his sincerity to win the attachment of his object. There will be no error. Let the breast be full of sincerity as an earthenware vessel is of its contents, and it will in the end bring other advantages. 2. In the second line, divided, we see the movement toward union and attachment proceeding from the inward mind. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. 3. In the third line, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with such as ought not to be associated with. 4. In the fourth line, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with the one beyond himself. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. 5. The fifth line, undivided, affords the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment. We seem to see in it the king urging his pursuit of the game only in three directions, and allowing the escape of all the animals before him, while the people of his towns do not warn one another to prevent it. There will be good fortune. 6. In the topmost line, divided, we see one seeking union and attachment without having taken the first step to such an end. There will be evil. IX. THE HSIAO CHU HEXAGRAM 9 Hsiao Chu indicates that under its conditions there will be progress and success. We see dense clouds, but no rain coming from our borders in the west. The name Hsiao Chu is interpreted as meaning "small restraint." The idea of "restraint" having once been determined on as that to be conveyed by the figure, it is easily made out that the restraint must be small, for its representative is the divided line in the fourth place; and the check given by that to all the undivided lines can not be great. Even if we suppose, as many critics do, that all the virtue of that upper trigram Sun is concentrated in its first line, the attribute ascribed to Sun is that of docile flexibility, which can not long be successful against the strength emblemed by the lower trigram Chien. The restraint therefore is small, and in the end there will be "progress and success." The second sentence of the Thwan contains indications of the place, 1. The first line, undivided, shows its subject returning and pursuing his own course. What mistake should he fall into? There will be good fortune. 2. The second line, undivided, shows its subject, by the attraction of the former line, returning to the proper course. There will be good fortune. 3. The third line, undivided, suggests the idea of a carriage, the strap beneath which has been removed, or of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes. 4. The fourth line, divided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity. The danger of bloodshed is thereby averted, and his ground for apprehension dismissed. There will be no mistake. 5. The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity, and drawing others to unite with him. Rich in resources, he employs his neighbors in the same cause with himself. 6. The topmost line, undivided, shows how the rain has fallen, and the onward progress is stayed; - so must we value the full accumulation of the virtue, represented by the upper trigram. But a wife exercising restraint, however firm and correct she may be, is in a position of peril, and like the moon approaching to the full. If the superior man prosecute his measures in such circumstances, there will be evil. time, and personality of the writer which it seems possible to ascertain. The fief of Chau was the western portion of the kingdom of Yin or Shang, the China of the twelfth century B.C., the era of King Wan. Rain coming and moistening the ground is the cause of the beauty and luxuriance of the vegetable world, and the emblem of the blessings flowing from good training and good government. Here therefore in the west, the hereditary territory of the house of Chau, are blessings which might enrich the whole kingdom; but they are somehow restrained. The dense clouds do not empty their stores. Regis says: "To declare openly that no rain fell from the heavens long covered with dense clouds over the great tract of country, which stretched from the western border to the court and on to the eastern sea, was nothing else but leaving it to all thoughtful minds to draw the conclusion that the family of Wan was as worthy of the supreme seat as that of Shau, the tyrant, however ancient, was unworthy of it." The intimation is not put in the text, however, so clearly as by Regis. X. THE LI HEXAGRAM 10 Li suggests the idea of one treading on the tail of a tiger, which does not bite him. There will be progress and success. 1. The first line, undivided, shows its subject treading his accustomed path. If he go forward, there will be no error. 2. The second line, undivided, shows its subject treading the path that is level and easy; a quiet and solitary man, to whom, if he be firm and correct, there will be good fortune. 3. The third line, divided, shows a one-eyed man who thinks he can see; a lame man who thinks he can walk well; one who treads on the tail of a tiger and is bitten. All this indicates ill fortune. We have a mere bravo acting the part of a great ruler. 4. The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject treading on the tail of a tiger. He becomes full of apprehensive caution, and in the end there will be good fortune. 5. The fifth line, undivided, shows the resolute tread of its subject. Though he be firm and correct, there will be peril. 6. The sixth line, undivided, tells us to look at the whole course that is trodden, and examine the presage which that gives. If it be complete and without failure, there will be great good fortune. 10 The character giving its name to the hexagram plays an important part also in the symbolism; and this may be the reason why it does not, as the name, occupy the first place in the Thwan. Looking at the figure, we see it is made up of the trigrams Tui, representing a marsh, and Chien, representing the sky. Tui is a yin trigram, and its top line is divided. Below Chien, the great symbol of strength, it may readily suggest the idea of treading on a tiger's tail, which was an old way of expressing what was hazardous (Shu V, xxv, 2). But what suggests the statement that "the tiger does not bite the treader"? The attribute of Tui is "pleased satisfaction." Of course such an attribute could not be predicated of one who was in the fangs of a tiger. The coming scatheless out of such danger further suggests the idea of "progress and success." XI. THE THAI HEXAGRAM 11 In Thai we see the little gone and the great come. It indicates that there will be good fortune, with progress and success. 1. The first line, undivided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. Advance on the part of its subject will be fortunate. 2. The second line, undivided, shows one who can bear with the uncultivated, will cross the Ho without a boat, does not forget the distant, and has no selfish friendships. Thus does he prove himself acting in accordance with the course of the due Mean. 3. The third line, undivided, shows that, while there is no state of peace that is not liable to be disturbed, and no departure of evil men so that they shall not return, yet when one is firm and correct, as he realizes the distresses that may arise, he will commit no error. There is no occasion for sadness at the certainty of such recurring changes; and in this mood the happiness of the present may be long enjoyed. 4. The fourth line, divided, shows its subject fluttering down; - not relying on his own rich resources, but calling in his neighbors. They all come not as having received warning, but in the sincerity of their hearts. 5. The fifth line, divided, reminds us of King Ti-yi's rule 11 The language of the Thwan has reference to the form of Thai, with the three strong lines of Chien below, and the three weak lines of Khwan above. The former are "the great," active and vigorous; the latter are "the small," inactive and submissive. A course in which the motive forces are represented by the three strong, and the opposing by the three weak lines, must be progressive and successful. Thai is called the hexagram of the first month of the year, the first month of the natural spring, when for six months, through the fostering sun and genial skies, the processes of growth will be going on. about the marriage of his younger sister. By such a course there is happiness and there will be great good fortune. 6. The sixth line, divided, shows us the city wall returned into the moat. It is not the time to use the army. The subject of the line may, indeed, announce his orders to the people of his own city; but however correct and firm he may be, he will have cause for regret. XII. THE PHI HEXAGRAM 12 In Phi there is the want of good understanding between the different classes of men, and its indication is unfavorable to the firm and correct course of the superior man. We see in it the great gone and the little come. 1. The first line, divided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. With firm correctness on the part of its subject, there will be good fortune and progress. 2. The second line, divided, shows its subject patient and obedient. To the small man comporting himself so there will be good fortune. If the great man comport himself as the distress and obstruction require, he will have success. 3. The third line, divided, shows its subject ashamed of the purpose folded in his breast. 4. The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject acting in accordance with the ordination of Heaven, and committing no error. His companions will come and share in his happiness. 5. In the fifth line, undivided, we see him who brings the distress and obstruction to a close - the great man and for 12 The form of Phi, it will be seen, is exactly the opposite of that of Thai. Much of what has been said on the interpretation of that will apply to this, or at least assist the student in making out the meaning of its symbolism. Phi is the hexagram of the seventh month. Genial influences have done their work, the processes of growth are at an end. Henceforth increasing decay must be looked for. |