16. Hexagram: Enthusiasm
above CHêN THE AROUSING, THUNDER below K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH The strong line in the fourth place, that of the leading official, meets with response and obedience from all the other lines, which are all weak. The attribute of the upper trigram, Chên, is...
18. Hexagram: Decay
above Kên KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below Sun THE GENTLE, WIND The Chinese character ku represents a bowl in whose contents worms are breeding. this means decay. It has come about because the gentle indifference of the lower trigram has come together with the rigid...
19. Hexagram: Approach
above K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below TUI THE JOYOUS, LAKE The Chinese word lin has a range of meanings that is not exhausted by any single word of another language. The ancient explanations in the Book of Changes give as its first meaning, “becoming...
20. Hexagram: Contemplation
above SUN THE GENTLE, WIND below K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH A slight variation of tonal stress gives the Chinese name for this hexagram a double meaning. It means both contemplating and being seen, in the sense of being an example. These ideas are suggested by...
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...
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...
24. Hexagram: Return of the Light
above K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below CHêN THE AROUSING, THUNDER The idea of a turning point arises from the fact that after the dark lines have pushed all of the light lines upward and out of the hexagram, another light line enters the hexagram from below. The...
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...
29. Hexagram
above K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER below K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER this hexagram consists of a doubling of the trigram K’an. It is one of the eight hexagrams in which doubling occurs. The trigram K’an means a plunging in. A yang line has plunged in...
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...