IHS Holding Ltd HIS under CEO Sam Darwish

IHS Holding Ltd HIS under CEO Sam Darwish

 

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.
  

 

THE LINES

 

Six in the second place means:

When

• one’s own day comes,
  
• one may create revolution.
  

Starting brings good fortune.

No blame,

When

• we have tried in every way to bring about reforms, but without success,
  
• revolution becomes necessary.
  

But such a thoroughgoing upheaval must be carefully prepared.

There must be available a man

• who has the requisite abilities and
  
• who possesses public confidence.
  

To such a man we may well turn.

This

• brings good fortune and
  
• is not a mistake.
  

The first thing to be considered is

our inner attitude toward the new condition that will inevitably come.

We have to go out to meet it, as it were.

Only in this way can it be prepared for.

 

Six at the top means:

• The superior man changes like a panther.
  
• The inferior man molts in the face.
  

Starting brings misfortune.

To remain persevering brings good fortune.

After the large and fundamental problems are settled,

• certain minor reforms, and
  
• elaborations of these,
  

are necessary.

These detailed reforms may be likened to

the equally distinct but relatively small marks of the panther’s coat.

As a consequence,

a change also takes place among the inferior people.

In conformity with the new order, they likewise “molt.”

This molting, it is true, does not go very deep, but that is not to be expected.

We must be satisfied with the attainable.

If we should go too far and try to achieve too much,

it would lead to unrest and misfortune.

For the object of a great revolution is the

• attainment of clarified, secure conditions
  
• ensuring a general stabilization
  
• on the basis of what is possible at the moment.
  

 

 

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.

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