GameStop GME under CEO George Sherman

GameStop GME under CEO George Sherman

 

 

HEXAGRAM 21 – Shih Ho – Biting Through

Above    LI    THE CLINGING, FIRE

Below    CHEN    THE AROIUSING, THUNDER

This hexagram represents an open mouth (cf. hexagram 27)

with an obstruction (in the fourth place) between the teeth.

As a result the lips cannot meet.

To bring them together one must bite energetically through the obstacle.

Since the hexagram is made up of the trigrams for thunder and for lightning,

it indicates how obstacles are forcibly removed in nature.

• Energetic biting through overcomes the obstacle that prevents joining of the lips;
  
• the storm with its thunder and lightning overcomes the disturbing tension in nature.
  
• Recourse to law and penalties overcomes the disturbances of harmonious social life
  

  caused by
  

  • criminals and
    
  • slanderers.
    

The theme of this hexagram is a criminal lawsuit,

in contradistinction to that of Sung, CONFLICT (6), which refers to civil suits.

 

THE JUDGMENT

BITING THROUGH has success.

It is favorable to let justice be administered.

When an obstacle to union arises,

energetic biting through brings success.

This is true in all situations.

Whenever unity cannot be established,

the obstruction is due to a talebearer and traitor who is interfering and blocking the way.

To prevent permanent injury,

vigorous measures must be taken at once.

Deliberate obstruction of this sort does not vanish of its own accord.

Judgment and punishment are required to deter or obviate it.

However,

it is important to proceed in the right way.

The hexagram combines

• Li, clarity, and
  
• Chen, excitement.
  

• Li is yielding,
  
• Chen is hard.
  

Unqualified hardness and excitement

would be too violent in meting out punishment;

unqualified clarity and gentleness

would be too weak.

The two together create the just measure.

It is of moment that

• the man who makes the decisions (represented by the fifth line) is gentle by nature,
  

while

• he commands respect by his conduct in his position.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Thunder and lightning: The image Of BITING THROUGH.

Thus

the kings of former times

made firm the laws

Through clearly defined penalties.

Penalties are the individual applications of the law.

The laws specify the penalties.

• Clarity prevails when mild and severe penalties are clearly differentiated,
  
• according to the nature of the crimes.
  
  • This is symbolized by the clarity of lightning.
    
• The law is strengthened by a just application of penalties.
  
  • This is symbolized by the terror of thunder.
    

This clarity and severity have the effect of instilling respect;

it is not that the penalties are ends in themselves.

• The obstructions in the social life of man increase when there is
  
  • lack of clarity in the penal codes and
    
  • slackness in executing them.
    
• The only way to strengthen the law is
  
  • to make it clear and
    
  • to make penalties certain and swift.
    

 

THE LINES:

 

Six in the second place means:

Bites through tender meat,

So that his nose disappears.

No blame.

It is easy to discriminate between right and wrong in this case;

it is like biting through tender meat.

But

• one encounters a hardened sinner, and, aroused by anger,
  
• one goes a little too far.
  

The disappearance of the nose in the course of the bite signifies that indignation blots out finer sensibility.

However,

there is no great harm in this,

because the penalty as such is just.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 38 – K’uei – Opposition

Above    LI    THE CLINGING, FLAME

Below    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

This hexagram is composed of the trigram

• Li above, i.e., flame, which burns upward, and
  
• Tui below, i.e., the lake, which seeps downward.
  

These two movements are in direct contrast.

Furthermore,

• Li is the second daughter and
  
• Tui the youngest daughter, and
  

although

they live in the same house

they belong, to different men;

hence their wills

• are not the same
  
• but are divergently directed.
  

THE JUDGMENT

OPPOSITION.

In small matters, good fortune.

When people live in

• opposition and
  
• estrangement
  

they cannot carry out a great undertaking in common;

their points of view diverge too widely.

In such circumstances

• one should above all not proceed brusquely,
  

  for that would only increase the existing opposition;
  

instead,

• one should limit oneself to producing gradual effects in small matters.
  

Here success can still be expected,

because

the situation is such that

the opposition does not preclude all agreement.

In general,

opposition appears as an obstruction, but when

• it represents polarity within a comprehensive whole,
  
• it has also its useful and important functions.
  

The oppositions of

• heaven and earth,
  
• spirit and nature,
  
• man and woman,
  

when reconciled,

bring about the creation and reproduction of life.

In the world of visible things,

the principle of opposites makes possible

the differentiation by categories

through which order is brought into the world.

THE IMAGE

Above, fire,

below, the lake:

The image of OPPOSITION.

Thus amid all fellowship

The superior man retains his individuality.

The two elements, fire and water,

never mingle

but even when in contact

retain their own natures.

So

• the cultured man is never led into baseness or vulgarity
  

  through intercourse or community of interests with persons of another sort;
  

  regardless of all commingling,
  

• he will always preserve his individuality.
  

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