sixth line is reached, we obtain a complete image, which is always composed of two trigrams.
4. The Changes have no consciousness, no action; they are quiescent and do not move. But if they are stimulated, they penetrate all situations under heaven. If they were not the most divine thing on earth, how could they do this?
Here we have a plain statement of what has been brought out in the remarks on section 2.2
5. The Changes are what has enabled the holy sages to reach all depths and to grasp the seeds of all things.
6. Only through what is deep can one penetrate all wills on earth. Only through the seeds can one complete all affairs on earth. Only through the divine can one hurry without haste and reach the goal without walking.
Here it is shown that because the Book of Changes reaches down into the regions of the unconscious, both space and time are eliminated. Space, as the principle of diversity and confusion, is overcome by the deep, the simple. Time, as the principle of uncertainty, is overcome by the easy, the germinal.
7. When the Master said, “The Book of Changes contains a fourfold tao of the holy sages,” this is what is meant.
It may be assumed that section 1 is based on a saying of Confucius that has been rhetorically elaborated and is once more summarized here.
CHAPTER XI. On the Yarrow Stalks and the Hexagrams and Lines
1. The Master said: The Changes, what do they do? The Changes disclose things, complete affairs, and encompass all ways on earth—this and nothing else. For this reason the holy sages used them to penetrate all wills on earth and to determine all fields of action on earth, and to settle all doubts on earth.
Here again we have a saying of the Master placed at the head of a chapter which then develops and interprets it.
2. Therefore the nature of the yarrow stalks is round and spiritual. The nature of the hexagrams is square and wise. The meaning of the six lines changes, in order to furnish information.
In this way the holy sages purified their hearts, withdrew, and hid themselves in the secret. They concerned themselves with good fortune and misfortune in common with other men. They were divine, hence they knew the future; they were wise, hence they stored up the past. Who is it that can do all this? Only the reason and clear-mindedness of the ancients, their knowledge and wisdom, their unremitting divine power.
Here the triplicity of the first section is consistently carried further. Penetration of all wills is paralleled with the spirituality of the yarrow stalks: they are round because they are symbols of heaven and of the spirit. Their basic number is seven, their total number is forty-nine (7×7). The hexagrams stand for the earth; their basic number is eight, their total number is sixty-four (8×8). They serve to determine the field of action. Finally, the individual lines are movable and changeable (their basic numbers are nine and six), in order to give information and to settle doubts pertaining to particular situations.
The holy sages were possessed of this knowledge. They withdrew into seclusion and cultivated the spirit, so that they were able to penetrate the minds of all men (penetration), so that they could determine good fortune and misfortune (the field of action), and so that they knew the past and the future (settlement of doubts). They could do this thanks to their reason and clear-mindedness (penetration of wills), their knowledge and wisdom (determination of the field of action), and their divine power (settlement of doubts). This divine power to battle (shên wu) acts without weakening itself (this is a better reading than “without killing”).
3. Therefore they fathomed the tao of heaven and understood the situations of men. Thus they invented these divine things in order to meet the need of men. The holy sages fasted for this reason, in order to make their natures divinely clear.
Because these wise men knew equally well the laws of the universe and what was needful to man, they invented the use of the oracle stalks—“these divine things”—in order thus to answer the needs of men.
And so they concentrated their thoughts in holy meditation for the purpose of attaining the necessary power and fullness of being. Therefore the understanding of the Book of Changes calls for a similar concentration and meditation.
4. Therefore they called the closing of the gates the Receptive, and the opening of the gate the Creative. The alternation between closing and opening they called change. The going forward and backward without ceasing they called penetration. What manifests itself visibly they called an image; what has bodily form they called a tool. What is established in usage they called a pattern. That which furthers on going out and coming in, that which all men live by, they called the divine.
In this passage are shown the tao of heaven and the conditions of men as recognized by the holy sages. The closing and the opening of the gates signify the alternation of rest and movement. These are likewise two conditions pertaining to yoga practice that are attainable only through individual training. Penetration is that state in which the individual has attained sovereign mastery in the psychic sphere as well and is able to move forward and backward in time. The next sentences show how the material world arises. First of all there is a pre-existent image, an idea; then a copy of this archetypal image takes shape as a corporeal form. That which regulates this process of imitation is a pattern; and the force that generates these processes is the divine principle. Many parallels to these expositions are to be found in Lao-tse.
5. Therefore there is in the Changes the Great Primal Beginning. This generates the two primary forces. The two primary forces generate the four images. The four images generate the eight trigrams.
The Great Primal Beginning, t’ai chi, plays an important role in later Chinese natural philosophy. Originally chi is the ridgepole—a simple line symbolizing the positing of oneness (━━━).
This positing of oneness implies also a positing of duality, an above and a below. The conditioning element is further designated as an undivided line, while the conditioned element is represented by means of a divided line (━ ━). These are the two polar primary forces later designated as yang, the bright principle, and yin, the dark. Then, through doubling, there arise the four images:
|
⚌ old or great yang
⚍ young or little yang
|
⚏ old or great yin
⚎ young or little yin
|
These correspond with the four seasons of the year. Through addition of another line, there arise the eight trigrams:
| ☰ Ch’ien | ☷ K’un | ☳ Chên | ☲ Li | |||
| ☱ Tui | ☴ Sun | ☵ K’an | ☶ Kên |
The same procedure is mentioned in chapter 42 of Lao-tse.
6. The eight trigrams determine good fortune and misfortune. Good fortune and misfortune create the great field of action.
The “great field of action” are the regulations and rules instituted by the sages in order to obtain good fortune for men and to avoid misfortune.
7. Therefore: There are no greater primal images than heaven and earth. There is nothing that has more movement or greater cohesion than the four seasons. Of the images suspended in the heavens, there is none more light-giving than the sun and the moon. Of the honored and highly placed, there is none greater than he who possesses wealth and rank. With respect to creating things for use and making tools helpful to the whole world, there is no one greater than the holy sages. For comprehending the chaotic diversity of things and exploring what is hidden, for penetrating the depths and extending influence afar, thereby determining good fortune and misfortune on earth and consummating all efforts on earth, there is nothing greater than the oracle.
As in chapter 25 of Lao-tse, where the four great things in the universe are discussed, the great things in nature and in the world of men are here named together. Heaven and earth offer the archetypal image to be imitated. Among all things, the seasons have the most movement and the greatest degree of cohesion; the brightest are the sun and the moon.
On earth the most exalted person is the king of men, the sage on the throne, who, wealthy and noble himself, is at the same time the source of wealth and nobility. His helpers are, first, the active man of wisdom, directing and inventing, and, second, the oracle, which, corresponding with the light-giving images, the sun and moon, clarifies and illumines all conditions on earth.
8. Therefore: Heaven creates divine things; the holy sage takes them as models. Heaven and earth change and transform; the holy sage imitates them. In the heavens hang images that reveal good fortune and misfortune; the holy sage reproduces these. The Yellow River brought forth a map and the Lo River brought forth a writing; the holy men took these as models.
In this section the parallel between the processes in the macrocosm and the works of the holy sages is elaborated. The divine things created by heaven and earth are presumably the natural phenomena that the holy men reproduced in the eight trigrams. According to another view, tortoises and yarrow stalks are meant. The changes and transformations manifesting themselves in day and night, and in the seasons of the year, are reproduced in the character of the changes in the lines. The signs in the heavens meaning good fortune and misfortune are the sun, moon, and stars, together with comets, eclipses, and the like. They are reproduced in the appended judgments on good fortune and misfortune.
The last sentence of the section, referring to two legendary events occurring in the time of Fu Hsi and Yü1 respectively, is a later addition and has had a disastrous effect on the exegesis of the Book of Changes.
Reproductions of the two diagrams are given in the explanation of chapter IX, section 1. That this is a later addition is proven by the fact that sections 7, 8, 9 of the present chapter all deal with the threefold parallelism between nature and the world of man broached in section 1, and this addendum creates a break in the continuity of thought.
9. In the Changes there are images, in order to reveal; there are judgments appended, in order to interpret; good fortune and misfortune are determined, in order to decide.
The text says “four” images; this is carried over by error from section 5. Here “images” means the eight trigrams, which show situations in their interrelation. This corresponds with the archetypal images of heaven. The judgments appended to the lines indicate the changes corresponding with the changes in the seasons. Finally, the decisions about good fortune and misfortune correspond with the signs in the heavens.
CHAPTER XII. Summary
1. In the Book of Changes it is said: “He is blessed by heaven. Good fortune. Nothing that does not further.”
The Master said: To bless means to help. Heaven helps the man who is devoted; men help the man who is true. He who walks in truth and is devoted in his thinking, and furthermore reveres the worthy, is blessed by heaven. He has good fortune, and there is nothing that would not further.
This is a passage from the body of the commentary on the individual lines, fragments of which appear in chapter VIII, sections 5-11. It serves to amplify the close of section 6 of chapter II, but it does not fit the context here.
2. The Master said: Writing cannot express words completely. Words cannot express thoughts completely.
Are we then unable to see the thoughts of the holy sages?
The Master said: The holy sages set up the images in order to express their thoughts completely; they devised the hexagrams in order to express the true and the false completely. Then they appended judgments and so could express their words completely.
(They created change and continuity, to show the advantage completely; they urged on, they set in motion, to set forth the spirit completely.)
This section gives in dialogue form, after the manner of the Lun Yü [Analects], a judgment on the mode of expression of the Book of Changes. The Master has said that writing never expresses words completely and that words never express thoughts completely. A pupil asks whether one can never gain a clear view of what the sages thought and the Master uses the Book of Changes to show how it may be done. The sages set up the images and hexagrams in order to show the situations, and then appended the words: these, in conjunction with the images, may actually be taken as the complete expression of their thoughts.
The two final statements [in parentheses] have been transposed to this section from some other context, probably because of the similar rhetorical construction (cf. sec. 4, second half, and sec. 7).
3. The Creative and the Receptive are the real secret of the Changes. Inasmuch as the Creative and the Receptive present themselves as complete, the changes between them are also posited. If the Creative and the Receptive were destroyed, there would be nothing by which the changes could be perceived. If there were no more changes to be seen, the effects of the Creative and the Receptive would also gradually cease.
The changes are thought of here as natural processes, practically identical with life. Life depends on the polarity between activity and receptivity. This maintains tension, every adjustment of which manifests itself as a change, a process in life. If this state of tension, this potential, were to cease, there would no longer be a criterion for life—life could no longer express itself. On the other hand, these polar oppositions, these tensions, are constantly being generated anew by the changes inherent in life. If life should cease to express itself, these oppositions would be obliterated by progressive entropy, and the death of the world would ensue.
4. Therefore: What is above form is called tao; what is within form is called tool.
We are shown here that the forces constituting the visible world are transcendent ones. Tao is taken here in the sense of an all-embracing entelechy. It transcends the spatial world, but it acts upon the visible world—by means of the images, i.e., ideas inherent in it, as is set forth more exactly in other passages—and what hereby comes into being are the objects. An object is spatial, that is, defined by its corporeal limits; but it cannot be understood without knowledge of the tao underlying it.
This section, like section 2, has an addition that reappears in large part, with a slight textual variation, in the closing section:
(That which transforms things and fits them together is called change; that which stimulates them and sets them in motion is called continuity. That which raises them up and sets them forth before all people on earth is called the field of action.)
5. Therefore, with respect to the Images: The holy sages were able to survey all the confused diversities under heaven. They observed forms and phenomena, and made representations of things and their attributes. These were called the Images. The holy sages were able to survey all the movements under heaven. They contemplated the way in which these movements met and became interrelated, to take their course according to eternal laws. Then they appended judgments, to distinguish between the good fortune and misfortune indicated. These were called the Judgments.
This section is a literal repetition of sections 1 and 2 of chapter VIII.
6. The exhaustive presentation of the confused diversities under heaven depends upon the hexagrams. The stimulation of all movements under heaven depends upon the Judgments.
There is some connection between this passage and section 3 of chapter VIII, while the following section contains a parallel to the second half of section 4 above.
7. The transformation of things and the fitting together of them depend upon the changes. Stimulation of them and setting them in motion depend upon continuity. The spirituality and clarity depend upon the right man. Silent fulfillment, confidence that needs no words, depend upon virtuous conduct.
Here, in conclusion, the intermeshing of the Book of Changes and man is set forth. It is only through a living personality that the words of the book ever come fully to life and then exert their influence upon the world.2
PART II
CHAPTER I. On the Signs and Lines, on Creating and Acting
1. The eight trigrams are arranged according to completeness: thus the images are contained in them. Thereupon they are doubled: thus the lines are contained in them.
Compare part I, chapter II, section 1. The sequence in the order of completeness is: (1) Ch’ien, (2) Tui, (3) Li, (4) Chên, (5) Sun, (6) K’an, (7) Kên, (8) K’un. The trigrams contain only the images (ideas) of the things they represent. It is only in the hexagrams that the individual lines come into consideration, because it is only in the hexagrams that the relationships of above and below, within and without, appear.
2. The firm and the yielding displace each other, and change is contained therein. The judgments, together with their counsels, are appended, and movement is contained therein.
Compare part I, chapter II, section 2. Change (as well as transformation) appears as a result of the alternation of firm and yielding lines. The judgments give their counsels through the appended oracles—“Good fortune,” “Misfortune,” and so on.
3. Good fortune and misfortune, remorse and humiliation, come about through movement.
Compare part I, chapter II, section 3. Good fortune and misfortune, remorse and humiliation, appear only as a result of conduct of a corresponding kind.
4. The firm and the yielding stand firm when they are in their original places. Their changes and continuities should correspond with the time.
When the firm lines are in firm places and the yielding lines in yielding places, a state of equilibrium exists. However, this abstract state of equilibrium must yield to change and reorganization when the time demands it. The time, that is, the total situation represented by a hexagram, plays an important role in regard to the positions of the individual lines.
5. Good fortune and misfortune take effect through perseverance. The tao of heaven and earth becomes visible through perseverance. The tao of sun and moon becomes bright through perseverance. All movements under heaven become uniform through perseverance.
The secret of action lies in duration. Good fortune and misfortune are slow in the making. Only when a trend is followed continuously do the results of single actions gradually accumulate in such a way that they become manifest as good fortune or misfortune. Similarly, heaven and earth are the results of lasting conditions. In that all clear, luminous forces constantly rise upward, and all that is solid and turbid constantly sinks downward, the cosmos separates itself out of chaos—heaven above and earth below. So it is also as regards the course of the sun and the moon; their states of radiance are results of continuous movements and conditions of equilibrium. Thus all movements and actions continued over a long period of time channel out definite courses, which then become laws. According to this view, natural laws are not abstractions fixed once and for all, but sustained processes in which the character of law appears the more definitely the longer they are in operation.
6. The Creative is decided and therefore shows to men the easy. The Receptive is yielding and therefore shows to men the simple.
The two fundamental principles move according to the requirements of the time, so that they are continuously undergoing change. But the nature of their movements is uniform and consistent. The Creative is always strong, decided, real, hence it meets with no difficulties. It always remains true to itself; hence its effortlessness. Difficulties always indicate vacillation and lack of clarity. In the same way it is the nature of the Receptive to be consistently yielding, to follow the line of least resistance, and therefore to be simple. Complications arise only from an inner conflict of motives.
7. The lines imitate this. The images reproduce this.
Here a definition of the lines and images is given. In Chinese the word for “line” is hsiao; “to imitate” is also rendered by hsiao (written differently). “Image” and “to reproduce” (in the sense of “to represent”) are expressed by hsiang (also written differently in each case). The lines imitate in their changes the way in which good fortune and misfortune arise in a movement by reason of its duration. The images reproduce the way in which all the changes and interrelations of the firm and the yielding issue in the easy and the simple.
8. The lines and images move within, and good fortune and misfortune reveal themselves without. The work and the field of action reveal themselves in the changes. The feelings of the holy sages reveal themselves in the judgments.
The movements of the lines and images, and of the infinitesimal germs of events symbolized by them, are invisible, but their results manifest themselves in the visible world as good fortune or misfortune. So also the changes pertaining to the work and the field of action are invisible, but are revealed by the words of the judgments.
9. It is the great virtue of heaven and earth to bestow life. It is the great treasure of the holy sage to stand in the right place.
How does one safeguard this place? Through men.1 By what are men gathered together? Through goods. Justice means restraining men from wrong-doing by regulation of goods and by rectification of judgments.
Here the connection between the three powers is shown. Heaven and earth bestow life. The holy sage is guided by the same principle; but to carry it out he must have the position of a ruler. This position is safeguarded by the men whom he gathers under him. Men are gathered together by means of goods. The means by which goods are administered, and defended against wrong, is justice.
This presents a theory of society, based on cosmic principles, that corresponds with the views of the Confucian school.
Some commentators wish to take this section as an introduction to the next chapter. This has a certain justification, inasmuch as the next chapter gives a survey of the development of civilization, with the Book of Changes as a basis.
CHAPTER II. History of Civilization1
1. When in early antiquity Pao Hsi2 ruled the world, he looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens; he looked downward and contemplated the patterns on earth. He contemplated the markings of birds and beasts and the adaptations to the regions. He proceeded directly from himself and indirectly from objects. Thus he invented the eight trigrams in order to enter into connection with the virtues of the light of the gods and to regulate the conditions of all beings.
The Pai Hu T’ung3 describes the primitive condition of human society as follows:
“In the beginning there was as yet no moral nor social order. Men knew their mothers only, not their fathers. When hungry, they searched for food; when satisfied, they threw away the remnants. They devoured their food hide and hair, drank the blood, and clad themselves in skins and rushes. Then came Fu Hsi and looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens, and looked downward and contemplated the occurrences on earth. He united man and wife, regulated the five stages of change, and laid down the laws of humanity. He devised the eight trigrams, in order to gain mastery over the world.”
The name of the mythical founder of civilization is written in various ways; its meaning seems to point to a hunter or an inventor of cooking. There is a difference of opinion as to whether the sixty-four hexagrams or only the eight trigrams are to be ascribed to him. As he himself is a mythical personality, the dispute may rest where it stands. It would seem to be certain that the sixty-four hexagrams were already in use in the time of King Wên.
2. He made knotted cords and used them for nets and baskets in hunting and fishing. He probably took this from the hexagram of THE CLINGING.
This chapter tells us how all the appurtenances of civilization came into existence as reproductions of ideal, archetypal images. In a certain sense this idea contains a truth. Every invention comes into being as an image in the mind of the inventor before it makes its appearance in the phenomenal world as a tool, a finished thing.
Since, according to the school represented by the Hsi Tz’u, the sixty-four hexagrams present, in a mysterious way, images paralleling nature, an attempt can be made here to derive from them the inventions of man that have led to the development of civilization. However, this must be understood not in the sense that the inventors simply took the hexagrams of the book and made their inventions in accordance with them, but rather in the sense that out of the relationships represented by the hexagrams the inventions took shape in the minds of their originators.
䷝
A net consists of meshes, empty within and surrounded by threads without. The hexagram Li, THE CLINGING (50), represents a combination of meshes of this sort. Furthermore, the written character means “to cling to” or “to be caught on something.” For example, in the Book of Songs4 it is frequently said that the wild goose or the pheasant was caught in the net (li).
3. When Pao Hsi’s clan was gone, there sprang up the clan of the Divine Husbandman.5 He split a piece of wood for a plowshare and bent a piece of wood for the plow handle, and taught the whole world the advantage of laying open the earth with a plow. He probably took this from the hexagram of INCREASE.
The primitive plow consisted of a bent pole with a pointed stick fastened on in front for scratching the earth. The advantage of this method over hoeing was that draft animals could be used and part of the work shifted to oxen.
䷩
The hexagram I, INCREASE (42), consists of the two trigrams Sun and Chên, both associated with wood. Sun means penetration, Chên movement.
The nuclear trigrams6 are Kên and K’un, both associated with the earth. This led to the idea of constructing a wooden instrument that would penetrate the earth and when moved forward would turn up the soil.
4. When the sun stood at midday, he held a market. He caused the people of the earth to come together and collected the wares of the earth. They exchanged these with one another, then returned home, and each thing found its place. Probably he took this from the hexagram of BITING THROUGH.
䷔
The hexagram Shih Ho, BITING THROUGH (21), consists of Li, the sun, above and Chên, movement, below. Chên also means a great road, while the upper nuclear trigram K’an means flowing water, and the lower, Kên, small paths. Thus the connotation is of movement under the sun, a streaming together. This is hardly enough to convey the idea of a market, but the words shih ho when written differently can also mean food and merchandise, and the market might be suggested in this way. Evidently the hexagram formerly had the secondary meaning of market (cf. the explanation of this hexagram in bk. I).
5. When the clan of the Divine Husbandman was gone, there sprang up the clans of the Yellow Emperor, of Yao, and of Shun.7 They brought continuity into their alterations, so that the people did not grow weary. They were divine in the transformations they wrought, so that the people were content. When one change had run its course, they altered. (Through alteration they achieved continuity.) Through continuity they achieved duration. Therefore: “They were blessed by heaven. Good fortune. Nothing that does not further.”
The Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun allowed the upper and lower garments to hang down, and the world was in order. They probably took this from the hexagrams of THE CREATIVE and THE RECEPTIVE.
In this section two different strata are to be distinguished. The closing paragraph seems to be the older stratum. The introduction of clothes is depicted. Accordingly, Chêng K’ang Ch’êng8 says: “Heaven is blue-black, the earth is yellow; therefore they made the upper garments dark blue and the lower garments yellow.”
Allowing the garments to hang down was later taken to mean that the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun sat quietly without stirring, and as a result of their inaction things automatically righted themselves. Then, from previously known material, there was appended a description of their cultural activity and the blessing that grew out of it. The parenthetic sentence seems in turn to be a later addition to this description. The meaning of the activity of the three rulers is that they constantly carried out timely reforms.
6. They scooped out tree trunks for boats and they hardened wood in the fire to make oars. The advantage of boats and oars lay in providing means of communication. (They reached distant parts, in order to benefit the whole world.) They probably took this from the hexagram of DISPERSION.
䷺
The sentence in parentheses has been questioned by Chu Hsi. The hexagram Huan, DISPERSION (59), consists of the trigram Sun, wood, over K’an, water.
That is why it is said in the Judgment, “It furthers one to cross the great water,” and in the Commentary on the Decision, “To rely on wood is productive of merit.” A boat as a means of communication across rivers and for travel to distant places is represented here. Wood over water—this is the meaning of the primary trigrams. The nuclear trigrams Kên and Chên mean large and small roads.
7. They tamed the ox and yoked the horse. Thus heavy loads could be transported and distant regions reached, for the benefit of the world. They probably took this from the hexagram of FOLLOWING.
䷐
The hexagram Sui, FOLLOWING (17), consists of Tui, liveliness, in front and Chên, movement, behind—an image of the way in which the ox and horse go ahead and the wagon moves along behind. Oxen were for heavy carts, horses for fast carriages and war chariots. The use of horses for riding was unknown to China in the earliest period.
8. They introduced double gates and night watchmen with clappers, in order to deal with robbers. They probably took this from the hexagram of ENTHUSIASM.
䷏
The hexagram Yü, ENTHUSIASM (16), consists of the trigram Chên, movement, above and K’un, the earth, below. The nuclear trigrams are K’an, danger, and Kên, mountain. K’un symbolizes a closed door, while Kên likewise means a door; hence the double gates. K’an means thief. Beyond the gates, movement, with wood (Chên) in the hand (Kên), serves as a preparation (yü also means preparation) against the thief.
9. They split wood and made a pestle of it. They made a hollow in the ground for a mortar. The use of the mortar and pestle was of benefit to all mankind. They probably took this from the hexagram of PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL.
䷽
The hexagram Hsiao Kuo, PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL (62), is composed of Chên, movement, wood, above and Kên, Keeping Still, stone, below. Kuo also means transition. The mortar was the primitive form of the mill, and signifies the transition from eating whole grain to baking.
10. They strung a piece of wood for a bow and hardened pieces of wood in the fire for arrows. The use of bow and arrow is to keep the world in fear. They probably took this from the hexagram, of OPPOSITION.
䷥
The hexagram K’uei, OPPOSITION (38), consists of Li, the Clinging, above and Tui, the Joyous, below. The nuclear trigrams are K’an, danger, and, again, Li. The whole hexagram indicates strife. Li is the sun, which sends arrows from afar. Li means weapons, K’an danger. The danger is hedged around by weapons, therefore one is not afraid.
11 . In primitive times people dwelt in caves and lived in forests. The holy men of a later time made the change to buildings. At the top was a ridgepole, and sloping down from it there was a roof, to keep off wind and rain. They probably took this from the hexagram of POWER OF THE GREAT.
䷡
The hexagram Ta Chuang, the POWER OF THE GREAT (34), has Chên, thunder, above; the upper nuclear trigram Tui, lake, is at the top of Ch’ien, heaven, which is the lower nuclear trigram. The lower primary trigram is also Ch’ien, heaven, the atmosphere. Thus the hexagram as a whole means a heaven, a strong, protected space with thunder and rain above it. The trigram Chên also means wood, and as the eldest son it means the ridgepole at the top. The two yielding lines at the top are then thought of as the sloping roof.
12. In primitive times the dead were buried by covering them thickly with brushwood and placing them in the open country, without burial mound or grove of trees. The period of mourning had no definite duration. The holy men of a later time introduced inner and outer coffins instead. They probably took this from the hexagram of PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT.
䷛
The hexagram Ta Kuo, PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT (28), consists of the trigram Tui, the lake, above and Sun, wood, penetration, below. Forming the nuclear trigrams in the middle is Ch’ien, heaven, doubled. The hexagram must be taken as a whole; the two yin lines above and below mean the earth, within which the double coffin, represented by the double heaven, is inclosed. Entering (Sun) their last resting place in this way, the dead are made glad (Tui) . Here we have a link with ancestor worship.
13. In primitive times people knotted cords in order to govern. The holy men of a later age introduced written documents instead, as a means of governing the various officials and supervising the people. They probably took this from the hexagram of BREAK‑THROUGH.
䷪
The hexagram Kuai, BREAK‑THROUGH (43), has Tui, words, above and Ch’ien, strength, below. It means giving permanence to words. The notch at the top also indicates the form of the oldest documents: cut in wood, they consisted of two halves that fitted into each other when held together. As a rule the ancient writings were scratched on tablets of smoothed bamboo. Here the significance of writing in the organization of a large community is emphasized.
Note. In its main features the sketch of the development of civilization given in this chapter corresponds to an extraordinary degree with our own ideas. The fundamental thought, that all institutions are based on the development of definite ideas, is likewise undoubtedly correct. It is not always easy to recognize such ideas in the complexes of ideas presented by the hexagrams, nor is it improbable that there were once certain connections that are now obliterated. There are indications that in the period preceding that of the Chou dynasty the hexagrams had meanings different from those which are traditional today. Possibly this chapter affords insight into these earliest meanings. That still another change in meaning took place later becomes evident when we compare the Judgments with the Images.
CHAPTER III. On the Structure of the Hexagrams
1. Thus the Book of Changes consists of images. The images are reproductions.
The hexagrams are reproductions of conditions in the heavens and on earth. Therefore they are to be applied productively; they have creative power, so to speak, in the realm of ideas, as explained above.
2. The decisions provide the material.
The Commentary on the Decision [i.e., on the Judgment],1 which is probably what is meant here, presents the material out of which each hexagram, taken as a whole, is constructed. Thus it describes the situation as such before it undergoes change. Naturally this also applies to the Judgment itself.
3. The lines are imitations of movements on earth.
Here the lines are equivalent to the judgments appended to them; the judgments apply in the case of lines that move, that is, when they are nines or sixes. They reflect the changes within the individual situations.
4. Thus do good fortune and misfortune arise, and remorse and humiliation appear.
This movement reveals the direction that events are taking, and warnings or confirmations are added.
CHAPTER IV. On the Nature of the Trigrams
1. The light trigrams have more dark lines, the dark trigrams have more light lines.
The “light” trigrams are the three sons, Chên, ☳, K’an, ☵, and Kên, ☶, each of which consists of two dark lines and one light line. The “dark” trigrams are the three daughters. Sun, ☴, Li, ☲, and Tui, ☱, each of which consists of two light lines and one dark line.
2. What is the reason for this? The light trigrams are uneven, the dark trigrams are even.
The light trigrams are made up of the lines 7+8+8, or 7+6+8, or 7+6+6, or 9+8+8, or 9+6+6, or 9+6+8.1 Using the relevant numbers, the numerical values of the lines in the dark trigrams can be found in the same way. Hence the sum of the values of the lines in light trigrams is always an uneven number, and the line representing the uneven number [an undivided line] is therefore the determinant of the light trigram. In the case of dark trigrams, the reverse is true.
3. What is their nature and how do they act? The light trigrams have one ruler and two subjects. They show the way of the superior man. The dark trigrams have two rulers and one subject. This is the way of the inferior man.
Where one alone rules, unity is present, whereas when one person must serve two masters, nothing good can come of it. This truth is here more or less accidentally linked with the structure of the trigrams.
CHAPTER V. Explanation of Certain Lines
1. In the Changes it is said: “If a man is agitated in mind, and his thoughts go hither and thither, only those friends on whom he fixes his conscious thoughts will follow.”
The Master said: What need has nature of thought and care? In nature all things return to their common source and are distributed along different paths; through one action, the fruits of a hundred thoughts are realized. What need has nature of thought, of care?
2. When the sun goes, the moon comes; when the moon goes, the sun comes. Sun and moon alternate; thus light comes into existence. When cold goes, heat comes; when heat goes, cold comes. Cold and heat alternate, and thus the year completes itself. The past contracts. The future expands. Contraction and expansion act upon each other; hereby arises that which furthers.
3. The measuring worm draws itself together when it wants to stretch out. Dragons and snakes hibernate in order to preserve life. Thus the penetration of a germinal thought into the mind promotes the working of the mind. When this working furthers and brings peace to life, it elevates a man’s nature.
4. Whatever goes beyond this indeed transcends all knowledge. When a man comprehends the divine and understands the transformations, he lifts his nature to the level of the miraculous.
In this explanation of the nine in the fourth place in hexagram 31, Hsien, INFLUENCE (bk. III), a theory of the power of the unconscious is given. Conscious influences are always merely limited ones, because they are brought about by intention. Nature knows no intentions; this is why everything in nature is so great. It is owing to the underlying unity of nature that all its thousand ways lead to a goal so perfect that it seems to have been planned beforehand down to the last detail.
Then, in connection with the course of the day and the year, we are shown how past and future flow into each other, how contraction and expansion are the two movements through which the past prepares the future and the future unfolds the past.
In the two succeeding sections the same thought is applied to the man who, through supreme concentration, so intensifies and strengthens his inner being that mysterious autonomous currents of power emanate from him: thus the effects he creates proceed from his unconscious and mysteriously affect the unconscious in others, attaining such breadth and depth of influence that they transcend the individual sphere and enter the realm of cosmic phenomena.
5. In the Changes it is said: “A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone, and leans on thorns and thistles. He enters his house and does not see his wife. Misfortune.”
The Master said : If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced. If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. For him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he then still see his wife?
This is an example of an unfavorable pronouncement. Compare the explanation of the six in the third place in hexagram 47, K’un, OPPRESSION (bk. I).
6. In the Changes it is said: “The prince shoots at a hawk on a high wall. He kills it. Everything serves to further.”
The Master said: The hawk is the object of the hunt; bow and arrow are the tools and means. The marksman is man (who must make proper use of the means to his end). The superior man contains the means in his own person. He bides his time and then acts. Why then should not everything go well? He acts and is free. Therefore all he has to do is to go forth, and he takes his quarry. This is how a man fares who acts after he has made ready the means.
This is an example of a favorable line. Compare the explanation of the six at the top in hexagram 40, Hsieh, DELIVERANCE (bk. I).
7. The Master said: The inferior man is not ashamed of unkindness and does not shrink from injustice. If no advantage beckons he makes no effort. If he is not intimidated he does not improve himself, but if he is made to behave correctly in small matters he is careful in large ones. This is fortunate for the inferior man. This is what is meant when it is said in the Book of Changes: “His feet are fastened in the stocks, so that his toes disappear. No blame.”
Here we have an example of a line that leads to the good through remorse. Compare the explanation of the nine at the beginning in hexagram 21, Shih Ho, BITING THROUGH (bk. I).
8. If good does not accumulate, it is not enough to make a name for a man. If evil does not accumulate, it is not strong enough to destroy a man. Therefore the inferior man thinks to himself, “Goodness in small things has no value,” and so neglects it. He thinks, “Small sins do no harm,” and so does not give them up. Thus his sins accumulate until they can no longer be covered up, and his guilt becomes so great that it can no longer be wiped out. In the Book of Changes it is said: “His neck is fastened in the wooden cangue, so that his ears disappear. Misfortune.”
This is an example of a line showing that misfortune follows hard upon humiliation. Compare the explanation of the nine at the top in hexagram 21, Shih Ho, BITING THROUGH (bk. I).
9. The Master said: Danger arises when a man feels secure in his position. Destruction threatens when a man seeks to preserve his worldly estate. Confusion develops when a man has put everything in order. Therefore the superior man does not forget danger in his security, nor ruin when he is well established, nor confusion when his affairs are in order. In this way he gains personal safety and is able to protect the empire. In the Book of Changes it is said: “‘What if it should fail, what if it should fail?’ In this way he ties it to a cluster of mulberry shoots.”
This is an example of a line showing how one remains free of blame and thus attains success. See the explanation of the nine in the fifth place in hexagram 12, P’i, STANDSTILL (bk. I).
10. The Master said: Weak character coupled with honored place, meager knowledge with large plans, limited powers with heavy responsibility, will seldom escape disaster. In the Changes it is said: “The legs of the ting are broken. The prince’s meal is spilled, and his person is soiled. Misfortune.” This is said of someone not equal to his task.
This is an example of a line showing that one meets with misfortune through being inadequate to the situation. Compare the explanation of the nine in the fourth place in hexagram 50, Ting, THE CALDRON (bk. I).
11. The Master said: To know the seeds, that is divine indeed. In his association with those above him, the superior man does not flatter. In his association with those beneath him, he is not arrogant. For he knows the seeds. The seeds are the first imperceptible beginning of movement, the first trace of good fortune (or misfortune) that shows itself. The superior man perceives the seeds and immediately takes action. He does not wait even a whole day. In the Changes it is said: “Firm as a rock. Not a whole day. Perseverance brings good fortune.”
Firm as a rock, what need of a whole day?
The judgment can be known.
The superior man knows what is hidden and what is evident.
He knows weakness, he knows strength as well.
Hence the myriads look up to him.
This is an example of a line showing that foreknowledge enables one to escape misfortune in good time. Compare the explanation of the six in the second place in hexagram 16, Yü, ENTHUSIASM (bk. I).
12. The Master said: Yen Hui is one who will surely attain it. If he has a fault, he never fails to recognize it; having recognized it, he never commits the error a second time. In the Changes it is said: “Return from a short distance. No need for remorse. Great good fortune.”
This is an example of a line showing that one can learn from experience. Yen Hui was the favorite disciple of Confucius. It is said in the Analects too that he never committed the same error twice. See the explanation of the nine at the beginning in hexagram 24, Fu, RETURN (bk. III).
13. The Master said: Heaven and earth come together, and all things take shape and find form. Male and female mix their seed, and all creatures take shape and are born. In the Changes it is said: “When three people journey together, their number decreases by one. When one man journeys alone, he finds a companion.”
This is an example of a line that is favorable by reason of unity. Compare the explanation of the six in the third place in hexagram 41, Sun, DECREASE (bk. III).
What “echo” means here
In this sentence, echo does not mean agreement or reaction. It refers to resonance — a response that arises naturally when words are spoken without inner agitation.
Agitated speech lacks coherence. Its energy is chaotic, the signal distorted; there is nothing stable in it for others to respond to. In such conditions, nothing returns. No echo.
The usage is closer to acoustics than psychology: a clear tone produces an echo; noise does not.
Why this usage is rare today
Modern language tends to collapse response, reaction, and echo into a single idea, and to frame communication in terms of persuasion or impact. The older usage assumes something stricter: communication as correspondence rather than force, and understanding as something that emerges only when words are properly formed internally.
The sentence is therefore quietly uncompromising. It is not saying that people fail to listen when one is agitated; it is saying that real communication becomes impossible.
An echo is never willed. One may shout as loudly as one likes — the echo appears only when conditions are right.
14. The Master said: The superior man sets his person at rest before he moves; he composes his mind before he speaks; he makes his relations firm before he asks for something. By attending to these three matters, the superior man gains complete security. But if a man is brusque in his movements, others will not co-operate. If he is agitated in his words, they awaken no echo in others.* If he asks for something without having first established relations, it will not be given to him. If no one is with him, those who would harm him draw near. In the Changes it is said: “He brings increase to no one. Indeed, someone even strikes him. He does not keep his heart constantly steady. Misfortune.”
This is an example of a line showing that everything depends on proper preparation. Compare the explanation of the nine at the top in hexagram 42, I, INCREASE (bk. I).
CHAPTER VI. On the Nature of the Book of Changes in General
1. The Master said: The Creative and the Receptive are indeed the gateway to the Changes. The Creative is the representative of light things and the Receptive of dark things. In that the natures of the dark and the light are joined, the firm and the yielding receive form. Thus do the relationships of heaven and earth take shape, and we enter into relation with the nature of the light of the gods.
The statement that matter is the product of energy is not metaphorical. The text presents energy as primary and matter as derivative—a stabilized outcome of interacting forces. Light and dark are described as energies, not substances, and matter as the form that results from their tension.
Motion, in this view, does not belong to matter itself. It is sustained only through continued connection with these underlying forces. When that connection weakens, rigidity and decay follow.
The passage therefore joins cosmology and practice: maintaining relation to these forces is not merely explanatory but essential. Reality is process-based, not material-first—a perspective that anticipates later scientific formulations while remaining rooted in an older, unified worldview.
Following out what has been said in part I, chapter XII, section 3, the method of the Book of Changes is presented here. The first two trigrams, the Creative and the Receptive, are shown as representatives of the two polar primal forces. The aim is to explain that matter is the product of energy.* The light and the dark are energies. The interaction of these forces gives rise to matter—that is, the firm and the yielding. Matter makes up the form, the body, of all beings in heaven and on earth, but it is always energy that keeps it in motion. The important thing is to maintain connection with these divine forces of light.
2. The names employed are manifold but not superfluous. When we examine their kinds, thoughts about the decline of an era come to mind.
The names of the sixty-four hexagrams are diverse, but they all keep within the sphere of the necessary. Actual situations, just as life brings them, are described. The situations throughout are of such a nature as to make it plain that the reference is to an era of decline, the aim being to provide the means of reconstruction. It is pointed out that the body of ideas in the hexagrams stems from a time already confronted with phenomena of decline.
3. The Changes illumine the past and interpret the future. They disclose that which is hidden and open that which is dark. They distinguish things by means of suitable names. Then, when the right words and decisive judgments are added, everything is complete.
The wording of this section, and indeed of the whole of this chapter, seems to be rather uncertain, but the general meaning is easy to understand. Here again the various connotations of the Book of Changes are pointed out: hidden things are revealed in time and space, first symbolically by means of names and relationships, then explicitly by means of the judgments.
4. The names employed sound unimportant, but the possibilities of application are great. The meanings are far-reaching, the judgments are well ordered. The words are roundabout but they hit the mark. Things are openly set forth, but they contain also a deeper secret. This is why in doubtful cases they may serve to guide the conduct of men and thus to show the requital for reaching or for missing the goal.
The abstract, allegorical content of the hexagrams is here pointed out. The hexagrams permit of a general extension to all sorts of situations, because they present nothing but the laws that pertain to various complexes of conditions.
CHAPTER VII. The Relation of Certain Hexagrams to Character Formation
1. The Changes came into use in the period of middle antiquity. Those who composed the Changes had great care and sorrow.
This passage refers to King Wên and his son, the Duke of Chou, who both lived through very difficult times. The writer of the lines quoted above feels himself in sympathy with them in this respect, for he too can do nothing more than preserve for posterity the framework of a perishing civilization.
2. Thus the hexagram of TREADING shows the basis of character. MODESTY shows the handle of character; RETURN, the stem of character. DURATION brings about firmness of character; DECREASE, cultivation of character; INCREASE, fullness of character; OPPRESSION, the test of character; THE WELL, the field of character; THE GENTLE, the exercise of character.
3. The hexagram of TREADING is harmonious and attains its goal. MODESTY gives honor and shines forth. RETURN is small, yet different from external things. DURATION shows manifold experiences without satiety. DECREASE shows first what is difficult and then what is easy. INCREASE shows the growth of fullness without artifices. OPPRESSION leads to perplexity and thereby to success. THE WELL abides in its place, yet has influence on other things. Through THE GENTLE one is able to weigh things and remain hidden.
4. TREADING brings about harmonious conduct. MODESTY serves to regulate the mores. RETURN leads to self-knowledge. DURATION brings about unity of character. DECREASE keeps harm away. INCREASE furthers what is useful. Through OPPRESSION one learns to lessen one’s rancor. THE WELL brings about discrimination as to what is right. Through THE GENTLE one is able to take special circumstances into account.1
Here nine hexagrams are used to show the development of character. First the relations of the hexagrams to character are given, then the material of the hexagrams, and finally their effect. The movement is from within outward. What is wrought in the depths of the heart becomes outwardly visible in its effects. The nine hexagrams are as follows:
1. Lü, TREADING (10). This hexagram deals with the rules of good conduct, compliance with which is a prerequisite of character formation. This good conduct is harmonious—in conformity with the trigram Tui, the Joyous, which is inside—and hence attains its goal even under difficult circumstances (“treading upon the tail of the tiger”). Thus it brings about those harmonious forms which are a prerequisite of outward behavior.
2. Ch’ien, MODESTY (15). This hexagram shows the attitude that is necessary before character formation can be undertaken. Modesty (mountain under the earth) honors others and thereby attains honor for itself; it regulates human intercourse in such a way that friendliness evokes friendliness. To the outward forms it adds the right attitude of mind as content.
3. Fu, RETURN (24). This hexagram is characterized by the fact that a light line returns from below and moves upward. It means the root and stem of character. The good that shows itself below is at first quite insignificant, but it is strong enough to be able constantly to prevail in its own unique character against any temptation of the surroundings. In the sense of return, it also suggests lasting reform following upon errors committed, and the self-examination and self-knowledge necessary for this.
4. Hêng, DURATION (32). This hexagram brings about firmness of character in the frame of time. It shows wind and thunder constantly together; hence there are manifold movements and experiences, from which fixed rules are derived, so that a unified character results.
5. Sun, DECREASE (41). This hexagram shows a decrease in influence of the lower faculties, the untamed instincts, in favor of the higher life of the mind. Here we have the essence of character training. The hexagram shows first the difficult thing—the taming of the instincts—then the easy phase, when character is under control; thus harm is kept away.
6. I, INCREASE (42). This hexagram gives needed fullness to character. Mere asceticism is not enough to make a good character: greatness is also needed. Thus INCREASE shows an organic growth of personality that is not artificial and hence furthers what is useful.
7. K’un, OPPRESSION (47). This hexagram leads the individual of developed character finally into the field where he must prove himself. Difficulties and obstacles arise; these must be overcome, yet they often prove insuperable. He sees himself confronted by bounds that he cannot set aside and that can be surmounted only by recognizing them for what they are. In thus recognizing as fate the things that must be so taken, one ceases to hate adversity—of what use would it be to storm against fate—and through this lessening of resentment, character is purified and advances to a higher level.
8. Ching, THE WELL (48). This hexagram represents a wellspring, which, though fixed in one spot, dispenses blessing far and wide and so makes its influence far-reaching. This shows the field in which character cam take effect. We perceive the profound influence emanating from a richly endowed and generous personality, an influence that is not any the less because the person exerting it keeps in the background. The hexagram shows what is right, and thus makes it possible for the right to take effect.
9. Sun, THE GENTLE, THE PENETRATING (57). This hexagram gives the proper flexibility of character. What is needed is not rigidity that holds fast to established principles and is in reality mere pedantry, but mobility: thus one weighs things and penetrates to the needs of the time without exposing oneself to attack, so learning to take circumstances into account and to preserve a strong unity of character along with intelligent versatility.
CHAPTER VIII. On the Use of the Book of Changes: The Lines
1. The Changes is a book
From which one may not hold aloof.
Its tao is forever changing—
Alteration, movement without rest,
Flowing through the six empty places;
Rising and sinking without fixed law,
Firm and yielding transform each other.
They cannot be confined within a rule;
It is only change that is at work here.
2. They move inward and outward according to fixed rhythms.
Without or within, they teach caution.
3. They also show care and sorrow and their causes.
Though you have no teacher,
Approach them as you would your parents.
4. First take up the words,
Ponder their meaning,
Then the fixed rules reveal themselves.
But if you are not the right man,
The meaning will not manifest itself to you.
In half rhythmic and half rhymed prose, we are here admonished to study the Book of Changes diligently. It is pointed out with praise that continuous change is the rule of the book. In conclusion, attention is called to the fact that an innate capacity is essential to an understanding of the book, otherwise it will remain locked as if with seven seals. If the person consulting the oracle is not in contact with tao, he does not receive an intelligible answer, since it would be of no avail.
CHAPTER IX. The Lines (continued)
1. The Changes is a book whose hexagrams begin with the first line and are summed up in the last. The lines are the essential material. The six lines are interspersed according to the meaning belonging to them at the time.
This section discusses the relation of the lines to the hexagram as a whole. With the individual lines as the material, the hexagram is built from the bottom upward. The individual lines have within this sequence the meaning imparted to them by force of the particular situation.
2. The beginning line is difficult to understand. The top line is easy to understand. For they stand in the relationship of cause and effect. The judgment on the first line is tentative, but at the last line everything has attained completion.
Here in the first instance the reciprocal relationship between the first and the top line is stated. Both stand, as it were, outside the essential hexagram and the nuclear trigrams. At the first line the action is only just beginning to develop, and at the last it is concluded.
3. But if one wishes to explore things in their manifold gradation, and their qualities as well, and to discriminate between right and wrong, it cannot be done completely without the middle lines.
The “things in their manifold gradation” result from the manifold gradation of the places. Their qualities inhere in their firm or their yielding character. Right and wrong are distinguishable according to whether or not the lines occupy the places appropriate to them in view of the meaning of the time.
4. Yes, even that which is most important in regard to surviving or perishing, in regard to good fortune or misfortune, can be known in the course of time. The man of knowledge contemplates the judgment on the decision, and thus he can think out for himself the greater part.
In the Commentary on the Decision the rulers of the hexagrams are always indicated. By pondering the relationships of the other lines to these rulers, one can gain an approximate idea of their position and meaning in the hexagram as a whole.
5. The second and the fourth place correspond in their work but are differentiated by their positions. They do not correspond as regards the degree to which they are good. The second is usually praised, the fourth is usually warned, because it stands near the ruler. The meaning of the yielding is that it is not favorable for it to be far away. The important thing, however, is to remain without blame; its expression consists in being yielding and central.
The fifth place is that of the ruler. The second and the fourth place are those of officials. The second, which stands in the relationship of correspondence to the fifth (each being centrally-placed, the former in the inner, the latter in the outer trigram), is the official who, far from the court, is attending to his work in the country. The fourth place is that of the minister. Therefore the two places, both dark—that is, dependent—are not equally good, despite their correspondence with respect to their work. The second usually carries a favorable judgment, the fourth a warning one: because it is too close to the prince, it must be doubly cautious. Now it is not in the nature of the yielding to prosper when it is far from the firm, hence one would expect the second place to be less favorable than the fourth. However, an important factor is that it is centrally placed and so remains without blame.
6. The third and the fifth place correspond in their work but are differentiated by their positions. The third usually has misfortune, the fifth usually has merit, because they are graded according to rank. The weaker is endangered, the stronger has victory.
The fifth place is that of the ruler. The third, as the top place of the inner [lower] trigram, has at least a limited power. But it is not central; it is in an insecure position on the boundary between two trigrams. Therein, as well as in its lower rank, lie elements of weakness that in most situations show the place to be endangered. The fifth place is central and strong, the ruler of the hexagram; these are all elements of strength, promising victory.
CHAPTER X. The Lines (continued)
1. The Changes is a book vast and great, in which everything is completely contained. The tao of heaven is in it, the tao of the earth is in it, and the tao of man is in it. It combines these three primal powers and doubles them; that is why there are six lines. The six lines are nothing other than the ways (tao) of the three primal powers.
2. The Way has changes and movements. Therefore the lines are called changing lines. The lines have gradations, therefore they represent things. Things are diverse; this gives rise to line characteristics. The line characteristics do not always correspond. From this arise good fortune and misfortune.
Here the places are divided according to the three primal powers. The first and the second line are the places of the earth, the third and the fourth those of man, and the fifth and the top line those of heaven; this division comes into consideration with the very first hexagram, THE CREATIVE. According to whether the lines of the different gradations are appropriate to the places, conclusions are drawn as to whether they mean good fortune or misfortune. The Chinese character for “line,” hsiao, when written differently may also mean “to imitate.” This is why the lines are here called “changing lines”—that is, lines oriented to the pattern of tao. The written character for hsiao consists of two sets of crossed lines, suggesting the crossing of yang and yin (爻).
CHAPTER XI. The Value of Caution as a Teaching of the Book of Changes
The time at which the Changes came to the fore was that in which the house of Yin came to an end and the way of the house of Chou was rising, that is, the time when King Wên and the tyrant Chou Hsin were pitted against each other.1
This is why the judgments of the book so frequently warn against danger. He who is conscious of danger creates peace for himself; he who takes things lightly creates his own downfall. The tao of this book is great. It omits none of the hundred things. It is concerned about beginning and end, and it is encompassed in the words “without blame.” This is the tao of the Changes.
King Wên, the founder of the Chou dynasty, was held captive by the last ruler of the Yin dynasty, the tyrant Chou Hsin. He is said to have composed the judgments on the different hexagrams during his captivity. Because of the danger of his situation, all these judgments emanate from a caution that is intent on remaining without blame and thus attains success.
CHAPTER XII. Summary
1. The Creative is the strongest of all things in the world. The expression of its nature is invariably the easy, in order thus to master the dangerous. The Receptive is the most devoted of all things in the world. The expression of its nature is invariably simple, in order thus to master the obstructive.
The two cardinal principles of the Book of Changes, the Creative and the Receptive, are here once more presented in their essential features. The Creative is represented as strength, to which everything is easy, but which remains conscious of the danger involved in working from above downward, and thus masters the danger. The Receptive is represented as devotion, which therefore acts simply, but which is conscious of the obstructions inherent in working from below upward, and hence masters these obstructions.
2. To be able to preserve joyousness of heart and yet to be concerned in thought: in this way we can determine good fortune and misfortune on earth, and bring to perfection everything on earth.
In the text there appear next to the expression, “to be concerned in thought,” two other characters that Chu Hsi has quite correctly eliminated as later additions. Joyousness of heart is the way of the Creative. To be concerned in thought is the way of the Receptive. Through joyousness one gains an over-all view of good fortune and misfortune, through concern one attains the possibility of perfection.
3. Therefore: The changes and transformations refer to action. Beneficent deeds have good auguries. Hence the images help us to know the things, and the oracle helps us to know the future.
The changes refer to action. Hence the images of the Book of Changes are of such sort that one can act in accordance with the changes and know reality (cf. also chap. II above, where inventions are traced to the images). Events tend toward good fortune or misfortune, which are expressed in omens. In that the Book of Changes interprets these omens, the future becomes clear.
4. Heaven and earth determine the places. The holy sages fulfill the possibilities of the places. Through the thoughts of men and the thoughts of spirits, the people are enabled to participate in these possibilities.
Heaven and earth determine the places and thereby the possibilities. The sages make these possibilities into reality, and through the collaboration of the thoughts of spirits and of men in the Book of Changes, it becomes possible to extend the blessings of culture to the people as well.
5. The eight trigrams point the way by means of their images; the words accompanying the lines, and the decisions, speak according to the circumstances. In that the firm and the yielding are interspersed, good fortune and misfortune can be discerned.
6. Changes and movements are judged according to the furtherance (that they bring). Good fortune and misfortune change according to the conditions. Therefore: Love and hate combat each other, and good fortune and misfortune result therefrom. The far and the near injure each other, and remorse and humiliation result therefrom. The true and the false influence each other, and advantage and injury result therefrom. In all the situations of the Book of Changes it is thus: When closely related things do not harmonize, misfortune is the result: this gives rise to injury, remorse, and humiliation.
The close relationships between the lines are those of correspondence and of holding together.1 According to whether the lines attract or repel one another, good fortune or misfortune ensues, in all the gradations possible in each case.
7. The words of a man who plans revolt are confused. The words of a man who entertains doubt in his inmost heart are ramified. The words of men of good fortune are few. Excited men use many words. Slanderers of good men are roundabout in their words. The words of a man who has lost his standpoint are twisted.
This passage summarizes the effects of states of mind on verbal expression. It becomes plain therefrom that the authors of the Book of Changes, who are so sparing of words, belong in the category of men of good fortune.
The Structure of the Hexagrams
1. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
The foregoing supplies most of what is necessary for an understanding of the hexagrams. Here, however, there follows a summary regarding their structure. This will enable the reader to perceive why the hexagrams have precisely the meanings given them, why the lines have the often seemingly fantastic text that is appended to them—indicating, by means of allegory, what position the line holds in the total situation of the hexagram, and to what degree it therefore signifies good fortune or misfortune.
This substructure of explanation has been carried to great lengths by the Chinese commentators. Since the Han period1 especially, when the magic of the “five stages of change” became associated with the Book of Changes, more and more mystery and finally more and more hocus-pocus have become attached to the book. This is what has given the book its reputation for profundity and unintelligibility. I believe that the reader may be spared all this overgrowth, and have presented only such matter from the text and the oldest commentaries as proves itself relevant.
Obviously in a work like the Book of Changes there is always a nonrational residuum. Why, in a particular instance, one given aspect is stressed, rather than some other that might just as well have been, can no more be accounted for than the fact that oxen have horns and not upper front teeth as horses have. It is possible only to give proof of the interrelations within the framework of what is posited; to sustain the analogy, it is like explaining to what extent there is an organic connection between the development of horns and the absence of upper front teeth.
2. THE EIGHT TRIGRAMS AND THEIR APPLICATION
As has previously been pointed out, the hexagrams should be thought of not merely as made up of six individual lines but always as composed of two primary trigrams. In the interpretation of the hexagrams, these primary trigrams play a part according to the various aspects of their character—first according to their attributes, then according to their images, and finally according to their positions within the family sequence (here uniformly only the Sequence of Later Heaven2 is taken into account):
| Ch’ien | the Creative | is strong | heaven | the father |
| K’un | the Receptive | is devoted | earth | the mother |
| Chên | the Arousing | is movement | thunder, wood | the eldest son |
| K’an | the Abysmal | is danger | water, clouds | the middle son |
| Kên | Keeping Still | is standstill | mountain | the youngest son |
| Sun | the Gentle | is penetration | wind, wood | the eldest daughter |
| Li | the Clinging | is light‑giving or conditioned | sun, lightning, fire | the middle daughter |
| Tui | the Joyous | is pleasure | lake | the youngest daughter |
These general meanings, particularly when it is a question of interpretation of the individual lines, must be supplemented by the lists of symbols and attributes—at first glance seemingly superfluous—given in chapter III of the Shuo Kua, Discussion of the Trigrams.
In addition, the positions of the trigrams in relation to each other must be taken into account. The lower trigram is below, within, and behind; the upper trigram is above, without, and in front. The lines stressed in the upper trigram are always characterized as “going”; those stressed in the lower trigram, as “coming.”
From these characterizations of the trigrams—already in use in the Commentary on the Decision—there was later constructed a system of transforming the hexagrams one into another, which has led to much confusion.
This system is here left wholly out of account, since it is not in any way essential to the explanation. Nor has any use been made of the “hidden” hexagrams—i.e., the idea that basically each hexagram has its opposite hidden within it (for example, within Ch’ien is K’un, within Chên is Sun, etc.).
But it is decidedly necessary to make use of the so-called nuclear trigrams, hu kua. These form the four middle lines of each hexagram, and overlap each other so that the middle line of the one falls within the other. An example or two will make this clear:
䷝
The hexagram Li, THE CLINGING, FIRE (50), shows a nuclear trigram complex consisting of the four lines ⚋ ⚊ ⚊ ⚋ . The two nuclear trigrams are Tui, the Joyous, as the upper (☱), and Sun, the Gentle, as the lower (☴).
䷼
The hexagram Chung Fu, INNER TRUTH (61), has for its nuclear trigram complex the four lines ⚊ ⚋ ⚋ ⚊ . Here the two nuclear trigrams are Kên, Keeping Still, as the upper (☶), and Chên, the Arousing, as the lower (☳).
The structure of the hexagrams therefore shows a stage-by-stage overlapping of different trigrams and their influences:
Thus, in each case, the beginning and the top line are each part of one trigram only—the lower and the upper primary trigram respectively. The second and the fifth line belong each to two trigrams, the former to the lower primary and the lower nuclear trigram, the latter to the upper primary and the upper nuclear trigram. The third and the fourth line belong each to three trigrams—to the upper and the lower primary trigram respectively, and to both of the two nuclear trigrams.
The result is that the beginning and the top line tend in a sense to drop out of connection, while a state of equilibrium, usually favorable, obtains in the case of the second and the fifth line, and the two middle lines are conditioned by the fact that each belongs to both nuclear trigrams, which disturbs the balance in all except particularly favorable cases. These relationships correspond exactly with the evaluations of the lines in the appended judgments.
3. THE TIME
The situation represented by the hexagram as a whole is called the time. This term comprises several entirely different meanings, according to the character of the various hexagrams.
In hexagrams in which the situation as a whole has to do with movement, “the time” means the decrease or growth, the emptiness or fullness, brought about by this movement. Hexagrams of this sort are: T’ai, PEACE (11); P’i, STANDSTILL (12); Po, SPLITTING APART (25); Fu, RETURN (24).
Similarly, the action or process characteristic for a given hexagram is called the time, as in Sung, CONFLICT (6), Shih, THE ARMY (7), Shih Ho, BITING THROUGH (21), and I, PROVIDING NOURISHMENT (27).
In addition, the time means the law expressed through a hexagram, as in Lü, TREADING (10), Ch’ien, MODESTY (15), Hsien, INFLUENCE (31), and Hêng, DURATION (32).
Finally, the time may also mean the symbolic situation represented by the hexagram, as in Ching, THE WELL (48), and Ting, THE CALDRON (50).
In all cases the time of a hexagram is determinative for the meaning of the situation as a whole, on the basis of which the individual lines receive their meaning. A given line—let us say, a six in the third place—can be now favorable, now unfavorable, according to the time determinant.
4. THE PLACES
The places occupied by the lines are differentiated as superior and inferior, according to their relative elevation. As a rule the lowest and the top line are not taken into account, whereas the four middle lines are active within the time.
Of these, the fifth place is that of the ruler, and the fourth that of the minister who is close to the ruler. The third, as the highest place of the lower trigram, holds a sort of transitional position; the second is that of the official in the country, who nevertheless stands in direct connection with the prince in the fifth place. But in some situations the fourth place may represent the wife and the second the son of the man represented by the fifth place. Under certain circumstances the second place may be that of the woman, active within the house, while the fifth place is that of the husband, active in the world without. In short, while any of various designations may be given to a line in a specific place, the varying functions ascribed to the place are always analogous.
As regards the time of the hexagram, the lowest and the top place as a rule represent the beginning and the end. But under certain circumstances the lowest line may also stand for an individual beginning to take part in the time situation without having as yet entered the field of action, while the top line may signify someone who has already withdrawn from the affairs of the time. However, it depends on the time represented by the hexagram whether, under some conditions, these very places have a typical activity, as for example the first place in Chun, DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING (3) and in Ta Yu, POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE (14), or the top place in Kuan, CONTEMPLATION (20), in Ta Ch’u, THE TAMING POWER OF THE GREAT (26), and in I, INCREASE (42). In all of these cases the lines in question are rulers of the hexagrams.3 On the other hand, it may also happen that the fifth place is not that of the ruler, as when, in conformity with the situation indicated by the hexagram as a whole, no prince appears.
5. THE CHARACTER OF THE LINES
The character of the lines is designated as firm or yielding, as central, as correct, or as not central or not correct. The undivided lines are firm (or rigid), the divided lines are yielding (or weak).
The middle lines of the two primary trigrams, the second and the fifth, are central irrespective of their other qualities. A line is correct when it stands in a place appropriate to it—e.g., a firm line occupying the first, third, or fifth place, or a yielding line occupying the second, fourth, or sixth place.
Both firm and yielding lines may be favorable or unfavorable, according to the time requirement of the hexagram. When the time calls for firmness, firm lines are favorable; when the time requires giving way, yielding lines are favorable. This holds true to such an extent that correctness may not always be of advantage. When the time requires giving way, a firm line in the third place, although correct in itself, is harmful because it shows too much firmness, while conversely a yielding line in the third place can be favorable because its yielding character compensates for the rigidity of the place. Only the central position is favorable in the great majority of cases, whether associated with correctness or not. A yielding ruler in particular may have a very favorable position, especially when supported by a strong, firm official in the second place.
6. THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE LINES TO ONE ANOTHER
Correspondence
Lines occupying analogous places in the lower and the upper trigram sometimes have an especially close relationship, the relationship of correspondence. As a rule, firm lines correspond with yielding lines only, and vice versa. The following lines, provided that they differ in kind, correspond: the first and the fourth, the second and the fifth, the third and the top line. Of these, the most important are the two central lines in the second and the fifth place, which stand in the correct relationship of official to ruler, son to father, wife to husband. A strong official may be in the relation of correspondence to a yielding ruler, or a yielding official may be so related to a strong ruler. The former is the case in sixteen hexagrams, in all of which the result is favorable. It is wholly favorable in hexagrams 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 19, 32, 34, 38, 40, 41, 46, 50, and somewhat less favorable, owing to the time conditions, in hexagrams 26, 54, 64.
The relationship of correspondence between a yielding official and a strong ruler is not nearly so favorable. Its effect is quite unfavorable in hexagrams 12, 13, 17, 20, 31. Difficulties appear in hexagrams 3, 33, 39, 63, but as these are explainable on the basis of the time, the relationship in itself can still be said to be correct. The relationship acts favorably in hexagrams 8, 25, 37, 42, 45, 49, 53.
Occasionally there is correspondence also between the first and the fourth line. It is favorable when a yielding line in the fourth place is in the relationship of correspondence to a strong first line, because this means that an obedient official seeks strong, efficient assistants in the name of his ruler (cf. hexagrams 3, 22, 26, 27, 41). On the other hand, correspondence of a strong fourth line with a yielding first line would indicate a temptation to intimacy with inferior persons, which should be avoided (cf. hexagrams 28, 40, 50). A relationship between the third and the top line hardly ever occurs—or at most only as a temptation—because an exalted sage who has renounced the world would forfeit his purity if he became entangled in worldly affairs, and an official in the third place would forfeit his loyalty if he passed by his ruler in the fifth place.
Of course when a line is a ruler of a hexagram, there occur relationships of correspondence that are independent of these considerations, and the good fortune or misfortune implied by them is determined by the time significance of the hexagram as a whole.
Holding Together
Between two adjacent lines of different character there may occur a relationship of holding together, which is also described with respect to the lower line as “receiving” and with respect to the upper as “resting upon.” As regards the relationship of holding together, the fourth and the fifth line (minister and ruler) are of first importance. Here, in contradistinction to the situation respecting the second and the fifth line, it is more favorable for a yielding minister to hold together with a strong ruler, because in this closer proximity reverence is of value.
Thus in sixteen hexagrams in which this type of holding together occurs, it is always more or less auspicious: it is very favorable in hexagrams 8, 9, 20, 29, 37, 42, 48, 53, 57, 59, 60, 61 and somewhat less favorable but not altogether unfavorable in hexagrams 3, 5, 39, 63. But the holding together of a strong, i.e., an incorrect line in the fourth place with a yielding ruler is generally unfavorable, as in hexagrams 30, 32, 35, 50, 51; it is somewhat less unfavorable in hexagrams 14, 38, 40, 54, 56, 62. Conversely, it is favorable in certain hexagrams in which the strong fourth line is the ruler: these are hexagrams 16, 21, 34, 55 (here the line is the ruler of the upper trigram), 64.
In addition, the relationship of holding together occurs also between the fifth and the top line. Here it pictures a ruler placing himself under a sage; in such a case it is usually a humble ruler (a weak line in the fifth place) who reveres a strong sage (a strong line above), as in hexagrams 14, 26, 27, 50. This is naturally very favorable. But when, conversely, a strong line stands in the fifth place with a weak one above it, this points rather to association with inferior elements and is undesirable, as in hexagrams 28, 31, 43, 58. The only exception to this appears in hexagram 17, Sui, FOLLOWING, because the total meaning of the hexagram presupposes that the strong element descends to a place under the weak element.
The remaining lines, the first and second, the second and third, the third and fourth, do not stand in the correct relationship of holding together. Where this occurs it always implies a danger of factionalism and is to be avoided. For a weak line, resting upon a firm line is even at times a source of trouble.
In dealing with lines that are rulers of their hexagrams, correspondence and holding together are taken into account regardless of the places of the lines. Besides the above-mentioned instances, other examples may be cited. In Yü, ENTHUSIASM (16), the fourth line is the ruler of the hexagram, the first line corresponds with it, and the third holds together with it. In Po, SPLITTING APART (23), the top line is the ruler; the third corresponds with it, the fifth holds together with it, and both these factors are favorable. In Fu, RETURN (24), the first line is the ruler; the second holds together with it, the fourth corresponds with it, and both these relationships are favorable.
In Kuai, BREAK-THROUGH (RESOLUTENESS) (43), the top line is the ruler, the third corresponds with it, and the fifth holds together with it. And in Kou, COMING TO MEET (44), the first line is the ruler, the second holds together with it, the fourth corresponds with it. Here good fortune and misfortune are determined according to the trend indicated by the meaning of the hexagram.
7. THE RULERS OF THE HEXAGRAMS
Distinction is made between two kinds of rulers, constituting and governing. The constituting ruler of the hexagram is that line which gives the hexagram its characteristic meaning, regardless of whether or not the line indicates nobility and goodness of character. The weak top line in hexagram 43, Kuai, BREAK‑THROUGH (RESOLUTENESS) is an example, for the idea that this line is resolutely to be cast out is the constituting factor in the hexagram.
Governing rulers are always of good character and become rulers by virtue of their position and the meaning of the time. Usually they are in the fifth place, but occasionally lines in other places may be governing rulers.
When the constituting ruler is at the same time the governing ruler, the line is certain to be good and to be in the place appropriate to the time. When it is not the governing ruler as well, it is a sure sign that its character and place do not accord with the demands of the time.
The ruler of the hexagram can always be determined from the Commentary on the Decision.4 When the constituting ruler and the governing ruler are identical, the hexagram has one ruler; otherwise it has two. Often there are two lines constituting the meaning of the hexagram, as for instance the two advancing weak lines in hexagram 53, Tun, RETREAT; these are both rulers because they are pushing back the four strong lines. If the hexagram is produced by the interaction of the images of the primary trigrams, the two lines respectively characterizing the trigrams are the rulers.
The constituting ruler in the hexagram is designated by a square ( □ ), the governing ruler by a circle (○). When the two are identical, only the circle is used. In book III, moreover, a detailed interpretation of the ruler appears in connection with each hexagram.
Book III | Scheduled for version 4 (Q2 2026)