HEXAGRAM 63: ORIGINAL, INTERPRETATION AND CASES

HEXAGRAM 63 - Chi Chi - After Completion

Above K'AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Below Li THE CLINGING, FIRE

This hexagram is the evolution of T'ai, PEACE (11).

· The transition from confusion to order is completed,

and

· everything is in its proper place even in particulars.

· The strong lines are in the strong places,

· the weak lines in the weak places.

· This is a very favorable outlook,

yet

· it gives reason for thought.

For

· it is just when perfect equilibrium has been reached

that

· any movement may cause order to revert to disorder.

The one strong line that

has moved to the top,

thus

effecting complete order in details,

· is followed by the other lines,

each moving according to its nature,

and thus suddenly

· there arises again the hexagram P'i, STANDSTILL (12).

Hence

the present hexagram

· indicates the conditions of a time of climax,

which

· necessitate the utmost caution.

THE JUDGMENT

AFTER COMPLETION.

Success in small matters.

Perseverance furthers.

· At the beginning good fortune,

· At the end disorder.

The transition from the old to the new time

is already accomplished.

In principle,

everything stands systematized,

and

it is only in regard to details

that

success is still to be achieved.

In respect to this, however,

we must be careful to maintain the right attitude.

· Everything proceeds as if of its own accord,

and

· this can all too easily tempt us to

relax and let things take their course

without troubling over details.

Such indifference is the root of all evil.

Symptoms of decay are bound to be the result.

Here

we have

· the rule indicating the usual course of history.

But

· this rule is not an inescapable law.

He who understands it

is in position to avoid its effects by dint of

· unremitting perseverance

and

· caution.

THE IMAGE

Water over fire: the image of the condition

In AFTER COMPLETION.

Thus

the superior man

· Takes thought of misfortune

And

· arms himself against it in advance.

When

water in a kettle hangs over fire,

the two elements

· stand in relation

and thus

· generate energy

(cf. the production of steam).

But

the resulting tension demands caution.

the water boils over,

· the fire is extinguished

and

· its energy is lost.

the heat is too great,

· the water evaporates into the air.

These elements here

· brought into relation

and thus

· generating energy

are by nature hostile to each other.

Only the most extreme caution can prevent damage.

In life too there are junctures when

· all forces are in balance

and

· work in harmony,

so that

everything seems to be in the best of order.

In such times only

the sage

· recognizes the moments that bode danger

and

· knows how to banish it by means of timely precautions.

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning means:

He brakes his wheels.

He gets his tail in the water.

No blame.

In times following a great transition,

everything

· is pressing forward,

· striving in the direction of development and progress.

But

this pressing forward at the beginning

· is not good;

· overshoots the mark

and

· leads with certainty to loss and collapse.

Therefore

a man of strong character

· does not allow himself to be infected by the general intoxication

but

· checks his course in time.

· may indeed not remain altogether untouched

by the disastrous consequences of the general pressure,

but

· is hit only from behind

like a fox that, having crossed the water,

at the last minute gets its tail wet.

· will not suffer any real harm,

because his behavior has been correct.

Six in the second place means:

The woman loses the curtain of her carriage.

Do not run after it;

On the seventh day you will get it.

When

· a woman drove out in her carriage,

· she had a curtain that hid her from the glances of the curious.

It was regarded as a breach of propriety to drive on

if this curtain was lost.

Applied to public life,

this means that

a man who wants to achieve something

is not receiving that confidence of the authorities

which he needs, so to speak, for his personal protection.

Especially in times "after completion" it may happen that

those who have come to power

· grow arrogant and conceited

and

· no longer trouble themselves about fostering new talent.

This as a rule results in office seeking.

· a man's superiors withhold their trust from him,

· he will seek ways and means

o of getting it

and

o of drawing attention to himself.

We are warned against such an unworthy procedure:

"Do not seek it."

· Do not throw yourself away on the world,

but

· wait tranquilly

and

· develop your personal worth by your own efforts.

Times change.

When

· the six stages of the hexagram have passed,

· the new era dawns.

· That which is a man's own cannot be permanently lost.

· It comes to him of its own accord.

He need only be able to wait.

Nine in the third place means:

The Illustrious Ancestor

Disciplines the Devil's Country.

After three years he conquers it.

Inferior people must not be employed.

“Illustrious Ancestor" is the dynastic title of

the Emperor Wu Ting of the Yin dynasty. 1

After putting his realm in order with a strong hand,

he waged long colonial wars for the subjection of the Huns

who occupied the northern borderland with constant threat of incursions.

The situation described is as follows.

After times of completion,

when

· a new power has arisen

and

· everything within the country has been set in order,

a period of colonial expansion almost inevitably follows.

Then as a rule

long-drawn-out struggles must be reckoned with.

For this reason,

a correct colonial policy is especially important.

The territory won at such bitter cost

must not be regarded as an almshouse for people

· who in one way or another have made themselves impossible at home,

but

· who are thought to be quite good enough for the colonies.

Such a policy ruins at the outset any chance of success.

This holds true in small as well as in large matters,

because

it is not only rising states that carry on a colonial policy;

the urge to expand, with its accompanying dangers,

is part and parcel of every ambitious undertaking.

Six in the fourth place means:

The finest clothes turn to rags.

Be careful all day long.

In a time of flowering culture,

an occasional convulsion is bound to occur,

· uncovering a hidden evil within society

and at first

· causing a great sensation.

But since the situation is favorable on the whole,

such evils can easily be

· glossed over

and

· concealed from the public.

Then

· everything is forgotten

and

· peace apparently reigns complacently once more.

However, to

· the thoughtful man such occurrences are grave omens

that

· he does not neglect.

This is the only way of averting evil consequences.

Nine in the fifth place means:

The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox

Does not attain as much real happiness

the neighbor in the west

With his small offering.

Religious attitudes are likewise influenced

by the spiritual atmosphere prevailing in times after completion.

In divine worship

the simple old forms are replaced by

· an ever more elaborate ritual

and

· an ever greater outward display.

But

· inner seriousness

o is lacking in this show of magnificence;

· human caprice

o takes the place of conscientious obedience to the divine will.

However, while

· man sees what is before his eyes,

· God looks into the heart.

Therefore

· a simple sacrifice offered with real piety

holds a greater blessing than

· an impressive service without warmth.

Six at the top means:

He gets his head in the water.

Danger.

Here in conclusion another warning is added.

After crossing a stream,

· a man's head can get into the water

only if

· he is so imprudent as to turn back.

As long as

· goes forward and

· does not look back,

· escapes this danger.

But

there is a fascination in

· standing still and

· looking back on a peril overcome.

However, such

vain self-admiration brings misfortune.

· It leads only to danger,

and

unless one finally resolves to go forward without pausing,

· one falls a victim to this danger.

1. [Wu Ting reigned from 1324 to 1266 B.C.]

63 AFTER COMPLETION

MANAGERIAL ISSUE:

The CEO - managing the corporation after completing its highest goals or reaching an almost perfect equilibrium. Managing to keep the number 1 position, to stay on top.

The CEO has Heaven’s mandate to complete the main thrust of the project except for some minor details. What is important is for the CEO to maintain the right attitude; however, because the CEO has the Mandate of Heaven, he will be tempted to not worry about the details. If he stops paying attention to the details, it will mean his attitude has changed to indifference and he will deliberately ignore the details. Because of indifference, he will send the corporation back into a Yin cycle.

The Proper attitude is:

· the superior man

o Takes thought of misfortune And

o arms himself against it in advance.

In life too there are junctures when all forces are in balance and work in harmony,

so that everything seems to be in the best of order. In such times

· only the sage

recognizes the moments that bode danger and
knows how to banish it by means of timely precautions.

Hexagram 63 describes a number of possible conditions:

· The CEO has brought the corporation to the number 1 position in the industry, to its highest revenues and earnings ever.

· The corporation has completed a YANG to YIN cycle and it is back to its YANG cycle. It has successfully completed its restructuring process.

· The corporation has kept only its bestselling products as well as its best employees and has regained its sense of accomplishment after a long battle with its competitors.

· The CEO has brought the corporation to an apparently “perfect equilibrium".

However, Heaven does not allow “perfect equilibriums” to last for long. From now on the CEO must face his worst enemy: himself.

MANAGERIAL LESSON:

The Superior CEO knows:

1) It is very hard to stay on top for long. The corporation is at its greatest danger after its CEO has turned it into the leader in the industry.

2) Indifference is the main reason why CEOs fail to keep their corporation on top. The Superior CEO is very much aware there are two dangers he must face:

a) Re-living its triumphs over and over again, improving their product ad nausea rather than creating a new one. That is, facing the CEO’s eternal dilemma: choosing between allocating resources for sustaining technologies or allocating them for disruptive technologies. And,

b) Bloating over its success. The Superior CEO knows he must be humble about his successes. For Microsoft to have copied the Explorer from Netscape is no reason to be proud; but worse still, to have used its almost monopolistic position and distribution capacity to keep its competitors out of the market and then to openly bloat about its success was a classic case of adding insult to injury, and worthy of severe penalties. Heaven is punishing them (Google) as its performance during the last decade shows.

3) Most CEOs are tempted to feel the morbid pleasure of contemplating past successes. Therein lies the beginning of the end. Indifference is common once the CEO is on top. Behind indifference lies pride, the mother of all evils. When the corporation holds the number one position, its personnel tends to feel a little too proud for their own good. This is particularly the case of its CEO. The CEO will eventually let success go to his head. He will let down his guard, forget his eye for detail (genius is detail), and tend to let things run on automatic pilot. This is an ideal condition for a new negative YANG to YIN cycle to start. It could also be a case for new and disruptive technologies to undermine its number one position. Hence the I Ching says that "at a time of climax”, the CEO needs the utmost caution.

4) He must always accept and support change. Disruptive technologies brought him to the top and disruptive technologies will continue to keep him on top. The danger to the CEO and his corporation lies in shutting himself out to changes rather than to continuously look for future new technologies.

5) He must live with the knowledge that:

a) The probabilities corporations will lose their number one position are very high. And,

b) The corporation needs not lose its number one spot provided the CEO’s attitude is the right one – mainly if he shows perseverance and caution.

6) This is one of the most important lessons for a CEO. The CEO of a corporation which is the leader of the industry knows that when the corporation holds the number one position, it is usually because the CEO has created an almost perfect balance between the YANG and YIN elements within the corporation. But such a balance is extremely difficult to maintain, especially when there are other companies chasing after the number one position. Therefore it is imperative for the successful CEO to constantly look for dangers upon reaching the top. Indeed, there is some truth to Andy Groves’ concept that only the paranoid survive.

7) His ability to maintain a creative tension within the corporation is both what has made him successful as well as what should make him cautious. The I Ching wisely compares creative tension to creating energy with steam. That is, keeping a proper balance between opposites: boiling the water over which would kill the fire and maintaining the right amount of heat to avoid evaporation. In both extreme cases energy would be lost. In the same way, the CEO’s success depends on his ability to properly balance forces holding opposite points of view. That is why the I Ching advises the CEO of the need for permanent caution.

INVESTMENT ADVICE:

For the investor, the After Completion represents in general terms an unfavorable Time-Space to invest.

By itself (no lines), the Time-Space points to Good Fortune in small things provided the CEO maintains the proper attitude.

AFTER COMPLETION.

Success in small matters.

Perseverance furthers.

· At the beginning good fortune,

· At the end disorder.

The transition from the old to the new time is already accomplished. In principle, everything stands systematized, and it is only in regard to details that success is still to be achieved. In respect to this, however, we must be careful to maintain the right attitude. Everything proceeds as if of its own accord, and this can all too easily tempt us to relax and let things take their course without troubling over details. Such indifference is the root of all evil. Symptoms of decay are bound to be the result. Here we have the rule indicating the usual course of history. But this rule is not an inescapable law. He who understands it is in position to avoid its effects by dint of unremitting perseverance and caution.

The lines, however, present no good possibilities to invest: There is one line which is very negative and points to Danger (in the sixth place) and the rest are neither negative nor positive. Therefore, not one is positive enough to present an investment opportunity.

The following are cases of corporations under the After Completion Time-Space:

· American International Group AIG under CEO Robert Benmosche’s

(Read at the end of the Hexagram)

THE LINES

NINE IN THE FIRST PLACE

Managerial Issue: The CEO – managing the After-Completion period at its beginning.

Managerial Lesson: Be focused.

Managerial Warning: At the first stage of the After Completion, the CEO “does not allow himself to be infected by the general intoxication but checks his course in time”.

Managerial Advice: The Superior CEO recognizes when the corporation is caught in a period of tremendous changes. This period could be compared to the birth of a new industry such as the PC industry, the software industry or the Internet-based industry. In the beginning there are constant changes in the industry's leadership, with new economy as well as old-economy corporations entering the market to compete against each other.

The Superior CEO knows that:

· Those CEO’s who try to take the lead quickly do not necessarily become the ultimate leader. Such was the case of Microsoft. In a long distance race, the leadership position will change many times.

· Once he perceives the industry's mad rush to produce a new product or to enter into a completely new industrial shift, his best course of action is to stop and save his corporation for another day. Even if the expense to enter the industry was great, he can still save his corporation if he withdraws in time. Others might be successful in this new industry, but not his corporation. The CEO saves his corporation by continuing to do what he does best, rather than entering an industry where he will not make it.

Investment advice: Do not invest

SIX IN THE SECOND PLACE

Managerial Issue: The CEO – managing the After-Completion period at its very beginning - supporting YANG changes even when his clients will only support his YIN changes.

Managerial Lesson: Be honest.

Managerial Warning: At the second stage of the After Completion, the I Ching warns the CEO: “do not throw yourself (the corporation) away on the world, but wait tranquilly and develop your (the corporation’s) personal worth by your own efforts”.

Managerial Advice: The Superior CEO knows there are two kinds of changes:

· YANG changes are strong changes based on disruptive technologies, which usher in new radical changes. They are usually resisted both by management (who feels threatened) as well as by clients (who ignore and fear the future waves of change). YANG changes might seem insignificant in the beginning but in the end are very profitable.

· YIN changes are superficial changes made to the same old product but in essence they are more of the same. They might seem as the right changes because they are very much liked by management as well as by the most traditional clients. They initially are profitable but in the end they lead the corporation to its eventual destruction. Pride and arrogance will lead the CEO to support YIN changes and to distance himself from those within the firm who promote the YANG changes.

The CEO faces a dilemma. Whether to support YANG changes and face the anger of traditional clients and even the eventual loss of market share, or to support YIN changes to please the traditional clients and eventually risk losing the corporation. This is particularly the case when the corporation holds the number one place. Pride and arrogance will lead the CEO to support YIN changes and to distance himself from those within the firm who promote the YANG changes.

The Superior CEO is always true to his own self and will always push his executives to develop YANG changes because his quest is to always try and make products “cheaper, faster, and better”. It is better to push future unknown but tremendously profitable products and markets, than to try and maintain an eventually dying product and market niche not matter how profitable it might be at the present time. The I Ching says: "Do not seek it."

Investment advice: Do not invest

NINE IN THE THIRD PLACE

Managerial Issue: The CEO – managing the After-Completion period – when he has achieved victory.

Managerial Lesson: Be just.

Managerial Warning: At the third stage of the After Completion, the CEO must:

· Manage the Pax period that comes once he has brought his corporation to the leadership position. Just as when empires reached their leadership positions, there arose a calm created by their overall dominance, such as the Pax Romana, Pax Britannica or Pax Americana, there also arises a period of apparent industrial tranquility when a corporation reaches a strong and dominant position, such as the Pax of General Electric, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, EMC, Oracle. The key word here is "apparent".

· Manage correctly the “colonial policy”.

Managerial Advice: The Superior CEO knows that:

· He must manage both:

o “the urge to expand, and

o its accompanying dangers, which is part and parcel of every ambitious undertaking”.

· If he manages to conquer a new market or even another corporation, he must see to it that only the best managers are sent over to manage the conquered territory.

· He must face the dangers associated with the expansion period that comes After Completing the goals, after conquering the market.

· The secret to keeping the leadership position lies in establishing a proper "colonial" policy. This was applicable to empires and continues to be applicable to corporations. When a corporation goes on a buying spree to dominate the industry, such as Conseco, Cisco or Microsoft, the danger lies in having a poor colonial policy based on pride and arrogance which rewards evil and punishes the good rather than rewarding the good and punishing evil. Just as Romans, Spaniards, Portuguese, and British would send criminals to populate a conquered territory with disastrous consequences, the same would be the result if a CEO were to send its less talented executives to run a recently acquired corporation.

The I Ching says: "The territory won at such bitter cost must not be regarded as an almshouse for people who in one way or another have made themselves impossible at home, but who are thought to be quite good enough for the colonies”.

Did Cabletron send those who had “made themselves impossible at home” to run U.S. Robotics? Did their behavior force the engineers who developed the Palm Pilot at U.S. Robotics to leave and create their own company, Handspring?

The CEO must send his best executives to work closely with the best executives of the recently acquired corporation. No one could possible imagine Jack Welch sending his worst executives to run Honeywell had he conquered it.

This is the perfect advice for Larry Ellison of Oracle and his insatiable desire for conquest:

After times of completion, when a new power has arisen and everything within the country has been set in order,

· a period of colonial expansion almost inevitably follows.

Then as a rule

· long-drawn-out struggles must be reckoned with.

For this reason,

· a correct colonial policy is especially important.

· The territory won at such bitter cost must not be regarded as an almshouse for people

o who in one way or another have made themselves impossible at home, but

o who are thought to be quite good enough for the colonies.

Such a policy

· ruins at the outset any chance of success.

· This holds true in small as well as in large matters,

because

· it is not only rising states that carry on a colonial policy;

· the urge to expand, with its accompanying dangers, is part and parcel of every ambitious undertaking.

Investment advice: Do not invest

SIX IN THE FOURTH PLACE

Managerial Issue: The CEO – managing the After-Completion period - the first crack comes from within.

Managerial Lesson: Be prepared.

Managerial Warning: At the fourth stage of the After Completion, the CEO uncovers “a hidden evil within” the corporation.

Managerial Advice: The Superior CEO prepares for the first sign of evil practices to appear within the corporation. To him, even the smallest sign of evil requires his attention. He knows that when he holds the leadership position, he must be prepared to face challenges to his position. Such challenges will be few in the beginning and will also start from within the corporation. Great corporations much like great empires fall due to internal rather than external threats. Even though this might not happen frequently, it is a red flag and the CEO must act upon it quickly. In this line and at least for now, there is no new immediate danger. However, to keep his corporation in the leading industry’s position he must recognize the danger and correct it quickly and forcefully.

In many ways this is the line of Microsoft and how it faced the threat from Netscape. Bill Gates must be given credit for acting quickly and forcefully, perhaps too forcefully once he realized Netscape’s threat. Microsoft's mistake, however, was born out of the arrogance and contempt which is always born out of fear of an upstart such as Netscape. Microsoft’s viciousness in meeting Netscape’s challenge was an act of pride, the CEO’s worst enemy.

Investment advice: Do not invest

NINE IN THE FIFTH PLACE

Managerial Issue: The CEO – managing the After-Completion - going back to basics.

Managerial Lesson: Be passionate.

Managerial Warning: At the fifth stage of the After Completion, the CEO risks allowing his success to turn him into the classic pompous CEO.

Managerial Advice: The Superior CEO is on the lookout for those attitudes that threaten the corporation’s passion, the same passion that brought it to the top. This passion, the engine of success, is in danger of disappearing. While the original passion created a winning attitude based on humility and simplicity now pride and pomposity are threatening their leading position.

The basements where Jobs, Gates, Ellis, Dell, used to make their dreams come true, are replaced by fancy offices. The simple ideas that were so easily discussed over a cup of coffee in the nearest coffee shop must now be discussed in a fancy boardroom. Such fancy, ornamental and superficial surroundings might be forgiven and even acceptable provided the CEOs maintain their focus on their heart. But now their focus has shifted its attention to the comfort of the body. The elaborateness of religion has replaced the beauty of spirituality. This is the beginning of the fall.

Meanwhile there is another young man in another basement making his dreams come true, flaming his passion, focusing on his inner vision, paying attention to his heart rather than to the comfort of his body and dreaming about becoming number one. Chances are he will.

The I Ching recommends the CEO to pay strict attention to his heart, to keep it simple, to be Spartan, to avoid elaborate pomposity, and, above all else, to be humble.

Investment advice: Do not invest

SIX IN THE SIXTH PLACE

Managerial Issue: The CEO – managing the After-Completion - managing pride at its worst.

Managerial Lesson: Be humble.

Managerial Warning: At the sixth stage of the After Completion, the CEO risks reliving the past glories.

Managerial Advice: The Superior CEO faces two dangers:

a) Re-living the corporate triumphs over and over again, improving the same corporate product ad nausea rather than creating a new one. That is, facing the CEO’s eternal dilemma: choosing between allocating resources for sustaining technologies or for disruptive technologies. And

b) Bloating over its success. The Superior CEO is humble about the corporate successes. For Microsoft to have developed the Explorer is worthy of praise, but to have used its almost monopolistic position to keep its competitors out of the market and then to openly bloat about its success was a classic case of adding insult to injury, and worthy of severe penalties.

Repeating from the Managerial Lesson above:

The CEO must live in the NOW rather than the past; however most CEOs are tempted to feel the morbid pleasure of contemplating past successes. Therein lays the beginning of the end. Indifference is common once the CEO is on top. Behind indifference lies pride, the mother of all evils. When the corporation holds the number one position, its personnel tends to feel a little too proud for their own good. This is particularly the case for its CEO. The CEO will eventually let success go to his head. He will let down his guard, forget his eye for detail (genius is detail), and tend to let things run on automatic pilot. This is an ideal condition for a new negative YANG to YIN cycle. It could also be a case for new and disruptive technologies to undermine its number one position. Hence the I Ching says that "at a time of climax”, the CEO needs the utmost caution.

The I Ching advises the CEO to always accept and support change. Disruptive technologies brought him to the top and disruptive technologies will continue to keep him on top. The danger to the CEO and his corporation lies in shutting himself out to changes rather than continuously look to the future for new technologies.

Investment advice: Do not invest

MANAGERIAL CASES

American International Group AIG under CEO Robert Benmosche

Robert Benmosch’s Performance: ROI= 84.85% Annualized Return= 31.81%

SPY’s Performance: ROI= 24.94% Annualized Return= 10.53%

Robert Benmosche became CEO of American International Group in August of 2009.

Since his appointment, he has been able to outperform the SPY. Even though he is a talented and an experienced executive, there are two qualifiers the investor should keep in mind:

· He has received substantial help from the US government.

· His performance since the beginning of 2011 compared to the SPY has been poor.

Points the investor should consider:

1) THE HEXAGRAM

HEXAGRAM 63 - Chi Chi - After Completion

This hexagram is the evolution of T'ai, PEACE (11). The transition from confusion to order is completed, and everything is in its proper place even in particulars. The strong lines are in the strong places, the weak lines in the weak places. This is a very favorable outlook, yet it gives reason for thought. For it is just when perfect equilibrium has been reached that any movement may cause order to revert to disorder. The one strong line that has moved to the top, thus effecting complete order in details, is followed by the other lines, each moving according to its nature, and thus suddenly there arises again the hexagram P'i, STANDSTILL (12).

Hence the present hexagram indicates the conditions of a time of climax, which necessitate the utmost caution.

THE JUDGMENT

AFTER COMPLETION.

Success in small matters.

Perseverance furthers.

At the beginning good fortune,

At the end disorder.

2) THE ADVICE

Water over fire: the image of the condition

In AFTER COMPLETION.

Thus the superior man

Takes thought of misfortune

And arms himself against it in advance.

When water in a kettle hangs over fire, the two elements stand in relation and thus generate energy (cf. the production of steam). But the resulting tension demands caution. If the water boils over, the fire is extinguished and its energy is lost. If the heat is too great, the water evaporates into the air. These elements here brought into relation and thus generating energy are by nature hostile to each other. Only the most extreme caution can prevent damage. In life too there are junctures when all forces are in balance and work in harmony, so that everything seems to be in the best of order. In such times only the sage recognizes the moments that bode danger and knows how to banish it by means of timely precautions.

3) THE LINES:

Six in the second place means:

The woman loses the curtain of her carriage.

Do not run after it;

On the seventh day you will get it.

When a woman drove out in her carriage, she had a curtain that hid her from the glances of the curious. It was regarded as a breach of propriety to drive on if this curtain was lost. Applied to public life, this means that a man who wants to achieve something is not receiving that confidence of the authorities which he needs, so to speak, for his personal protection. Especially in times "after completion" it may happen that those who have come to power grow arrogant and conceited and no longer trouble themselves about fostering new talent.

This as a rule results in office seeking. If a man's superiors withhold their trust from him, he will seek ways and means of getting it and of drawing attention to himself. We are warned against such an unworthy procedure: "Do not seek it." Do not throw yourself away on the world, but wait tranquilly and develop your personal worth by your own efforts. Times change. When the six stages of the hexagram have passed, the new era dawns. That which is a man's own cannot be permanently lost. It comes to him of its own accord. He need only be able to wait.

1. [Wu Ting reigned from 1324 to 1266 B.C.]

4) THE MOVING HEXAGRAM

HEXAGRAM 05 – Hsu - Waiting (Nourishment)

All beings have need of nourishment from above. But the gift of food comes in its own time, and for this one must wait. This hexagram shows the clouds in the heavens, giving rain to refresh all that grows and to provide mankind with food and drink. The rain will come in its own time. We cannot make it come; we have to wait for it. The idea of waiting is further suggested by the attributes of the two trigrams - strength within, danger in front. 2 Strength in the face of danger does not plunge ahead but bides its time, whereas weakness in the face of danger grows agitated and has not the patience to wait.

THE JUDGMENT

WAITING. If you are sincere,

You have light and success.

Perseverance brings good fortune.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

Waiting is not mere empty hoping. It has the inner certainty of reaching the goal. Such certainty alone gives that light which leads to success. This leads to the perseverance that brings good fortune and bestows power to cross the great water.

One is faced with a danger that has to be overcome. Weakness and impatience can do nothing. Only a strong man can stand up to his fate, for his inner security enables him to endure to the end. This strength shows itself in uncompromising truthfulness (with himself). It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are, without any sort of self-deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events, by which the path to success may be recognized. This recognition must be followed by resolute and persevering action. For only the man who goes to meet his fate resolutely is equipped to deal with it adequately. Then he will be able to cross the great water - that is to say, he will be capable of making the necessary decision and of surmounting the danger.

THE IMAGE

Clouds rise up to heaven: The image of WAITING.

Thus the superior man eats and drinks,

Is joyous and of good cheer.

When clouds rise in the sky, it is a sign that it will rain. There is nothing to do but to wait until the rain falls. It is the same in life when destiny is at work. We should not worry and seek to shape the future by interfering in things before the time is ripe. We should quietly fortify the body with food and drink and the mind with gladness and good cheer. Fate comes when it will, and thus we are ready.

1. [In the German translation, this secondary name does not appear in bk. I. See P. 410)

2. [The upper trigram is considered to be in front of the lower. See P- 357)