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HEXAGRAM 59 – Huan – Dispersion (Dissolution)
Above SUN THE GENTLE, WIND
Below K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Wind blowing over water
· disperses it,
· dissolving it into
o foam and
o mist.
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
o break up and
o dissolve
the blockage.
THE JUDGMENT
Dispersion,
Success.
The king approaches his temple.
It furthers one to cross the great water.
Perseverance furthers.
The text of this hexagram resembles that of Ts’ui,
GATHERING TOGETHER (45).
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
o dispersing and
o dissolving
of divisive egotism.
DISPERSION shows the way,
so to speak,
that leads to gathering together.
This explains the similarity of the two texts.
Religious forces are needed
to overcome the egotism that divides men.
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.
A further means to the same end is
cooperation in great general undertakings
· that set a high goal for the will of the people;
· 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.
But only
a man
· who is himself free of all selfish ulterior considerations, and
· who perseveres in justice and steadfastness,
is capable of so dissolving the hardness of egotism.
THE IMAGE
The wind drives over the water: The image of DISPERSION.
Thus the kings of old
· sacrificed to the Lord And
· built temples.
In the autumn and winter,
water begins to freeze into ice.
When
the warm breezes of spring come,
· the rigidity is dissolved, and
· the elements that have been dispersed in ice floes are reunited.
It is the same with the minds of the people.
Through hardness and selfishness
· the heart grows rigid,
and
· this rigidity leads to separation from all others.
Egotism and cupidity isolate men.
Therefore
the hearts of men must be seized by a devout emotion.
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.
THE LINES
Nine in the second place means:
At the dissolution
He hurries to that which supports him.
Remorse disappears.
When
an individual discovers within himself the beginnings
· of alienation from others,
· of misanthropy and ill humor,
he must set about dissolving these obstructions.
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.
Six in the third place means:
He dissolves his self.
No remorse.
Under certain circumstances,
· a man’s work may become so difficult that
· he can no longer think of himself.
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.
Six in the fourth place means:
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.
When
· we are working at a task that affects the general welfare,
· we must leave all private friendships out of account.
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.
MOVING HEXAGRAM
HEXAGRAM 33 – Tun – Retreat
Above CHIEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
Below KEN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
The power of the dark is ascending.
· The light retreats to security,
so that
· the dark cannot encroach upon it.
This retreat is a matter
· not of man’s will
· but of natural law.
Therefore in this case
· withdrawal is proper;
· it is the correct way to behave in order not to exhaust one’s forces. 1
In the calendar this hexagram is linked with the sixth month (July-August),
in which the forces of winter are already showing their influence.
THE JUDGMENT
RETREAT. Success.
In what is small, perseverance furthers.
Conditions are such that
the hostile forces favored by the time are advancing.
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.
Retreat is not to be confused with flight.
· Flight means saving oneself under any circumstances
whereas
· retreat is a sign of strength.
· We must be careful not to miss the right moment
while
· we are in full possession of
o power and
o position.
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.
Understanding the laws of a constructive retreat of this sort is not easy.
The meaning that lies hidden in such a time is important.
THE IMAGE
Mountain under heaven: the image of RETREAT.
Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance,
· Not angrily but
· with reserve.
· The mountain
o rises up under heaven,
but owing to its nature
· it
o finally comes to a stop.
· Heaven on the other hand
o retreats upward before it into the distance and
o remains out of reach.
This symbolizes the behavior of the superior man toward a climbing inferior;
· he retreats into his own thoughts
as
· the inferior man comes forward.
· He does not hate him,
o for hatred is a form of subjective involvement
by which we are bound to the hated object.
· The superior man
o shows strength (heaven)
in that
· he
o brings the inferior man to a standstill (mountain)
by his dignified reserve.
