Collective Wisdom Blogs

above  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN The first hexagram is made up of six unbroken lines. These unbroken lines stand for the primal power, which is light-giving, active, strong, and of the spirit. The hexagram is...

above  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER below  CHêN  THE AROUSING, THUNDER The name of the hexagram, Chun, really connotes a blade of grass pushing against an obstacle as it sprouts out of the earth–hence the meaning, “difficulty at the beginning.” The...

above  KêN  KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN below  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER Youthful folly is the natural extension of difficulty at the beginning. Whenever we venture into the unknown or new circumstance we are vulnerable to the folly of our own inexperience. In this...

above  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN All beings have need of nourishment from above. But the gift of food comes in its own time, and for this one must wait. this hexagram shows the clouds in the heavens, giving rain to...

above  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER The upper trigram, whose image is heaven, has an upward movement; the lower trigram, water, in accordance with its nature tends downward. Thus the two halves move away from each other,...

above K’UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below K’AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER this hexagram is made up of the trigrams K’an, water, and K’un, earth, and thus it symbolizes the ground water stored up in the earth. In the same way military strength is stored up...

above  K’AN  THE ABYSMAL, WATER below  K’UN  THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH The waters on the surface of the earth flow together wherever they can, as for example in the ocean, where all the rivers come together. Symbolically this connotes holding together and the...

above  SUN  THE GENTLE, WIND below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN this hexagram means the force of the small–the power of the shadowy–that restrains, tames, impedes. A weak line in the fourth place, that of the minister, holds the five strong lines in...

above  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below  TUI  THE JOYOUS, LAKE The name of the hexagram means on the one hand the right way of conducting oneself. Heaven, the father, is above, and the lake, the youngest daughter, is below. this shows the difference between...

above  K’UN  THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN The Receptive, which moves downward, stands above; the Creative, which moves upward, is below. Hence their influences meet and are in harmony, so that all living things bloom and...

above  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below  K’UN  THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH this hexagram is the opposite of the preceding one. Heaven is above, drawing farther and farther away, while the earth below sinks farther into the depths. The creative powers are not in...

above  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN below  LI  THE CLINGING, FLAME The image of the upper trigram Ch’ien is heaven, and that of the lower, Li, is flame. It is the nature of fire to flame up to the heaven. this gives the idea of fellowship. IT is the second...

above  LI  THE CLINGING, FLAME below  CH’IEN  THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN The fire in heaven above shines far, and all things stand out in the light and become manifest. The weak fifth line occupies the place of honor and all the strong lines are in accord with it. All...

above  K’UN  THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH below  KEN  KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN this hexagram is made up of the trigrams Kên, Keeping Still, mountain, and K’un, Earth. The mountain is the youngest son of the Creative, the representative of heaven and earth. It...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...