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HEXAGRAM 02 – K’un – THE RECEPTIVE
Above K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH
Below K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH
This hexagram is made up of broken lines only.
The broken line represents the
· dark,
· yielding,
· receptive
primal power of yin.
· 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 complements 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
o between prince and minister and
o 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.
But strictly speaking
there is no real dualism here,
because there is a clearly defined hierarchic relationship between the two principles.
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 JUDGMENT
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.
The four fundamental aspects of the Creative –
"sublime success,
furthering through perseverance"-
are also attributed to the Receptive.
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.
Thus the qualification, "of a mare," is here added to the idea of perseverance.
· 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.
Only because nature in its myriad forms corresponds with the myriad impulses of the Creative can it make these impulses real.
· 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.
Applied to human affairs, therefore, what the hexagram indicates is
action in conformity with the situation.
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 him 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.
Since there is something to be accomplished,
we need friends and helpers in the hour of toil and effort,
once the ideas to be realized are firmly set.
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.
But in addition to the time of toil and effort, there is also a time of planning, and for this we need solitude.
· 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 IMAGE
The earth’s condition is receptive devotion.
Thus the superior man who has breadth of character
Carries the outer world.
Just as there is only one heaven,
so too there is only one earth.
· In the hexagram of the 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.
The earth in its devotion carries all things, good and evil, without exception.
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.
THE LINES
0 Six in the second place means:
Straight, square, great.
Without purpose,
Yet nothing remains unfurthered.
The symbol
· of heaven is the circle, and that
· of earth is the square.
Thus
· squareness is a primary quality of the earth.
On the other hand,
· movement in a straight line, as well as in 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.
In mathematics, when
· we discriminate between lines, planes, and solids,
· we find that
· rectangular planes result from straight lines, and
· cubic magnitudes from rectangular planes.
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.
· Nature creates all beings without erring: this is its straightness.
· 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
o artifice or
o special intentions.
Man achieves the height of wisdom when all that he does is as self-evident as what nature does.
Six at the top means:
Dragons fight in the meadow.
Their blood is black and yellow.
In the top place the dark element should yield to the light.
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.
MOVING HEXAGRAM
HEXAGRAM 04 – Meng – Youthful Folly
Above KEN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
Below K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
In this hexagram we are reminded of
· youth and
· folly,
in two different ways.
The image
· of the upper trigram, Ken, is the mountain, that
· of the lower, K’an, is water;
the spring rising at the foot of the mountain is the image of inexperienced youth.
· 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.
However, the two trigrams also show the way of overcoming the follies 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.
THE JUDGMENT
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.
In the time of youth, folly is not an evil.
One may succeed in spite of it,
provided one
· finds an experienced teacher and
· has the right attitude toward him.
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.
A teacher’s answer to the question of a pupil ought to be
clear and
definite
like that expected from an oracle;
thereupon
it ought to be accepted as
· a key for resolution of doubts and
· a basis for decision.
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
o gives one answer only and
o refuses to be tempted by questions implying doubt.
Given in addition
a perseverance that never slackens until the points are mastered one by one,
real success is sure to follow.
Thus the hexagram counsels
· the teacher as well as
· the pupil.
THE IMAGE
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.
· A spring
o succeeds in flowing on and
o escapes stagnation by filling up all the hollow places in its path.
In the same way
· character is developed by thoroughness that skips nothing
· but, like water,
o gradually and steadily fills up all gaps and
o so flows onward.
