HEXAGRAM 25 – Wu Wang – Innocence (The Unexpected)

HEXAGRAM 25 – Wu Wang – Innocence (The Unexpected)

Above    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    CHEN        THE AROUSING, THUNDER

• Ch’ien, heaven, is above;
  
• Chen, movement, is below.
  

The lower trigram Chen is under the influence of the strong line

it has received from above, from heaven.

When, in accord with this,

• movement follows the law of heaven,
  
• man is
  
  • innocent and
    
  • without guile.
    

His mind is

• natural and true,
  
• unshadowed by reflection or ulterior designs.
  

For

• wherever conscious purpose is to be seen,
  
• there the truth and innocence of nature have been lost.
  

Nature that is not directed by the spirit is

• not true
  
• but degenerate nature.
  

Starting out with the idea of the natural,

• the train of thought in part goes somewhat further and thus
  
• the hexagram includes also the idea of the unintentional or unexpected.
  

THE JUDGMENT

INNOCENCE. Supreme success.

Perseverance furthers.

If someone is not as he should be,

• He has misfortune,
  

And

• it does not further him To undertake anything.
  

Man has received from heaven a nature innately good,

to guide him in all his movements.

By devotion to this divine spirit within himself,

he attains an unsullied innocence that leads him to do right

• with instinctive sureness and
  
• without any ulterior thought of reward and personal advantage.
  

This instinctive certainty

• brings about supreme success and
  
• “furthers through perseverance.”
  

However,

• not everything instinctive is nature in this higher sense of the word,
  
• but only that which is right and in accord with the will of heaven.
  

Without this quality of rightness,

an unreflecting, instinctive way of acting brings only misfortune.

Confucius says about this:

• “He who departs from innocence,
  
  • what does he come to?
    
• Heaven’s will and blessing
  
  • do not go with his deeds.”
    

THE IMAGE

Under heaven thunder rolls: All things attain the natural state of innocence.

Thus the kings of old,

• rich in virtue, and
  
• in harmony with the time,
  

Fostered and nourished all beings.

In springtime

when thunder, life energy, begins to move again under the heavens,

• everything sprouts and grows, and
  
• all beings receive from the creative activity of nature
  

  the childlike innocence of their original state.
  

So it is with the good rulers of mankind:

drawing on the spiritual wealth at their command,

they

• take care of all forms of life and all forms of culture and
  
• do everything to further them, and at the proper time.
  

THE LINES

0 Nine at the beginning means:

Innocent behavior brings good fortune.

The original impulses of the heart are always good,

so that

we

• may follow them confidently,
  
• assured of good fortune and achievement of our aims.
  

Six in the second place means:

If one

does not count

• on the harvest while plowing,
  
• Nor on the use of the ground while clearing it,
  

It furthers one to undertake something.

We should do every task

• for its own sake as time and place demand and
  
• not with an eye to the result.
  

Then

• each task turns out well, and
  
• anything we undertake succeeds.
  

Six in the third place means:

Undeserved misfortune.

The cow that was tethered by someone

Is

• the wanderer’s gain,
  
• the citizen’s loss.
  

Sometimes

undeserved misfortune befalls a man at the hands of another,

as for instance when someone

• passes by and
  
• takes a tethered cow along with him.
  

His gain is the owner’s loss.

In all transactions, no matter how innocent,

we must

• accommodate ourselves to the demands of the time,
  
• otherwise unexpected misfortune overtakes us.
  

Nine in the fourth place means:

He who

• can be persevering
  
• Remains without blame.
  

We cannot lose what really belongs to us, even if

we throw it away.

Therefore

we need have no anxiety.

All that need concern us is that

we should

• remain true to our own natures and
  
• not listen to others.
  

0 Nine in the fifth place means:

Use no medicine in an illness

Incurred through no fault of your own.

It will pass of itself.

An unexpected evil may come accidentally from without.

If it

• does not originate in one’s own nature or
  
• have a foothold there,
  

one

• should not resort to external means to eradicate it,
  
• but should quietly let nature take its course.
  

Then improvement will come of itself.

Nine at the top means:

Innocent action brings misfortune.

Nothing furthers.

When, in a given situation,

the time is not ripe for further progress,

the best thing to do is to wait quietly, without ulterior designs.

If one

• acts thoughtlessly and
  
• tries to push ahead in opposition to fate,
  

success will not be achieved.

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