HEXAGRAM 58 – Tui – The Joyous, Lake

HEXAGRAM 58 – Tui – The Joyous, Lake

Above    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

Below    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

• This hexagram,
  
• like Sun,
  

is one of the eight formed by doubling of a trigram.

The trigram Tui denotes the youngest daughter;

it is symbolized by the smiling lake, and

its attribute is joyousness.

Contrary to appearances,

• it is not the yielding quality of the top line that accounts for joy here.
  
• The attribute of the yielding or dark principle is
  
  • not joy
    
  • but melancholy.
    

However,

JOY is indicated by the fact that

there are two strong lines within,

expressing themselves through the medium of gentleness.

 

True joy, therefore,

• rests on firmness and strength within,
  
• manifesting itself outwardly as yielding and gentle.
  

THE JUDGMENT

THE JOYOUS.

Success.

Perseverance is favorable.

The joyous mood

• is infectious
  

and therefore

• brings success.
  

But

• joy must be based on steadfastness
  

if

• it is not to degenerate into uncontrolled mirth.
  

• Truth and strength must dwell in the heart,
  

while

• gentleness reveals itself in social intercourse.
  
• In this way
  

one

• assumes the right attitude toward God and man and
  
• achieves something.
  

Under certain conditions,

intimidation without gentleness may achieve something

• momentarily,
  
• but not for all time.
  

When, on the other hand,

the hearts of men are won by friendliness,

they are

• led to take all hardships upon themselves willingly,
  

and if need be

• will not shun death itself,
  

so great is the power of joy over men.

THE IMAGE

Lakes resting one on the other: The image of THE JOYOUS.

Thus the superior man joins with his friends

For

• discussion and
  
• practice.
  

• A lake evaporates upward
  

and thus

• gradually dries up;
  

but when

two lakes are joined

• they do not dry up so readily,
  
• for one replenishes the other.
  

It is the same in the field of knowledge.

Knowledge should be a refreshing and vitalizing force.

It becomes so only through stimulating intercourse

• with congenial friends
  
• with whom one
  
  • holds discussion and
    
  • practices application of the truths of life.
    

In this way

learning

• becomes many-sided and
  
• takes on a cheerful lightness,
  

whereas

• there is always something ponderous and one-sided about
  
• the learning of the self-taught.
  

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning means:

Contented joyousness.

Good fortune.

A

• quiet,
  
• wordless,
  
• self-contained
  

joy,

• desiring nothing from without and
  
• resting content with everything,
  

remains free of all egotistic

• likes and
  
• dislikes.
  

In this freedom lies good fortune, because

it harbors the quiet security of a heart fortified within itself.

Nine in the second place means:

Sincere joyousness.

Good fortune.

Remorse disappears.

• We often find ourselves associating with inferior people in whose company
  
• we are tempted by pleasures that are inappropriate for the superior man.
  

To participate in such pleasures would certainly bring remorse,

for

• a superior man can find no real satisfaction in low pleasures.
  

When, recognizing this,

• a man does not permit his will to swerve,
  

so that

• he does not find such ways agreeable,
  
  • not even dubious companions will venture to proffer any base pleasures,
    

because

• he would not enjoy them.
  

Thus every cause for regret is removed.

Six in the third place means:

Coming joyousness.

Misfortune.

True joy must spring from within.

• But if
  

one

• is empty within and
  
• wholly given over to the world,
  

idle pleasures come streaming in from without.

This is what many people welcome as diversion.

Those who

• lack inner stability and therefore
  
• need amusement,
  

will always find opportunity of indulgence.

They attract external pleasures

by the emptiness of their natures.

Thus

they lose themselves more and more,

which of course has bad results.

Nine in the fourth place means:

Joyousness that is weighed is not at peace.

After ridding himself of mistakes a man has joy.

Often

a man finds himself weighing the choice between various kinds of pleasures,

and so long as

• he has not decided which kind he will choose,
  
  • the higher or
    
  • the lower,
    
• he has no inner peace.
  

Only when

he

• clearly recognizes that passion brings suffering,
  
• can he make up his mind
  
  • to turn away from the lower pleasures and
    
  • to strive for the higher.
    

Once this decision is sealed,

• he finds true joy and peace, and
  
• inner conflict is overcome.
  

Nine in the fifth place means:

Sincerity toward disintegrating influences is dangerous.

Dangerous elements approach even the best of men.

If a man permits himself to have anything to do with them,

• their disintegrating influence
  
  • acts slowly but surely, and inevitably
    
  • brings dangers in its train.
    

But

if he recognizes the situation and can comprehend the danger,

• he
  
  • knows how to protect himself and
    
  • remains unharmed.
    

Six at the top means:

Seductive joyousness.

A vain nature

• invites diverting pleasures and
  
• must suffer accordingly (cf. the six in the third place).
  

If

a man is unstable within,

• the pleasures of the world that he does not shun
  

  have so powerful an influence that
  

• he is swept along by them.
  

Here

• it is no longer a question
  
  • of danger,
    
  • of good fortune or misfortune.
    
• He has given up direction of his own life, and
  
• what becomes of him depends upon
  
  • chance and
    
  • external influences.
    

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