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HEXAGRAM 64 – Wei Chi – Before Completion
Above Li THE CLINGING, FLAME
Below K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
This hexagram indicates
a time when
the transition from disorder to order is not yet completed.
The change is indeed prepared for,
since
all the lines in the upper trigram are in relation to those in the lower (1).
However,
they are not yet in their places.
While
· the preceding hexagram offers an analogy to autumn,
o which forms the transition from summer to winter,
· this hexagram presents a parallel to spring,
o 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.
THE JUDGMENT
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 conditions are difficult.
The task is
· great and
· full of responsibility.
It is nothing less than that of
leading the world out of confusion
back to order.
But
it is a task that promises success,
because there is
a goal that can unite the forces now tending in different directions.
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.
A young fox
· who as yet has not acquired this caution
· goes ahead boldly,
and it may happen that
· he
o falls in and
o gets his tail wet
when
· he is almost across the water.
Then of course his effort has been all in vain.
Accordingly, in times "before completion,"
· deliberation and
· caution
are the prerequisites of success.
THE IMAGE
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.
When
· fire, which by nature flames upward, is above, and
· water, which flows downward, is below,
their effects
· take opposite directions and
· remain unrelated.
If
· we wish to achieve an effect,
· we must first
o investigate the nature of the forces in question and
o 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.
THE LINES
Nine in the fourth place means:
Perseverance brings good fortune.
Remorse disappears.
Shock, thus to discipline the Devil’s Country.
For three years, great realms are awarded.
Now it is the time of struggle.
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.
It is a question of a fierce battle
· to break and
· to discipline
the Devil´s Country, the forces of decadence.
But the struggle also has its reward.
Now is the time to lay the foundations of
· power and
· mastery
for the future.
Six in the fifth place means:
Perseverance brings good fortune.
No remorse.
The light of the superior man is true.
Good fortune.
The victory has been won.
The power of steadfastness has not been routed.
Everything has gone well.
All misgivings have been overcome.
Success has justified the deed.
The light of a superior personality
· shines forth anew and
· makes its influence felt among men
who
· have faith in it and
· rally around it.
· 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.
MOVING HEXAGRAM
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.
