NIO NIO under CEO William LI (Li Bin)

NIO NIO under CEO William LI (Li Bin)

 

 

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.
  

 

THE LINES

0 Nine in the second place means:

One meets his lord in a narrow street.

No blame.

As a result of misunderstandings,

it has become impossible for people who by nature belong together

to meet in the correct way.

This being so,

an accidental meeting under informal circumstances

may serve the purpose,

provided there is an inner affinity between them.

Six in the third place means:

One sees the wagon dragged back,

The oxen halted.

A man’s hair and nose cut off.

• Not a good beginning,
  
• but a good end.
  

Often it seems to a man as though everything were conspiring against him.

He sees himself

• checked and hindered in his progress,
  
• insulted and
  
• dishonored.1
  

However,

• he must not let himself be misled; despite this opposition,
  
• he must cleave to the man with whom he knows he belongs.
  

Thus, notwithstanding the bad beginning,

the matter will end well.

0 Six in the fifth place means:

Remorse disappears.

The companion bites his way through the wrappings.

If one goes to him,

How could it be a mistake?

Coming upon a sincere man,

• one fails to recognize him at first because of the general estrangement.
  

However,

• he bites his way through the wrappings that are causing the separation.
  

When such a companion thus reveals himself in his true character,

it is one’s duty

• to go to meet him and
  
• to work with him.
  

Nine at the top means:

Isolated through opposition,

One sees one’s companion

• as a pig covered with dirt,
  
• As a wagon full of devils.
  

First

• one draws a bow against him,
  

Then

• one lays the bow aside.
  

• He is not a robber;
  
• he will woo at the right time.
  

As one goes, rain falls;

then good fortune comes.

Here

the isolation is due to misunderstanding;

it is brought about

• not by outer circumstances
  
• but by inner conditions.
  

A man misjudges his best friends, taking them to be

• as unclean as a dirty pig and
  
• as dangerous as a wagon full of devils.
  

He adopts an attitude of defense.

But in the end, realizing his mistake,

he lays aside the bow,

perceiving that the other is approaching with the best intentions

for the purpose of close union.

Thus

the tension is relieved.

• The union resolves the tension,
  

just as

• falling rain relieves the sultriness preceding a thunderstorm.
  

All goes well,

for just when

• opposition reaches its climax
  
• it changes over to its antithesis.
  

1.    Cutting off of the hair and nose was a severe and degrading punishment.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 49 – Ko – Revolution (Molting)

Above    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

Below    LI    THE CLINGING, FIRE

The Chinese character for this hexagram means in its original sense

an animal’s pelt, which is changed in the course of the year by molting.

From this the word is carried over to apply to

• the “molting” in political life,
  
• the great revolutions connected with changes of governments.
  

The two trigram making up the hexagram are

the same two that appear in K’uei, OPPOSITION (38), that is,

the two younger daughters, Li and Tui.

But while

there

• the elder of the two daughters is above, and
  
  • what results is essentially only an opposition of tendencies,
    

here

• the younger daughter is above.
  
  • The influences are in actual conflict, and
    
  • the forces combat each other like fire and water (lake), each trying to destroy the other.
    

Hence the idea of revolution.

 

THE JUDGMENT

REVOLUTION

On your own day

You are believed.

Supreme success,

Furthering through perseverance.

Remorse disappears.

Political revolutions are extremely grave matters.

They should be undertaken

• only under stress of direst necessity,
  
• when there is no way out.
  

• Not everyone is called to this task,
  
• but only the man who has the confidence of the people, and
  

  even he only when the time is ripe.
  

• He must then proceed in the right way, so that
  
• he
  
  • gladdens the people and, by enlightening them,
    
  • prevents excesses.
    

Furthermore,

he

• must be quite free of selfish aims and
  
• must really relieve the need of the people.
  

Only then does he have nothing to regret.

Times change, and with them their demands.

• Thus the seasons change in the course of the year.
  

In the world cycle also

• there are spring and autumn in the life of peoples and nations, and
  
• these call for social transformations.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Fire in the lake: the image of REVOLUTION.

Thus the superior man

• Sets the calendar in order And
  
• makes the seasons clear.
  

Fire below and the lake above combat and destroy each other.

So too in the course of the year a combat takes place between

• the forces of light and
  
• the forces of darkness,
  
  • eventuating in the revolution of the seasons.
    

Man masters these changes in nature by

• noting their regularity and
  
• marking off the passage of time accordingly.
  

In this way

• order and clarity appear in the apparently chaotic changes of the seasons, and
  
• man is able to adjust himself in advance to the demands of the different times.
  

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