The I Ching or Book of Changes (123 page)
Six in the fourth place:
a
) Keeping his trunk still.
No blame.
b
) “Keeping his trunk still.” He stops within his own body.
The fourth place is the trunk. It is very weak, and a weak line stands over it. In the time of KEEPING STILL it is altogether correct if one knows how to restrain oneself at the right time.
Six in the fifth place:
a
) Keeping his jaws still.
The words have order.
Remorse disappears.
b
) “Keeping his jaws still,” as a result of central and correct behavior.
While in INFLUENCE (
31
) the image of the jaws does not appear until the topmost place is reached, it comes in the fifth place here, because in this hexagram the ruler occupies the sixth place.
The present line is in a central place and also correct. But since it belongs simultaneously to the trigram Kên, Keeping Still, and to the nuclear trigram Chên, movement, it suggests the possibility of movement of the jaws and of speaking like thunder. But this is avoided through the central behavior of the line and the fact that it belongs to the upper trigram, Keeping Still.
Nine at the top:
a
) Noblehearted keeping still.
Good fortune.
b
) The good fortune of noblehearted keeping still comes from the fact that there is an ample end.
This line ending the hexagram is strong, hence it is thought of as ample. The ruler of the hexagram is at the top of the mountain, in the place where the layers of earth are most amply (most densely) piled upon one another. As the highest line it has light intrinsically; this can be fully effectual precisely because of the calm keeping still of the line. Hence good fortune is attained here. Since this strong line does not strive further upward but stays quietly in its place, it is, in contrast to other strong lines at the top, not unfavorable.
53. Chien / Development (Gradual Progress)
The basic idea of the hexagram of DEVELOPMENT is the marriage of a girl. Only the six in the second place stands in the relationship of correspondence to the nine in the fifth. It represents the girl who is to be married. Hence the six in the second place is a ruler of the hexagram. However, development also connotes progress, and the nine in the fifth place has progressed, occupies a high position, and has a firm and central character; hence it also is a ruler of the hexagram.
The Sequence
Things cannot stop forever; hence there follows the hexagram of DEVELOPMENT. Development means to progress.
Miscellaneous Notes
DEVELOPMENT shows how the maiden is given in marriage and in this must await the actions of the man.
Like the hexagrams Chin, PROGRESS (
35
), and Shêng, PUSHING UPWARD (
46
), this hexagram pictures progress. But while PROGRESS is like the rising sun spreading light over the earth, and Shêng shows a tree pushing up through the earth, what is meant here is slow growth such as that of a tree on a mountainside. In another aspect the hexagram is one of those dealing
with the relation of man and woman, and therefore most closely related to the hexagram Hsien, INFLUENCE (
31
). In the latter the youngest daughter is being influenced by the youngest son. The effect is quick and mutual, expressing the natural attraction between the sexes. In the present hexagram, the mature elder daughter is being influenced by the youngest son; hence in this instance the emphasis is rather on the mores with their restraining effect. Thus we are reminded here of the gradual development in the case of marriage, which in the course of time came to require the carrying out of six different rites (cf. the next hexagram).
THE JUDGMENT
DEVELOPMENT. The maiden
Is given in marriage.
Good fortune.
Perseverance furthers.
Commentary on the Decision
The progress of DEVELOPMENT means the good fortune of the maiden’s marriage.
Progressing and thereby attaining the right place: going brings success.
Progressing in what is right-thus one may set the country in order.
His place is firm, and he has attained the middle. Keeping still and penetrating: this makes the movement inexhaustible.
The meaning of the name of the hexagram is explained in terms of the first part of the Judgment, the rest of which is elucidated on the basis of the structure of the hexagram. The two rulers of the hexagram, the second and the fifth line, show a progressing and therefore attain their correct and natural places. Attainment of a proper place bespeaks a correct attitude of mind; there by undertakings meet with success, and the state can be set in order. The emphasis here is on the combination of personal moral effort and such strength as is
required to set the state in order. The ruler of the hexagram, standing in the fifth place—that of command—combining strength and central correctness, is especially well qualified for achieving successful results of this kind. The latter part of the commentary deals with the two primary trigrams and points out that the inexhaustible source of progress is inner calm combined with adaptability to circumstances. Calm is the attribute of the inner trigram, Kên, adaptability that of the outer trigram, Sun.
THE IMAGE
On the mountain, a tree:
The image of DEVELOPMENT.
Thus the superior man abides in dignity and virtue,
In order to improve the mores.
The tree on the mountain grows larger slowly and imperceptibly. It spreads and gives shade, and thus through its nature influences its surroundings. Thus it is an example of the active power by which an individual improves the mores of his environment through consistent cultivation of his own moral qualities. The tree on the mountain, like the tree on the earth in Kuan, VIEW (
20
), represents influence by example. The keeping still of the mountain is a symbol for abiding in dignity and virtue. The penetrating attribute of wood (or wind) is a symbol of the positive influence emanating from a good example.
THE LINES
The hexagram as a whole refers to the contracting of marriage, and consequently the image common to all the lines is the wild goose, symbol of conjugal fidelity.
Six at the beginning:
a
) The wild goose gradually draws near the shore.
The young son is in danger.
There is talk. No blame.
b
) The danger besetting the little son implies no blame.
The nuclear trigram Li means a flying bird, hence the image of a wild goose. The first line stands next to the nuclear trigram K’an, the Abysmal, hence the shore as an image. Kên, the lower trigram, symbolizes the youngest son. It contains the nuclear trigram K’an, danger. The “talk” comes perhaps from the upper trigram Sun, wind, which soughs and resounds.
This is a yielding line in a lowly
1
place. Therefore it is not impetuous in pressing forward; it is conscious of the danger. Hence, though others talk about it, it remains blameless.
a
) The wild goose gradually draws near the cliff.
Eating and drinking in peace and concord.
Good fortune.
b
) “Eating and drinking in peace and concord”: he does not merely eat his fill.
Kên is the mountain, hence the image of a cliff. The nuclear trigram K’an indicates eating and drinking. When the wild goose finds food, it calls its comrades. This line is yielding and related to the nine in the fifth place, which it calls. It does not eat to satisfy itself alone but takes thought at once of others as well.
Nine in the third place:
a
) The wild goose gradually draws near the plateau.
The man goes forth and does not return.
The woman carries a child but does not bring it forth.
Misfortune.
It furthers one to fight off robbers.
b
) “The man goes forth and does not return.” He leaves the group of his companions.
“The woman carries a child but does not bring it forth.” She has lost the right way.
“It furthers one to fight off robbers.” Devotion and mutual protection.
This line, as the uppermost one in the trigram Kên, indicates a high place, hence the plateau. It is a strong line in a strong place, hence not moderate in movement. It pictures a man who never desists from his course and who therefore proceeds without ever turning back. It stands in relationship to the two strong lines at the top, but there is no correspondence. Further, it is in the middle of the nuclear trigram of danger and is therefore separated from its own kind (a dark line above, another below it). Since the line does not return, the trigram K’un, forming below as a result of its departure, is left behind without a child. Thus the woman has lost her way. Only in so far as this strong line protects the two weak ones under it from robbers, does it have any furthering quality.