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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.
    

THE LINES

Nine in the second place means:

Setting right what has been spoiled by the mother.

One must not be too persevering.

This refers to mistakes that as a result of weakness have brought about decay –

hence the symbol, “what has been spoiled by the mother.”

In setting things right in such a case,

a certain gentle consideration is called for.

In order not to wound,

one should not attempt to proceed too drastically.

Nine in the third place means:

Setting right what has been spoiled by the father.

There will be a little remorse.

No great blame.

This describes a man who proceeds a little too energetically

in righting the mistakes of the past.

Now and then, as a result,

• minor discords and
  
• annoyances
  

will surely develop.

But too much energy is better than too little.

Therefore, although

• he may at times have some slight cause for regret,
  
• he remains free of any serious blame.
  

Six in the fourth place means:

Tolerating what has been spoiled by the father.

In continuing one sees humiliation.

This shows the situation of

someone too weak to take measures against decay that

• has its roots in the past and
  
• is just beginning to manifest itself.
  

It is allowed to run its course.

If this continues, humiliation will result.

Nine at the top means:

He does not serve kings and princes,

Sets himself higher goals.

Not every man has an obligation to mingle in the affairs of the world.

There are some who are developed to such a degree that

they are justified

• in letting the world go its own way and
  
• in refusing to enter public life with a view to reforming it.
  

But this does not imply a right

• to remain idle or
  
• to sit back and merely criticize.
  

Such withdrawal is justified only when

we strive to realize in ourselves the higher aims of mankind.

For although

• the sage remains distant from the the turmoil of daily life,
  
• he creates incomparable human values for the future.
  

1.    Goethe’s attitude after the Napoleonic wars is an example of this in European history.

MOVING HEXAGRAMS

HEXAGRAM 16 – Yu – Enthusiasm

Above    CHEN    THE AROUSING, THUNDER

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

The strong line in the fourth place, that of the leading official,

meets with response and obedience from all the other lines, which are all weak.

• The attribute of the upper trigram, Chen, is movement;
  
• the attributes of K’un, the lower, are obedience and devotion.
  

This begins a movement that

• meets with devotion
  

and therefore

• inspires enthusiasm, carrying all with it.
  

Of great importance, furthermore, is

the law of movement along the line of least resistance,

which in this hexagram is enunciated as the law

• for natural events and
  
• for human life.
  

THE JUDGMENT

ENTHUSIASM.

It furthers one

• to install helpers And
  
• to set armies marching.
  

The time of ENTHUSIASM derives from the fact that there is at hand

an eminent man who

• is in sympathy with the spirit of the people and
  
• acts in accord with it.
  

Hence he finds universal and willing obedience.

To arouse enthusiasm it is necessary for a man to adjust himself and his ordinances

to the character of those whom he has to lead.

The inviolability of natural laws rests on this principle of

movement along the line of least resistance.

These laws are not forces external to things

but represent the harmony of movement immanent in them.

That is

• why the celestial bodies do not deviate from their orbits and
  
• why all events in nature occur with fixed regularity.
  

It is the same with human society:

• only such laws as are rooted in popular sentiment can be enforced,
  
• while laws violating this sentiment merely arouse resentment.
  

Again,

it is enthusiasm that enables us to install helpers

for the completion of an undertaking without fear of secret opposition.

It is enthusiasm too that can unify mass movements, as in war,

so that they achieve victory.

THE IMAGE

Thunder comes resounding out of the earth: The image of ENTHUSIASM.

Thus the ancient kings

• made music In order to honor merit, And
  
• offered it with splendor To the Supreme Deity,
  
• Inviting their ancestors to be present.
  

When, at the beginning of summer,

• thunder – electrical energy – comes rushing forth from the earth again, and
  
• the first thunderstorm refreshes nature,
  

a prolonged state of tension is resolved.

Joy and relief make themselves felt.

So too,

music has power

• to ease tension within the heart and
  
• to loosen the grip of obscure emotions.
  

The enthusiasm of the heart expresses itself involuntarily

• in a burst of song,
  
• in dance and rhythmic movement of the body.
  

From immemorial times

the inspiring effect of the invisible sound that

• moves all hearts, and
  
• draws them together,
  

has mystified mankind.

Rulers have made use of this natural taste for music;

they elevated and regulated it.

Music was looked upon as something serious and holy,

designed to purify the feelings of men.

It fell to music

• to glorify the virtues of heroes and thus
  
• to construct a bridge to the world of the unseen.
  

In the temple men drew near to God with music and pantomimes

(out of this later the theater developed).

Religious feeling for the Creator of the world was united with

the most sacred of human feelings,

that of reverence for the ancestors.

The ancestors were invited to these divine services

• as guests of the Ruler of Heaven and
  
• as representatives of humanity in the higher regions.
  

This uniting of the human past with the Divinity

in solemn moments of religious inspiration

established the bond between God and man.

The ruler who revered the Divinity in revering his ancestors

became thereby the Son of Heaven,

in whom the heavenly and the earthly world met in mystical contact.

These ideas are the final summation of Chinese culture.

Confucius has said of the great sacrifice at which these rites were performed:

“He who

• could wholly comprehend this sacrifice
  
• could rule the world as though it were spinning on his hand.”
  

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