above TUI THE JOYOUS, LAKE below CH’IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
This hexagram signifies on the one hand a break-through after a long accumulation of tension, as a swollen river breaks through its dikes, or in the manner of a cloudburst. On the other hand, applied to human conditions, it refers to the time when inferior people gradually begin to disappear. Their influence is on the wane; as a result of resolute action, a change in conditions occurs, a break-through. The hexagram is linked with the third month [April-May].
THE JUDGMENT
BREAK-THROUGH. One must resolutely make the matter known At the court of the king. It must be announced truthfully. Danger. It is necessary to notify one’s own city. It does not further to resort to arms. It furthers one to undertake something.
Even if only one inferior person is occupying a ruling position in a city, he or she is able to oppress superior ones. Even a single passion still lurking in the heart has power to obscure reason. Passion and reason cannot exist side by side, they must become one, therefore fight without quarter is necessary if the good is to prevail.
In a resolute struggle of the good against evil, there are, however, definite rules that must not be disregarded, if it is to succeed. First, resolution must be based on a union of strength and friendliness. Second, a compromise with evil is not possible; evil must under all circumstances be openly discredited. Nor must our own passions and shortcomings be glossed over. Third, the struggle must not be carried on directly by force. If evil is branded, it thinks of weapons, and if we do evil the favor of fighting against it blow for blow, we lose in the end because thus we ourselves get entangled in hatred and passion.
Therefore it is important to begin at home, to be on guard in our own persons against the faults we have branded. In this way, finding no opponent, the sharp edges of the weapons of evil becomes dulled. For the same reasons we should not combat our own faults directly. As long as we wrestle with them, they continue victorious. Finally, the best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good.
THE IMAGE
The lake has risen up to heaven: The image of BREAK-THROUGH. Thus the superior one Dispenses riches downward And refrains from resting on one’s virtue.
When the water of a lake has risen up to heaven, there is reason to fear a cloudburst. Taking this as a warning, the superior one forestalls a violent collapse. If one were to pile up riches for oneself alone, without considering others, one would certainly experience a collapse. For all gathering is followed by dispersion. Therefore the superior one begins to distribute while accumulating. In the same way, in developing one’s character one takes care not to become hardened in obstinacy but to remain receptive to impressions by help of strict and continuous self-examination.
THE LINES
Nine at the beginning means: Mighty in the forward-striding toes. When one goes and is not equal to the task, One makes a mistake.
In times of resolute advance, the beginning is especially difficult. We feel inspired to press forward but resistance is still strong; therefore we ought to gauge our own strength and venture only so far as we can go with certainty of success. To plunge blindly ahead is wrong, because it is precisely at the beginning that an unexpected setback can have the most disastrous results.
Nine in the second place means: A cry of alarm. Arms at evening and at night. Fear nothing.
Readiness is everything. Resolution is indissolubly bound up with caution. If one is careful and keeps one’s wits about one, one need not become excited or alarmed. If one is watchful at all times, even before danger is present, one is armed when danger approaches and need not be afraid. The superior person is on guard against what is not yet in sight and on the alert for what is not yet within hearing; therefore one dwells in the midst of difficulties as though they did not exist. If one develops one’s character, people submit to one of their own accord. If reason triumphs, then passion finds harmony as well. To be circumspect and not to forget one’s armor is the right way to security.
Nine in the third place means: To be powerful in the cheekbones Brings misfortune. The superior one is firmly resolved. One walks alone and is caught in the rain. One is bespattered, And people murmur against one. No blame.
Here we have one in an ambiguous situation. While all others are engaged in a resolute fight against all that is inferior, this one alone has a certain relationship with an inferior person. If one were to show strength outwardly and turn against this person before the time is ripe, one would only endanger the entire situation, because the inferior one would too quickly have recourse to countermeasures. The task of the superior one becomes extremely difficult here. One must be firmly resolved within oneself and, while maintaining association with the inferior one, avoid any participation in vileness. One will of course be misjudged. It will be thought that one belongs to the party of the inferior person. One will be lonely because no one will understand one. One’s relations with the inferior person will sully one in the eyes of the multitude, and they will turn against one, grumbling. But one can endure this lack of appreciation and make no mistake, because one remains true to oneself.
Nine in the fourth place means: There is no skin on the thighs, And walking comes hard. If one were to let oneself be led like a sheep, Remorse would disappear. But if these words are heard They will not be believed.
Here one is suffering from inner restlessness and cannot abide in one’s place. One would like to push forward under any circumstances, but encounters insuperable obstacles. Thus one’s situation entails an inner conflict. This is due to the obstinacy with which one seeks to enforce one’s will. If one would desist from this obstinacy, everything would go well. But this advice, like so much other good counsel, will be ignored. For obstinacy makes one unable to hear, for all that one has ears.
° Nine in the fifth place means: In dealing with weeds, Firm resolution is necessary. Walking in the middle One remains free of blame.
Weeds always grow back again and are difficult to exterminate. So too the struggle against an inferior person in a high position demands firm resolution. One has certain relations with this person, hence there is danger that one may give up the struggle as hopeless. But this must not be. One must go on resolutely and not allow oneself to be deflected from one’s course. Only in this way does one remain free of blame.
Six at the top means: No cry. In the end misfortune comes.
Victory seems to have been achieved. There remains merely a remnant of the evil resolutely to be eradicated as the time demands. Everything looks easy. Just there, however, lies the danger. If we are not on guard, evil will succeed in escaping by means of concealment, and when it has eluded us new misfortunes will develop from the remaining seeds, for evil does not die easily. So too in dealing with the evil in one’s own character, one must go to work with thoroughness. If out of carelessness anything were to be overlooked, new evil would arise from it.
