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HEXAGRAM 33 – Tun – Retreat

Above    CHIEN     THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    KEN     KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

The power of the dark is ascending.

The light retreats to security, so that

the dark cannot encroach upon it.

This retreat is a matter

• not of man’s will
  
• but of natural law.
  

Therefore in this case withdrawal is proper;

it is the correct way to behave

in order not to exhaust one’s forces. 1

In the calendar this hexagram is linked with the sixth month (July-August), in which

the forces of winter are already showing their influence.

 

THE JUDGMENT

RETREAT. Success.

In what is small, perseverance furthers.

Conditions are such that the hostile forces favored by the time are advancing.

In this case

• retreat is the right course, and
  
• it is through retreat that success is achieved.
  

But success consists in being able to carry out the retreat correctly.

Retreat is not to be confused with flight.

• Flight means saving oneself under any circumstances whereas
  
• retreat is a sign of strength.
  

We must be careful not to miss the right moment while

we are in full possession of power and position.

Then we shall be able

• to interpret the signs of the time
  
  • before it is too late and
    
• to prepare for provisional retreat
  
  • instead of being drawn into a desperate life-and-death struggle.
    

Thus

• we do not simply abandon the field to the opponent;
  
• we make it difficult for him to advance
  

  by showing perseverance in single acts of resistance.
  

In this way

we prepare, while retreating, for the counter – movement.

Understanding the laws of a constructive retreat of this sort is not easy.

The meaning that lies hidden in such a time is important.

 

THE IMAGE

Mountain under heaven: the image of RETREAT.

Thus the superior man

keeps the inferior man at a distance,

Not angrily but with reserve.

The mountain rises up under heaven, but owing to its nature

it finally comes to a stop.

Heaven on the other hand

• retreats upward before it into the distance and
  
• remains out of reach.
  

This symbolizes the behavior of the superior man toward a climbing inferior;

he retreats into his own thoughts as the inferior man comes forward.

He does not hate him,

for hatred is a form of subjective involvement

by which we are bound to the hated object.

The superior man shows strength (heaven) in that

he brings the inferior man to a standstill (mountain)

by his dignified reserve.

 

THE LINES

 

Six in the second place means:

He holds him fast with yellow oxhide.

No one can tear him loose.

Yellow is the color of the middle.

It indicates

• that which is correct and
  
• in line with duty.
  

Oxhide is strong and not to be torn.

While

• the superior men retreat and the inferior press after them,
  
• the inferior man represented here
  

  holds on so firmly and tightly to the superior men that
  

  the latter cannot shake him off.
  

And because

• he is in quest of what is right and so strong in purpose,
  
• he reaches his goal. 2
  

Thus

the line confirms what is said in the Judgment:

“In what is small” – here equivalent to “in the inferior man” – “perseverance furthers.”

 

0 Nine in the fifth place means:

Friendly retreat.

Perseverance brings good fortune.

It is the business of the superior man to recognize in time that

the moment for retreat has come.

If the right moment is chosen,

the retreat can be carried out

• within the forms of perfect friendliness,
  
• without the necessity of disagreeable discussions.
  

Yet, for all the observance of amenities,

absolute firmness of decision is necessary

if one is not to be led astray by irrelevant considerations.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 50 – Ting – The Caldron

Above    LI    THE CLINGING, FIRE

Below    SUN    THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD

1. The six lines construct the image of Ting, THE CALDRON;
   

• at the bottom are the legs,
  
• over them the belly,
  
• then come the ears (handles), and
  
• at the top the carrying rings.
  

At the same time,

1. the image suggests the idea of nourishment.
   

The Ting, cast of bronze, was the vessel that

held the cooked viands

• in the temple of the ancestors and
  
• at banquets.
  

The head of the family served the food

• from the Ting
  
• into the bowls of the guests.1
  

THE WELL (48) likewise has the secondary meaning of

giving nourishment, but rather more in relation to the people.

The Ting, as a utensil pertaining to a refined civilization, suggests the

• fostering and nourishing of able men, which
  
• redounded to the benefit of the state. (2)
  

• This hexagram and
  
• THE WELL
  

are the only two in the Book of Changes that represent

• concrete,
  
• man-made objects.
  

Yet here too the thought has its abstract connotation.

• Sun, below, is wood and wind;
  
• Li, above, is flame.
  

Thus together they stand for the flame kindled by wood and wind,

which likewise suggests the idea of preparing food.

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE CALDRON.

Supreme good fortune.

Success.

While

THE WELL relates to

• the social foundation of our life, and
  
• this foundation is likened to
  
• the water that serves to nourish growing wood,
  

the present hexagram refers to

• the cultural superstructure of society.
  

Here

• it is the wood that serves as nourishment for the flame, the spirit.
  

All that is visible must

• grow beyond itself,
  
• extend into the realm of the invisible.
  

Thereby

it

• receives its true consecration and clarity and
  
• takes firm root in the cosmic order.
  

Here

we see civilization as it reaches its culmination in religion.

The Ting serves in offering sacrifice to God.

The highest earthly values must be sacrificed to the divine.

But

the truly divine does not manifest itself apart from man.

The supreme revelation of God appears in

• prophets and
  
• holy men.
  

To venerate them is true veneration of God.

The will of God, as revealed through them, should be accepted in humility;

• this brings inner enlightenment and true understanding of the world, and
  
• this leads to great good fortune and success.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Fire over wood: The image of THE CALDRON.

Thus

the superior man

consolidates his fate

By making his position correct.

The fate of fire depends on wood;

• as long as there is wood below,
  
• the fire burns above.
  

It is the same in human life;

• there is in man likewise a fate that
  
• lends power to his life.
  

And if

• he succeeds in assigning the right place
  
  • to life and
    
  • to fate,
    

thus bringing the two into harmony,

• he puts his fate on a firm footing.
  

These words contain hints about the fostering of life

as handed on by oral tradition in the secret teachings of Chinese yoga,

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