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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.
- they will have the desired effect,
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
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.
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.
MOVING HEXAGRAM
HEXAGRAM 01 – Chien – The Creative
Above THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
Below THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
The first hexagram is made up of six unbroken lines.
These unbroken lines stand for the primal power, which is
- light giving,
- active,
- strong, and of
- the spirit.
The hexagram is consistently strong, in character, and
since it is without weakness,
its essence is power or energy.
Its image is heaven.
Its energy
- is represented as unrestricted by any fixed conditions in space and
- is therefore conceived of as motion.
Time is regarded as the basis of this motion.
Thus the hexagram includes also
- the power of time and
- the power of persisting in time, that is, duration.
The power represented by the hexagram is to be interpreted in a dual sense – in terms of
- its action on the universe and of
- its action on the world of men.
- In relation to the universe, the hexagram expresses the strong, creative action of the Deity.
- In relation to the human world, it denotes the creative action of the holy man or sage, of the ruler or leader of men, who through his power awakens and develops their higher nature. 1
THE JUDGMENT
THE CREATIVE works sublime success,
Furthering through perseverance. 2
According to the original meaning, the attributes (sublimity, potentiality of success, power to further, perseverance) are paired.
When an individual draws this oracle, it means
- that success come to him from the primal depths of the universe and
- that everything depends upon his seeking his happiness and that of others in one way only, that is, by perseverance in what is right.
The specific meanings of the four attributes became the subject of speculation at an early date.
The Chinese word here rendered by “sublime” means literally “head,” “origin,” “great.”
This is why Confucius says in explaining it:
“Great indeed is the generating power of the Creative; all beings owe their beginning to it. This power permeates all heaven. 3 For this attribute inheres in the other three as well.
The beginning of all things lies still in the beyond in the form of ideas that have yet to become real.
But the Creative furthermore has power to lend form to these archetypes of ideas.
- This is indicated in the word success, and
- the process is represented by an image from nature: “The clouds pass and the rain does its work, and all individual beings flow into their forms.” 4
Applied to the human world, these attributes show the great man the way to notable success:
“Because he sees with great clarity causes and effects, he
- completes the six steps at the right time and
- mounts toward heaven on them at the right time, as though of six dragons.”
The six steps are the six different positions given in the hexagram,
which are represented later by the dragon symbol.
Here it is shown that the way to success lies in
- apprehending understanding and
- giving actuality to the way of the universe (Tao), which, as a law running, through end and beginning, brings about all phenomena in time.
Thus each step attained forthwith becomes a preparation for the next.
Time is no longer a hindrance but the means of making actual what is potential.
The act of creation having found expression in the two attributes – sublimity and success,
the work of conservation is shown to be a continuous actualization and differentiation of form.
This is expressed in the two terms
- “furthering” (literally, “creating that which accords with the nature of a given being”) and
- “persevering” (literally, “correct and firm”).
“The course of the Creative alters and shapes beings until each attains its true, specific nature, then
it keeps them in conformity with the Great Harmony.
Thus does it show itself to further through perseverance.”
In relation to the human sphere, this shows how
the great man brings peace and security to the world through his activity in creating order:
“He towers high above the multitude of beings, and all lands are united in peace.”
Another line of speculation goes still further in separating the words “sublime,” “success,” “furthering” “perseverance,” and parallels them with the four cardinal virtues in humanity.
1)To sublimity, which, as the fundamental principle, embraces all the other attributes, it links love.
2) To the attribute success are linked the mores, which regulate and organize the expressions of love and thereby make them successful. 5
3) The attribute furthering is correlated with justice, which creates the conditions in which each receives that which accords with his being, that which is due him and which constitutes his happiness.
4) The attribute perseverance is correlated with wisdom, which discerns the immutable laws of all that happens and can therefore bring about enduring conditions.
These speculations, already broached in the commentary called Wen Yen, 6 later formed the bridge connecting the philosophy of the “five stages (elements) of change,” as laid down in the Book of History (Shu Ching) with the philosophy of the Book of Changes, which is based solely on the polarity of positive and negative principles. In the course of time this combination of the two systems of thought opened the way for an increasingly intricate number symbolism. 7
THE IMAGE
The movement of heaven is full of power.
Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.
Since there is only one heaven, the doubling of the trigram Ch’ien, of which heaven is the image, indicates the movement of heaven.
One complete revolution of heaven makes a day, and the repetition of the trigram means that each day is followed by another.
This creates the idea of time.
Since it is the same heaven moving with untiring power, there is also created the idea of duration both in and beyond time, a movement that never stops nor slackens, just as one day follows another in an unending course.
This duration in time is the image of the power inherent in the Creative.
With this image as a model,
the sage learns how best to develop himself so that his influence may endure.
He must make himself strong in every way,
by consciously casting out all that is inferior and degrading.
Thus he attains that tirelessness,
which depends upon consciously limiting the fields of his activity.
