The I Ching or Book of Changes (133 page)

At the beginning good fortune,

At the end disorder.

Commentary on the Decision

“AFTER COMPLETION. Success.” In small matters there is success.

“Perseverance furthers.” The firm and the yielding are correct, and their places are the appropriate ones.

“At the beginning good fortune”: the yielding has attained the middle.

If one stands still at the end, disorders arise, because the way comes to an end.

The ruler of the hexagram is the six in the second place; although weak, it has success because it stands in the relationship of correspondence to the strong nine in the fifth place. Perseverance furthers because all the lines are in their appropriate places, and therefore any deviation brings misfortune. At the beginning all goes well, because the yielding six in the second place occupies the middle in the trigram Li, clarity. It is a time of very great cultural development and refinement. But when no further progress is possible, disorder necessarily arises, because the way cannot go on.

THE IMAGE

Water over fire: the image of the condition

In AFTER COMPLETION.

Thus the superior man

Takes thought of misfortune

And arms himself against it in advance.

In one aspect, fire and water counteract each other, whereby an equilibrium is created; in another aspect, however, fear of a collapse is also suggested. If the water escapes, the fire goes out; if the fire flames high, the water dries up. Hence precautionary measures are necessary. The trigram K’an suggests danger and disaster, Li suggests clarity, foresight. The taking thought occurs in the heart, the arming in external actions. The danger still lurks unseen, hence only reflection enables one to perceive it in time and thus avert it.

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning:

a
) Nine at the beginning means:

He brakes his wheels.

He gets his tail in the water.

No blame.

b
) “He brakes his wheels.” According to the meaning, there is no blame in this.

K’an denotes wheel, fox, hindering. The first line is at the rear of the fox, hence the tail. Because it has a connection with the lowest line of the upper primary trigram, K’an, it gets wet. Since the lower nuclear trigram is likewise K’an, the symbols of the fox and the wheel occur here at the very beginning. The possibility of overcoming the danger by holding back firmly arises from the strong nature of the line.

Six in the second place:

a
) The woman loses the curtain of her carriage.

Do not run after it;

On the seventh day you will get it.

b
) “On the seventh day you will get it,” as a result of the middle way.

The primary trigram Li, in which this is the middle line, is the middle daughter, hence a woman as the symbol. The same
idea is suggested by the fact that the line is yielding and in the relationship of correspondence to the husband, the nine in the fifth place. K’an means wagon, Li means curtain. K’an also means robbers, hence the theft of the curtain. “After seven days” means the complete cycle of change in the six lines of the hexagram; at the seventh change the starting point recurs. The line is yielding and stands between two strong lines; it can be compared to a woman who has lost her veil and is consequently exposed to attack. But since she is correct, these attacks do her no harm. She remains true to her husband and also obtains her veil again.

Nine in the third place:

a
) The Illustrious Ancestor

Disciplines the Devil’s Country.

After three years he conquers it.

Inferior people must not be employed.

b
) “After three years he conquers it.” This is exhausting.

Li means weapons. The Devil’s Country is the territory of the Huns in the north. North is the direction of K’an. This line is in the middle of the nuclear trigram K’an. It is a strong line in a strong place. “The Illustrious Ancestor” is the dynastic title of Wu Ting, the emperor who gave a new impetus to the Yin dynasty. The warning against employing inferior people is suggested by the secret relation of this line to the weak six at the top.

Six in the fourth place:

a
) The finest clothes turn to rags.

Be careful all day long.

b
) “Be careful all day long.” There is cause for doubt.

This is a yielding line in a yielding place at the beginning of danger. Hence the warning that even the finest clothes turn to rags. Cause for doubt comes from the trigram K’an, danger, which we enter here.

Chêng Tzu gives another explanation. He employs the
image of a boat, and says: “It has a leak, but there are rags for plugging it up.”

Nine in the fifth place:

a
) The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox

Does not attain as much real happiness

As the neighbor in the west

With his small offering.

b
) The eastern neighbor, who slaughters an ox, is not as much in harmony with the time as the western neighbor. The latter attains true happiness: good fortune comes in great measure.

Li is the ox. K’an represents the pig slaughtered in the small sacrifice. The second line, which is in the nuclear trigram K’an, is the western neighbor, because in the Sequence of Earlier Heaven, K’an is placed in the west. The fourth line, which is in the nuclear trigram Li, is the eastern neighbor, because Li stands opposite to K’an. The nine in the fifth place presides over the sacrifice. The six in the second place is central; it brings the intrinsically lesser offering of a pig at the right time and therefore has greater happiness than the six in the fourth place, which, though it brings the relatively greater offering of an ox, is not central.

Six at the top:

a
) He gets his head in the water. Danger.

b
) “He gets his head in the water.” How can one endure this for long?

While the nine at the beginning is the tail of the fox, the six at the top is its head. It gets into the water because it is a weak line at the top of K’an, water, danger. While crossing the water it turns back and so incurs the danger of drowning. These are the disorders prophesied by the hexagram as the final outcome.

64. Wei Chi / Before Completion

The ruler of the hexagram is the six in the fifth place, because BEFORE COMPLETION implies a time in which at first disorder prevails, then finally order. The six in the fifth place is in the outer trigram and initiates the time of order. Therefore it is said in the Commentary on the Decision: “ ‘BEFORE COMPLETION. Success.’ For the yielding attains the middle.”

The Sequence

Things cannot exhaust themselves. Hence there follows, at the end, the hexagram of BEFORE COMPLETION.

Miscellaneous Notes

BEFORE COMPLETION is the exhaustion of the masculine.

This hexagram is at once the inverse and the opposite of the preceding one. K’an and Li, both as nuclear and as primary trigrams, have changed places. The hexagram depicts the transition from P’i, STANDSTILL (
12
) to T’ai, PEACE (
11
). Outwardly viewed, none of the lines appears in its proper place; but they are all in relationship to one another, and order stands preformed within, despite the outward appearance of complete disorder. The strong middle line has come down from the fifth place to the second and has thus established a connection. It
is true that K’un is not yet above nor Ch’ien below, as in the hexagram T’ai, but their representatives, Li and K’an, are in these positions. Li and K’an represent K’un and Ch’ien in spirit and influence (because of their respective middle lines). In the phenomenal world (Sequence of Later Heaven) they are the representatives of K’un and Ch’ien, and stand in the regions of the latter—Li in the south and K’an in the north.

THE JUDGMENT

BEFORE COMPLETION. Success.

But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing,

Gets his tail in the water,

There is nothing that would further.

Commentary on the Decision

“BEFORE COMPLETION. Success.” For the yielding attains the middle.

“The little fox has nearly completed the crossing”: he is not yet past the middle.

“He gets his tail in the water. There is nothing that would further.” Because the matter does not go on to the end.

Although the lines are not in their appropriate places, the firm and the yielding nevertheless correspond.

K’an has the fox as its symbol, and also denotes water. There is hope of success because the firm and the weak lines all correspond. The ruler of the hexagram, the six in the fifth place, has reached the middle, and this insures the right attitude for bringing about completion. The nine in the second place, on the other hand, has not yet passed the middle, and in its case this is dangerous. It is a strong line hemmed in between two yin lines. Like the incautious young fox that runs rashly over the ice, it relies too much on its strength. Therefore it gets its tail wet; the crossing does not succeed.

THE IMAGE

Fire over water:

The image of the condition before transition.

Thus the superior man is careful

In the differentiation of things,

So that each finds its place.

Fire flares upward, water flows downward; hence there is no completion. If one were to attempt to force completion, harm would result. Therefore one must separate things in order to unite them. One must put them into their places as carefully as one handles fire and water, so that they do not combat one another.

THE LINES

Six at the beginning:

a
) He gets his tail in the water.