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HEXAGRAM 05 – Hsu – Waiting (Nourishment)
Above K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below CH’IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
All beings have need of nourishment from above.
But the gift of food
· comes in its own time, and
· for this one must wait.
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
· Strength in the face of danger
o does not plunge ahead but bides its time,
whereas
· weakness in the face of danger
o grows agitated and has not the patience to wait.
THE JUDGMENT
WAITING. If you are sincere,
You have
· light and
· success.
Perseverance brings good fortune.
It furthers one to cross the great water.
· Waiting
o is not mere empty hoping.
· It
o has the inner certainty of reaching the goal.
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.
One is faced with a danger that has to be overcome.
· Weakness and
· impatience
can do nothing.
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.
This recognition must be followed by
· resolute and
· persevering
action.
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.
THE IMAGE
Clouds rise up to heaven: The image of WAITING.
Thus the superior man
· eats and
· drinks,
Is
· joyous and
· of good cheer.
When clouds rise in the sky,
it is a sign that it will rain.
There is nothing to do
but to wait until the rain falls.
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
o the body with food and drink and
o the mind with gladness and good cheer.
Fate comes when it will, and thus we are ready.
THE LINES
Nine at the beginning means:
Waiting in the meadow.
It furthers one to abide in what endures.
No blame.
The danger is not yet close.
One is still waiting on the open plain.
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.
MOVING HEXAGRAM
HEXAGRAM 48 – Ching – The Well
Above K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD
· Wood is below,
· water above.
The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water.
The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China.
The wood represents
· not the buckets,
o which in ancient times were made of clay,
but rather
· the wooden poles by
o which the water is hauled up from the well.
The image also refers to
· the world of plants,
o which lift water out of the earth
§ by means of their fibers.
The well from which water is drawn conveys
the further idea of
an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.
THE JUDGMENT
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.
In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved,
· partly for the sake of more favorable location,
· partly because of a change in dynasties.
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.
Life is also inexhaustible.
· 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.
However,
there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory
· political or
· social organization
of mankind.
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.
This hexagram applies also to the individual.
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
o the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man’s nature.
But here likewise
two dangers threaten:
1. a man may
a. fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and
b. remain fixed in conventions partial education of this sort is as bad as none
or
2. he may suddenly
a. collapse and
b. neglect
his self-development.
THE IMAGE
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.
· The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and
· the trigram K’an, water, is above it.
Wood sucks water upward.
Just as
· wood as an organism imitates the action of the well,
o which benefits all parts of the plant,
· the superior man organizes human society,
so that, as in a plant organism,
o its parts cooperate for the benefit of the whole.
