HEXAGRAM 51 – Chen – The Arousing (Shock, Thunder)
Above CHEN THE AROUSING, THUNDER
Below CHEN THE AROUSING, THUNDER
The hexagram Chen represents the eldest son,
who seizes rule with
- energy and
- power.
A yang line
- develops below two yin lines and
- presses upward forcibly.
This movement is so violent that it arouses terror.
It is symbolized by thunder, which
- bursts forth from the earth and by its shock
- causes fear and trembling.
THE JUDGMENT
- Shock brings success.
- Shock comes-oh, oh!
Laughing words-ha, ha!
- The shock terrifies for a hundred miles, And
- he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon and chalice.
The shock that comes from the manifestation of God
within the depths of the earth
makes man afraid,
but this fear of God is good,
for joy and merriment can follow upon it.
When
- a man has learned within his heart what fear and trembling mean,
- he is safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences.
Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around:
- he remains so composed and reverent in spirit
that
- the sacrificial rite is not interrupted.
This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men –
- a profound inner seriousness from which
- all outer terrors glance off harmlessly.
THE IMAGE
Thunder repeated: the image of SHOCK.
Thus in fear and trembling
The superior man
- sets his life in order And
- examines himself.
The shock of continuing thunder brings
- fear and
- trembling.
The superior man
- is always filled with reverence at the manifestation of God;
he
- sets his life in order and
- searches his heart,
lest it harbor any secret opposition to the will of God.
Thus
- reverence is the foundation of true culture.
THE LINES
Nine at the beginning means:
Shock comes-oh, oh!
Then follow laughing words-ha, ha!
Good fortune.
The fear and trembling engendered by shock
come to an individual at first in such a way that
he sees himself placed at a disadvantage as against others.
But this is only transitory.
When
the ordeal is over,
- he experiences relief,
and thus
- the very terror he had to endure at the outset
- brings good fortune in the long run.
Six in the second place means:
Shock comes bringing danger.
A hundred thousand times
You
- lose your treasures And
- must climb the nine hills.
Do not go in pursuit of them.
After seven days you will get them back again.
This pictures a situation in which
- a shock endangers a man and
- he suffers great losses.
Resistance
- would be contrary to the movement of the time and
- for this reason unsuccessful.
Therefore
he must simply
- retreat to heights inaccessible to the threatening forces of danger.
He must
- accept his loss of property without worrying too much about it.
When the time of shock and upheaval
that has robbed him of his possessions has passed,
he
- will get them back again without going in pursuit of them.
Six in the third place means:
Shock comes and makes one distraught.
If shock spurs to action
One remains free of misfortune.
There are three kinds of shock –
- the shock of heaven, which is thunder,
- the shock of fate, and, finally,
- the shock of the heart.
The present hexagram refers
- less to inner shock
- than to the shock of fate.
In such times of shock,
- presence of mind is all too easily lost:
the individual
- overlooks all opportunities for action and
- mutely lets fate take its course.
But if
- he allows the shocks of fate to induce movement within his mind,
- he will overcome these external blows with little effort.
Nine in the fourth place means:
Shock is mired.
Movement within the mind depends for its success partly on circumstances.
If there is
- neither a resistance that might be vigorously combated,
- nor yet a yielding that permits of victory –
if, instead,
- everything is tough and inert like mire –
movement is crippled.
Six in the fifth place means:
Shock goes hither and thither.
Danger.
However, nothing at all is lost.
Yet there are things to be done.
This is a case
- not of a single shock
- but of repeated shocks with no breathing space between.
Nonetheless,
- the shock causes no loss,
because
one takes care
- to stay in the center of movement
and in this way
- to be spared the fate of being helplessly tossed hither and thither.
Six at the top means:
Shock brings
ruin and
terrified gazing around.
Going ahead brings misfortune.
If it
- has not yet touched one’s own body
But
- has reached one’s neighbor first,
There is no blame.
One’s comrades have something to talk about.
When inner shock is at its height,
it robs a man of
- reflection and
- clarity of vision.
In such a state of shock
it is of course impossible to act with presence of mind.
Then
the right thing is to keep still
until composure and clarity are restored.
But this a man can do only
when he himself is not yet infected by the agitation,
although its disastrous effects are already visible in those around him.
If
- he withdraws from the affair in time,
- he remains free of mistakes and injury.
But his comrades,
who no longer heed any warning,
will in their excitement certainly be displeased with him.
However,
he must not take this into account.
