The I Ching or Book of Changes (118 page)
Thus the superior man stakes his life
On following his will.
The Image derives from the relative positions of the two primary trigrams: water is under the lake, therefore drained off. The trigrams individually yield advice for conduct in the time of EXHAUSTION: K’an, abyss, danger, indicates staking one’s life; Tui, joyousness, indicates following one’s own will.
THE LINES
Six at the beginning:
a
) One sits oppressed under a bare tree
And strays into a gloomy valley.
For three years one sees nothing.
b
) “One strays into a gloomy valley.” One is gloomy and not clear.
The trigram K’an stands in the north, where gloom prevails. The nuclear trigram is Li, clarity. The line stands outside of clarity. In other cases the first line images the foot, the toes. But in times of oppression a man sits; therefore the first line here represents the buttocks. The gloomy valley is the first line in the trigram K’an, the pit in the abyss.
Nine in the second place:
a
) One is oppressed while at meat and drink.
The man with the scarlet knee bands is just coming.
It furthers one to offer sacrifice.
To set forth brings misfortune.
No blame.
b
) “Oppressed while at meat and drink.” The middle brings blessing.
K’an is wine, Tui food. The man with the scarlet knee bands is the nine in the fifth place, the ruler (the nuclear trigram Sun, in which the nine in the fifth place is the top line, means leg). Between the two rulers of the hexagram—the prince, the nine in the fifth place, and the official, the nine in the second place—the significant relationship is that of congruity rather than that of correspondence. Accordingly, it is a matter not of natural but of supranatural relationships, and therefore the religious act of sacrifice is mentioned. Since it accords with the time, going to the prince who is kindred in spirit is in itself not a mistake, but it cannot be done, because the six in the third place obstructs the way and makes it dangerous.
Six in the third place:
a
) A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone,
And leans on thorns and thistles.
He enters his house and does not see his wife.
Misfortune.
b
) “He leans on thorns and thistles”: he rests on a hard line.
“He enters his house and does not see his wife”: this bodes misfortune.
The oppression that afflicts this line is due to the hard line below it and to the hard line above, which is like a stone over it. Thus it can neither progress nor retreat. It represents a man holding the wrong office and hence in an untenable position. The appended judgments therefore allude directly to imminent death; this is what the text under
b
refers to in the words “bodes misfortune.”
Nine in the fourth place:
a
) He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage.
Humiliation, but the end is reached.
b
) “He comes very quietly”: his will is directed downward. Though the place is not appropriate, he nevertheless has companions.
K’an is a carriage, Tui metal. This line is in the minister’s place and therefore has the task of relieving the oppression. The minister allows himself to be influenced by the honor of having received a golden carriage at the hands of the prince, so that he does not fulfill his task as quickly as he should. This is humiliating; yet in the end all goes well. The line is not in its proper place {the place is yielding, the line firm), but it is in the relationship of correspondence to the six at the beginning, toward which its will is directed, and therefore it has a companion that induces it to act.
a
) His nose and feet are cut off.
Oppression at the hands of the man with the purple knee bands.
Joy comes softly.
It furthers one to make offerings and libations.
b
) Cutting off of the nose and feet means that he does not yet attain his will.
“Joy comes softly,” because the line is straight and central.
“It furthers one to make offerings and libations.” Thus one attains good fortune.
The line is hemmed in by dark lines. Above it is a dark line. When it tries to do away with this line, the effect is as though its nose were being cut off. When it tries to turn downward, it finds there another obstructing line, the six in the third place; when it tries to remove this line, the effect is as though its feet were being cut off. Therefore it cannot carry out its purpose. Nor is the official, with whom it has “a relationship of congruity, in a position to come to its help, because the latter also is penned in and oppressed by dark lines. However, the strong nature of both guarantees final success. Here too, as in the case of the nine in the second place, sacrifice is mentioned.
Six at the top:
a
) He is oppressed by creeping vines.
He moves uncertainly and says, “Movement brings remorse.”
If one feels remorse over this and makes a start,
Good fortune comes.
b
) “He is oppressed by creeping vines.” That is, he is not yet suitable.
“Movement brings remorse.” If there is remorse, this is an auspicious change.
A weak line at the peak of oppression—this is not yet the suitable way. But through movement and the awakening within of the requisite insight, one frees oneself from oppression. Hence the prospect of good fortune when the time of OPPRESSION comes to an end.
The ruler of the hexagram is the nine in the fifth place: The influence of the well depends on water, and the nine in the fifth place is the ruler of the trigram K’AN, water. The meaning of the hexagram is nourishment of the people, and the nine in the fifth place is the prince who provides them with nourishment.
The Sequence
He who is oppressed above is sure to turn downward. Hence there follows the hexagram of THE WELL.
Miscellaneous Notes
THE WELL means union.
Appended Judgments
THE WELL shows the field of character. THE WELL abides in its place, yet has influence on other things. THE WELL brings about discrimination as to what is right.
The well remains in its place; it has a firm, never-failing foundation. Similarly, character must have a deep foundation and a lasting connection with the springs of life. The well itself does not change, yet through the water that is drawn from it, it exerts a far-reaching influence. The well is the image of a tranquil dispensing of bounty to all who approach it. Character
likewise must be tranquil and clear, so that ideas of what is right can become clear. This hexagram refers to nourishment, like Hsü, WAITING (
5
), I, THE CORNERS OF THE MOUTH (
27
), and Ting, THE CALDRON (
50
). THE WELL refers to the water necessary for nourishment, as indispensable to life.
The two nuclear trigrams tend to rise. Hence the text lines indicate, from the first line upward, ever increasing clarification and auspiciousness in the situations, in contrast to the danger indicated in the judgment on the hexagram as a whole.
THE JUDGMENT
THE WELL. The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
It neither decreases nor increases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way,
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
Commentary on the Decision
Penetrating under water and bringing up the water: this is THE WELL.
The well nourishes and is not exhausted.
“The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed,” because central position is combined with firmness.
“If one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way,” one has not yet achieved anything.
“If the jug breaks”: this brings misfortune.
It seems as though the text at the beginning of the commentary were somewhat incomplete. Yet nothing of the essential meaning has been lost. The first half of the Judgment refers to the nature of the well. It is the unchangeable within change. The upper trigram K’an indicates a well, and the lower trigram Sun symbolizes a town. The ruler of the hexagram is in the
upper trigram, hence the idea of no change. The second half of the text refers to the dangers connected with using the well. The trigram Sun means a rope, the nuclear trigram Li a hollow vessel, the nuclear trigram Tui means to break in pieces. In this way the danger of breaking the jug is indicated.
The hexagram also contains a symbolic meaning. Just as water in its inexhaustibility is the basic requisite of life, so the “way of kings”—good government—is the indispensable foundation of the life of the state. Place and time may change, but the methods for regulating the collective life of the people remain forever the same. Evil conditions arise only when the right people are not at hand to execute the plan. This is symbolized by the shattering of the jug before it has reached the water.