21. Hexagram: Obstructions
above LI THE CLINGING, FIRE below CHêN THE AROUSING, THUNDER this hexagram represents an open mouth (cf. hexagram 27) with an obstruction (in the fourth place) between the teeth. As a result the lips cannot meet. To bring them together one must bite energetically...
22. Hexagram: Grace
GRACE above KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below LI THE CLINGING, FIRE this hexagram shows a fire that breaks out of the secret depths of the earth and, blazing up, illuminates and beautifies the mountain, the heavenly heights. Grace, beauty of form, is necessary in any...
23. Hexagram: Splitting Apart
above KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH The dark lines are about to mount upward and overthrow the last firm, light line by exerting a disintegrating influence on it. The inferior, dark forces overcome what is superior and strong, not...
25. Hexagram
above CH’IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below CHêN THE AROUSING, THUNDER Ch’ien, heaven is above; Chên, movement, is below. The lower trigram Chên is under the influence of the strong line it has received from above, from heaven. When, in accord with this,...
26. Hexagram
above KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below CH’IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN The Creative is tamed by Kên, Keeping Still. this produces great power, a situation in contrast to that of the ninth hexagram, Hsiao Ch’u, THE TAMING POWER OF THE SMALL, in which the...
27. Hexagram
above KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below CHêN THE AROUSING, THUNDER this hexagram is a picture of an open mouth; above and below are firm lines of the lips, and between them the opening. Starting with the mouth, through which we take food for nourishment, the thought...
28. Hexagram
above TUI THE JOYOUS, LAKE below SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD this hexagram consists of four strong lines inside and two weak lines outside. When the strong are outside and the weak inside, all is well and there is nothing out of balance, nothing extraordinary in the...
30. Hexagram
above LI THE CLINGING, FIRE below LI THE CLINGING, FIRE this hexagram is another double sign. The trigram Li means “to cling to something,” and also “brightness.” A dark line clings to two light lines, one above and one below–the image of...
33. Hexagram
above CH’IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN The power of the dark is ascending. The light retreats to security, so that the dark cannot encroach upon it. this retreat is a matter not of one’s will but of natural law. Therefore in...
36. Hexagram
above K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below LI THE CLINGING, FIRE Here the sun has sunk under the earth and is therefore darkened. The name of the hexagram means literally “wounding of the bright”; hence the individual lines contain frequent references to...