The TJX Companies under Ernie Herrman

HEXAGRAM 18 – Ku – Work on What Has Been Spoiled (Decay)

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL,     MOUNTAIN

Below    SUN     THE GENTLE, WIND

The Chinese character Ku represents a bowl

in whose contents worms are breeding.

This means decay.

It has come about because

• the gentle indifference of the lower trigram has come together with
  
• the rigid inertia of the upper, and
  

the result is stagnation.

Since this implies guilt,

the conditions embody a demand for removal of the cause.

Hence the meaning of the hexagram is

• not simply “what has been spoiled”
  
• but “work on what has been spoiled.”
  

THE JUDGMENT

WORK ON WHAT HAS BEEN SPOILED

Has supreme success.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

Before the starting point, three days.

After the starting point, three days.

What has been spoiled through man’s fault can be made good again through man’s work.

• It is not immutable fate, as, in the time of STANDSTILL,
  

  that has caused the state of corruption,
  

• but rather the abuse of human freedom.
  

Work toward improving conditions promises well,

because it accords with the possibilities of the time.

We

• must not recoil from work and danger –
  

  symbolized by crossing of the great water – but
  

• must take hold energetically.
  

Success depends, however, on proper deliberation.

This is expressed by the lines,

• “Before the starting point, three days.
  
• After the starting point, three days.”
  

We must first know the causes of corruption

before we can do away with them;

hence it is necessary to be cautious during the time before the start.

Then

we must see to it that the new way is safely entered upon, so that

a relapse may be avoided;

therefore

we must pay attention to the time after the start.

• Decisiveness and
  
• energy
  

must take the place of the

• inertia and
  
• indifference
  

that have led to decay,

in order that the ending may be followed by a new beginning.

THE IMAGE

The wind blows low on the mountain: The image Of DECAY.

Thus the superior man

• stirs up the people And
  
• strengthens their spirit.
  

• When the wind blows low on the mountain,
  
• it is thrown back and spoils the vegetation.
  

This contains a challenge to improvement.

It is the same with

• debasing attitudes and
  
• fashions;
  

they corrupt human society.

To do away with this corruption,

the superior man must regenerate society.

His methods likewise must be derived from the two trigrams,

but in such a way that their effects unfold in orderly sequence.

The superior man

• must first remove stagnation by stirring up public opinion,
  
  • as the wind stirs everything, and
    
• must then strengthen and tranquilize the character of the people,
  
  • as the mountain gives tranquility and nourishment to all that grows in its vicinity.
    

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