HEXAGRAM 64 – Wei Chi – Before Completion

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,
  
  • 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.

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 falls in and 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
  
  • 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.
  

THE LINES

Six at the beginning means:

He gets his tail in the water.

Humiliating.

In times of disorder

there is a temptation to advance oneself as rapidly as possible

in order to accomplish something tangible.

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

Nine in the second place means:

He brakes his wheels.

Perseverance brings good fortune.

Here again

the time to act has not yet come.

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.
  

He

• must have a vehicle, as it were, to effect the crossing.
  

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.
  

Six in the third place means:

Before completion, attack brings misfortune.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

The time of transition has arrived,

but

one

• lacks the strength to complete the transition.
  

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.

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.
  

Nine at the top means:

There is drinking of wine

In genuine confidence.

No blame.

But if

one wets his head,

He loses it, in truth.

Before completion, at the dawning of the new time,

• friends foregather in an atmosphere of mutual trust,
  

and

• the time of waiting is passed in conviviality.
  

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.
  

NOTE.

1. The hexagram AFTER COMPLETION represents a gradual transition from a time of ascent past a peak of culture to a time of standstill.
   
2. The hexagram BEFORE COMPLETION represents a transition from chaos to order. This hexagram comes at the end of the Book of Changes. It points to the fact that every end contains a new beginning. Thus it gives hope to men.
   

   The Book of Changes is a book of the future.
   

1.     [See p. 362.]

2.    Note how this situation differs from that in the first line of the preceding hexagram.

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