The I Ching or Book of Changes (63 page)

2. As continuer, it is good. As completer, it is the essence.

The primal powers never come to a standstill; the cycle of becoming continues uninterruptedly. The reason is that between the two primal powers there arises again and again a state of tension, a potential that keeps the powers in motion and causes them to unite, whereby they are constantly regenerated. Tao brings this about without ever becoming manifest. The power of tao to maintain the world by constant renewal of a state of tension between the polar forces, is designated as good
²
(cf. Lao-tse, chap. 8).

As the power that completes things, the power that lends them their individuality and gives them a center around which they organize, tao is called the essence, that with which things are endowed at their origin.
³

3. The kind man discovers it and calls it kind. The wise man discovers it and calls it wise. The people use it day by day and are not aware of it, for the way of the superior man is rare.

Tao reveals itself differently to each individual, according to his own nature. The man of deeds, for whom kindness and the love of his fellow man are supreme, discovers the tao of cosmic events and calls it supreme kindness—”God is love.” The contemplative man, for whom calm wisdom is supreme,
discovers the tao of the universe and calls it supreme wisdom. The common people live from day to day, continually borne and nourished by tao, but they know nothing of it; they see only what meets the eye. For the way of the superior man, who sees not only things but the tao of things, is rare. The tao of the universe is indeed kindness and wisdom; but essentially tao is also beyond kindness and wisdom.

4. It manifests itself as kindness but conceals its workings. It gives life to all things, but it does not share the anxieties of the holy sage. Its glorious power, its great field of action, are of all things the most sublime.

The movement from within outward shows tao in its manifestations as the force of supreme kindness. At the same time it remains mysterious even in the light of day. The movement from without inward conceals the results of its workings. It is just as when in spring and summer the seeds start growing, and the life-giving bounty of nature becomes manifest: but along with it there is at work that quiet power which conceals within the seed all the results of growth and in hidden ways prepares what the coming year is to bring. Tao works tirelessly and eternally in this way. Yet this life-giving activity, to which all beings owe their existence, is something purely spontaneous. It is not like the conscious anxiety of man, who strives for the good with inward toil.

5. It possesses everything in complete abundance: this is its great field of action. It renews everything daily: this is its glorious power.

There is nothing that tao may not possess, for it is omnipresent; everything that exists, exists in and through it. But it is not lifeless possessing; by reason of its eternal power, it continually renews everything, so that each day the world becomes as glorious again as it was on the first day of creation.

6. As begetter of all begetting, it is called change.

The dark begets the light and the light begets the dark in ceaseless alternation, but that which begets this alternation,
that to which all life owes its existence, is tao with its law of change.

7. As that which completes the primal images, it is called the Creative; as that which imitates them, it is called the Receptive.

This is based on the view expressed likewise in the
Tao Tê Ching
,
⁴
namely, that underlying reality there is a world of archetypes, and reproductions of these make up the real things in the material world. The world of archetypes is heaven, the world of reproductions is the earth: there energy, here matter; there the Creative, here the Receptive. But it is the same tao that is active both in the Creative and in the Receptive.

8. In that it serves for exploring the laws of number and thus for knowing the future, it is called revelation. In that it serves to infuse an organic coherence into the changes, it is called the work.

The future likewise develops in accordance with the fixed laws, according to calculable numbers. If these numbers are known, future events can be calculated with perfect certainty. This is the thought on which the Book of Changes is based. This world of the immutable is the daemonic world, in which there is no free choice, in which everything is fixed. It is the world of yin. But in addition to this rigid world of number, there are living trends. Things develop, consolidate in a given direction, grow rigid, then decline; a change sets in, coherence is established once more, and the world is one again. The secret of tao in this world of the mutable, the world of light—the realm of yang—is to keep the changes in motion in such a manner that no stasis occurs and an unbroken coherence is maintained. He who succeeds in endowing his work with this regenerative power creates something organic, and the thing so created is enduring.

9. That aspect of it which cannot be fathomed in terms of the light and the dark is called spirit.

In their alternation and reciprocal effect, the two fundamental forces serve to explain all the phenomena in the world. Nonetheless, there remains something that cannot be explained in terms of the interaction of these forces, a final why. This ultimate meaning of tao is the spirit, the divine, the unfathomable in it, that which must be revered in silence.

CHAPTER VI. Tao as Applied to the Book of Changes

1. The Book of Changes is vast and great. When one speaks of what is far, it knows no limits. When one speaks of what is near, it is still and right. When one speaks of the space between heaven and earth, it embraces everything.

Here the Book of Changes is brought into relation with the macrocosm and the microcosm. First the horizontal extent of its domain, its vastness, is given; its laws are valid to the utmost distance and likewise for what is nearest, as one’s own inner laws. Then the vertical extent is given, the space between heaven and earth, because the fates of men come down to them from heaven.

2. In a state of rest the Creative is one, and in a state of motion it is straight; therefore it creates that which is great. The Receptive is closed in a state of rest, and in a state of motion it opens; therefore it creates that which is vast.

“The Creative” means here the trigram in the Book of Changes, and more especially the line, by which it is symbolized. When at rest, this is a simple unbroken line (———); when it is in motion, its direction is straight forward. The Receptive is symbolized by a divided line (— —); it is closed when at rest and opens when in motion. Thus that which is
wrought by the Creative is designated, in accordance with its nature, as great. The Creative produces quality. That which is produced by the Receptive is designated, in accordance with its form, as broad and manifold. The Receptive produces quantity.

3. Because of its vastness and greatness, it corresponds with heaven and earth. Because of its changes and its continuity, it corresponds with the four seasons. Because of the meaning of the light and the dark, it corresponds with sun and moon. Because of the good in the easy and the simple, it corresponds with the supreme power.

Here the parallels between the Book of Changes and the cosmos are shown. The Book of Changes contains material multiplicity, quantity, like the earth. It contains dynamic greatness, quality, like heaven. It shows changes and closed systems like the course of the year within the four seasons. In the light principle it reveals the same meaning as that underlying the sun. The light principle is called yang. The term for the sun is
t’ai yang
, the Great Light. In the dark principle, it reveals the same meaning as that underlying the moon. The dark principle is called yin. The term for the moon is
t’ai yin
, the Great Dark.

It has been explained above that the essence of the Creative lies in the easy, the essence of the Receptive in the simple, in those seeds from which everything else develops spontaneously. This mode corresponds with the good in tao, its art of continuing life in the simplest manner (cf.
chap. V
, sec. 2), and thus it corresponds with the supreme power of tao (cf.
chap. V
, sec. 4).

CHAPTER VII. The Effects of the Book of Changes on Man

1. The Master said: Is not the Book of Changes supreme? By means of it the holy sages exalted their natures and extended their field of action.

Wisdom exalts. The mores make humble. The exalted imitate heaven. The humble follow the example of the earth.

These words are explicitly attributed to Confucius, consequently the essay of which they are a part cannot in its entirety have originated with Confucius, but is rather a product of his school. Actually the several chapters do contain commentaries of very different sorts, which probably also belong to different periods.

We are shown here how the Book of Changes, correctly used, leads to harmony with the ultimate principles of the universe. The sages exalt their natures by acquiring the wisdom preserved in this book, and thus they arrive at harmony with heaven, which is high. On the one hand, the mind gains loftiness of viewpoint; on the other hand, the field of action is widened. This comprehensiveness gives rise to the idea of mores: the individual subordinates himself to the whole. Through such humble subordination, the sages arrive at harmony with the earth, which is low. Thus the individual enlarges his field of action.

2. Heaven and earth determine the scene, and the changes take effect within it. The perfected nature of man, sustaining itself and enduring, is the gateway of tao and justice.

Heaven is the scene of the spiritual, earth is the scene of the corporeal. In these worlds move the things that develop and are transformed according to the rules of the Book of Changes. So likewise the nature of man, which is perfected and endures, is the gateway through which the actions of man go in and out, and when man is in harmony with the teachings of the Book of Changes, these actions correspond with the tao of the universe and with justice. Tao, which manifests itself as kindness, corresponds with the light principle, and justice corresponds with the dark principle: the one relates to the exalting and the other to the broadening of man’s nature.

CHAPTER VIII. On the Use of the Appended Explanations

1. The holy sages were able to survey all the confused diversities under heaven. They observed forms and phenomena, and made representations of things and their attributes. These were called the Images.

Here we are shown how the images of the Book of Changes developed out of the archetypal images that underlie the phenomenal world.

2. The holy sages were able to survey all the movements under heaven. They contemplated the way in which these movements met and became interrelated, to take their course according to eternal laws. Then they appended judgments, to distinguish between the good fortune and misfortune indicated. These were called the Judgments.

The last word, “Judgments,” is actually “lines” in the text. The present translation incorporates the correction made by Hu Shih in his history of Chinese philosophy,
¹
because it brings out more clearly the contrast between Image and Judgment that is found also in other passages of the Book of Changes.

3. They speak of the most confused diversities without arousing aversion. They speak of what is most mobile without causing confusion.

4. This comes from the fact that they observed before they spoke and discussed before they moved. Through observation and discussion they perfected the changes and transformations.

These two sections present again the contrast between the observation in the Image, which gives us knowledge of the diversities of things, and the discussion in the Judgment,
which gives us knowledge of the directions of movement. We have here comments on the theory of the simple as the root of diversity in form (in conformity with the Receptive) and of the easy as the root of all movement (in conformity with the Creative), as given in
chapter 1
(secs. 6 et seq.). The following sections (fragments of a detailed commentary on the individual lines) give examples.

5. “A crane calling in the shade. Its young answers it. I have a good goblet. I will share it with you.”

The Master said: The superior man abides in his room. If his words are well spoken, he meets with assent at a distance of more than a thousand miles. How much more then from near by! If the superior man abides in his room and his words are not well spoken, he meets with contradiction at a distance of more than a thousand miles. How much more then from near by! Words go forth from one’s own person and exert their influence on men. Deeds are born close at hand and become visible far away. Words and deeds are the hinge and bowspring of the superior man. As hinge and bowspring move, they bring honor or disgrace. Through words and deeds the superior man moves heaven and earth. Must one not, then, be cautious?

Compare book I,
hexagram 61
, Chung Fu, INNER TRUTH, nine in the second place, comment on the subject of speaking.

6. “Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament, but afterward they laugh.”

The Master said:

Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings.