The I Ching or Book of Changes (108 page)
Commentary on the Decision
THE FAMILY. The correct place of the woman is within; the correct place of the man is without. That man and woman have their proper places is the greatest concept in nature.
Among the members of the family there are strict rulers; these are the parents. When the father is in truth a father and the son a son, when the elder brother is an elder brother and the younger brother a younger brother, the husband a husband and the wife a wife, then the house is on the right way.
When the house is set in order, the world is established in a firm course.
While the Judgment speaks only of the perseverance of woman, because of the fact that the hexagram consists of the two elder daughters, Sun and Li, who are in their proper places—the elder above, the younger below—the commentary is based on the two rulers of the hexagram, the nine in the fifth place and the six in the second, and speaks accordingly of both man and woman, whose proper places are respectively without and within. These positions of man and woman correspond with the relative positions of heaven and earth, hence this is called the greatest concept in nature (literally, heaven and earth).
The proper positions of the individual lines have been discussed above. The action of the family on the world corresponds with the action of fire, which creates the wind.
THE IMAGE
The image of THE FAMILY.
Thus the superior man has substance in his words
And duration in his way of life.
Wind is an effect of fire. Similarly, the effect of order within the family is to create an influence that brings order into the world. It is achieved when the head of the family has substance in his words, just as flame must rely upon fuel, and duration in his way of life, just as the wind blows without cease.
THE LINES
Nine at the beginning:
a
) Firm seclusion within the family.
Remorse disappears.
b
) “Firm seclusion within the family”: the will has not yet changed.
The line is at the beginning, in the lowest place; hence it represents the time when the will of an individual has not yet changed for the worse. Here is the point at which to intervene and prevent change.
Six in the second place:
a
) She should not follow her whims.
She must attend within to the food.
Perseverance brings good fortune.
b
) The good fortune of the six in the second place depends upon devotion and gentleness.
Devotion and gentleness are mentioned three times—in the hexagram of YOUTHFUL FOLLY (
4
) as attributes necessary in serving a teacher, in the hexagram of DEVELOPMENT (
53
) as attributes necessary in serving a ruler, and in the present instance as attributes necessary in serving a husband.
The middle line in the trigram Li means devotion and correctness, which seek nothing for themselves. One of the nuclear trigrams, K’an, means wine and food, and the other, Li, means cooking and baking; hence the preparation of food is said to be the duty of woman.
Nine in the third place:
a
) When tempers flare up in the family,
Too great severity brings remorse.
Good fortune nonetheless.
When woman and child dally and laugh,
It leads in the end to humiliation.
b
) “When tempers flare up in the family,” nothing is as yet lost.
“When woman and child dally,” the discipline of the house is lost.
This line is at the top of the lower primary trigram Li, flame, and likewise at the beginning of the upper nuclear trigram, which is also Li; hence it implies too much heat. Although this is a mistake, such behavior is still to be preferred in the case of a strong line between two weak ones. If the line changes and becomes yielding, the discipline of the house is lost.
Six in the fourth place:
a
) She is the treasure of the house.
Great good fortune.
b
) “She is the treasure of the house. Great good fortune.”
For she is devoted and in her place.
The fourth line is the yielding lowest line in the upper primary trigram Sun, gentleness. It is the middle line of the upper nuclear trigram Li; when the line changes, it remains within the lower nuclear trigram Sun thus formed. Sun means work, silk, a near-by market—all things that promise wealth. As a yielding line in its proper place, it means great good fortune.
a
) As a king he approaches his family.
Fear not.
Good fortune.
b
) “As a king he approaches his family”: they associate with one another in love.
The line is correct, strong, central; hence the image of a king. As a ruler of the hexagram, it influences the other lines. Being central, it does not effect its ends by means of severity.
Nine at the top:
a
) His work commands respect.
In the end good fortune comes.
b
) “Commands respect” and “good fortune”: this indicates that one makes demands first of all upon oneself.
This line is at the end of the hexagram. It is strong and stable, hence does not turn to others but only to itself; from this finally good fortune comes.
The rulers of the hexagram are the six in the fifth place and the nine in the second. Therefore it is said in the Commentary on the Decision: “The yielding progresses and goes upward, attains the middle, and finds correspondence in the firm.”
The Sequence
When the way of THE FAMILY draws to an end, misunderstandings come. Hence there follows the hexagram of OPPOSITION. Opposition means misunderstandings.
Miscellaneous Notes
OPPOSITION means estrangement.
Appended Judgments
The men of ancient times strung a piece of wood for a bow and hardened pieces of wood in the fire for arrows. The use of bow and arrow is to keep the world in fear. They probably took this from the hexagram of OPPOSITION.
The upper primary trigram Li means weapons; the lower, Tui, is associated with the west, metal, and killing; hence the idea of bow and arrow to keep the world in fear and alarm.
1
The correspondences between the lines are of great importance in this hexagram. In all the lines the situation is that of opposition; throughout, however, the tendency is toward smoothing out misunderstandings. This is why at the first line no search is made for the horse, which returns of its own accord, and why at the fourth line one meets a person of like mind. At the second place it is said, “One meets his lord,” and correspondingly at the fifth place, “The companion bites his way through the wrappings.” Again, the pronouncement at the third place, “Not a good beginning, but a good end,” is related to that at the topmost place: “As one goes, rain falls.” This hexagram is the inverse of the preceding one.
THE JUDGMENT
OPPOSITION. In small matters, good fortune.
Commentary on the Decision
OPPOSITION: fire moves upward, the lake moves downward. Two daughters live together, but their minds are not directed to common concerns.
Joyousness and dependence upon clarity: the yielding progresses and goes upward, attains the middle,
and finds correspondence in the firm. This is why there is good fortune in small matters.
Heaven and earth are opposites, but their action is concerted. Man and woman are opposites, but they strive for union. All beings stand in opposition to one another: what they do takes on order thereby. Great indeed is the effect of the time of OPPOSITION.
The name of the hexagram is derived from the relationships developing out of the movement of the two trigrams. Fire flames upward, water seeps downward: when they are quiescent, their movements can unite; when they are in motion, they draw farther and farther apart. The two daughters are originally together in the parental house. Their ways part as they grow up and marry into different families. Thus the movement leads more and more to opposition. However, since this movement is a natural one, it comes of itself to a turning when it has reached an extreme.
The trigram Tui has joyousness as an attribute; the trigram Li, dependence upon clarity. Joyousness unites, clarity finds the right way for this. Furthermore, the relations of the two rulers of the hexagram are favorable, so that there is a possibility of success at least in small matters.
However, Confucius goes still further. He shows that opposition is actually the natural prerequisite for union. As a result of opposition, a need to bridge it arises; this is true as regards heaven and earth, man and woman. Similarly, it is the individual differences between things that enable us to differentiate them clearly and hence to classify them. This is the effect of the phase of opposition—a phase that must be transcended.
THE IMAGE