The I Ching or Book of Changes (72 page)

The hexagram Chung Fu, INNER TRUTH (
61
), has for its nuclear trigram complex the four lines:

Here the two nuclear trigrams are Kên, Keeping Still, as the upper (
), and Chên, the Arousing, as the lower (
).

The structure of the hexagrams therefore shows a stage-by-stage overlapping of different trigrams and their influences:

Thus, in each case, the beginning and the top line are each part of one trigram only—the lower and the upper primary trigram respectively. The second and the fifth line belong each to two trigrams, the former to the lower primary and the lower nuclear trigram, the latter to the upper primary and the upper nuclear trigram. The third and the fourth line belong each to three trigrams—to the upper and the lower primary trigram respectively, and to both of the two nuclear
trigrams. The result is that the beginning and the top line tend in a sense to drop out of connection, while a state of equilibrium, usually favorable, obtains in the case of the second and the fifth line, and the two middle lines are conditioned by the fact that each belongs to both nuclear trigrams, which disturbs the balance in all except particularly favorable cases. These relationships correspond exactly with the evaluations of the lines in the appended judgments.

3.
T
HE
T
IME

The situation represented by the hexagram as a whole is called the time. This term comprises several entirely different meanings, according to the character of the various hexagrams.

In hexagrams in which the situation as a whole has to do with movement, “the time” means the decrease or growth, the emptiness or fullness, brought about by this movement. Hexagrams of this sort are: T’ai, PEACE (
11
); P’i, STANDSTILL (
12
); Po, SPLITTING APART (
23
); Fu, RETURN (
24
).

Similarly, the action or process characteristic for a given hexagram is called the time, as in Sung, CONFLICT (
6
), Shih, THE ARMY (
7
), Shih Ho, BITING THROUGH (
21
), and I, PROVIDING NOURISHMENT (
27
).

In addition, the time means the law expressed through a hexagram, as in Lü, TREADING (
10
), Ch’ien, MODESTY (
15
), Hsien, INFLUENCE (
31
), and Hêng, DURATION (
32
).

Finally, the time may also mean the symbolic situation represented by the hexagram, as in Ching, THE WELL (
48
), and Ting, THE CALDRON (
50
).

In all cases the time of a hexagram is determinative for the meaning of the situation as a whole, on the basis of which the individual lines receive their meaning. A given line—let us say, a six in the third place—can be now favorable, now unfavorable, according to the time determinant.

4.
T
HE
P
LACES

The places occupied by the lines are differentiated as superior and inferior, according to their relative elevation. As a rule the lowest and the top line are not taken into account, whereas
the four middle lines are active within the time. Of these, the fifth place is that of the ruler, and the fourth that of the minister who is close to the ruler. The third, as the highest place of the lower trigram, holds a sort of transitional position; the second is that of the official in the country, who nevertheless stands in direct connection with the prince in the fifth place. But in some situations the fourth place may represent the wife and the second the son of the man represented by the fifth place. Under certain circumstances the second place may be that of the woman, active within the house, while the fifth place is that of the husband, active in the world without. In short, while any of various designations may be given to a line in a specific place, the varying functions ascribed to the place are always analogous.

As regards the time of the hexagram, the lowest and the top place as a rule represent the beginning and the end. But under certain circumstances the lowest line may also stand for an individual beginning to take part in the time situation without having as yet entered the field of action, while the top line may signify someone who has already withdrawn from the affairs of the time. However, it depends on the time represented by the hexagram whether, under some conditions, these very places have a typical activity, as for example the first place in Chun, DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING (
3
) and in Ta Yu, POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE (
14
), or the top place in Kuan, CONTEMPLATION (
20
), in Ta Ch’u, THE TAMING POWER OF THE GREAT (
26
), and in I, INCREASE (
42
). In all of these cases the lines in question are rulers of the hexagrams.
³
On the other hand, it may also happen that the fifth place is not that of the ruler, as when, in conformity with the situation indicated by the hexagram as a whole, no prince appears.

5.
T
HE
C
HARACTER OF THE
L
INES

The character of the lines is designated as firm or yielding, as central, as correct, or as not central or not correct. The undivided lines are firm (or rigid), the divided lines are yielding
(or weak). The middle lines of the two primary trigrams, the second and the fifth, are central irrespective of their other qualities. A line is correct when it stands in a place appropriate to it—e.g., a firm line occupying the first, third, or fifth place, or a yielding line occupying the second, fourth, or sixth place.

Both firm and yielding lines may be favorable or unfavorable, according to the time requirement of the hexagram. When the time calls for firmness, firm lines are favorable; when the time requires giving way, yielding lines are favorable. This holds true to such an extent that correctness may not always be of advantage. When the time requires giving way, a firm line in the third place, although correct in itself, is harmful because it shows too much firmness, while conversely a yielding line in the third place can be favorable because its yielding character compensates for the rigidity of the place. Only the central position is favorable in the great majority of cases, whether associated with correctness or not. A yielding ruler in particular may have a very favorable position, especially when supported by a strong, firm official in the second place.

6.
T
HE
R
ELATIONSHIPS OF THE
L
INES TO
O
NE
A
NOTHER

Correspondence

Lines occupying analogous places in the lower and the upper trigram sometimes have an especially close relationship, the relationship of correspondence. As a rule, firm lines Correspond with yielding lines only, and vice versa. The following lines, provided that they differ in kind, correspond: the first and the fourth, the second and the fifth, the third and the top line. Of these, the most important are the two central lines in the second and the fifth place, which stand in the correct relationship of official to ruler, son to father, wife to husband. A strong official may be in the relation of correspondence to a yielding ruler, or a yielding official may be so related to a strong ruler. The former is the case in sixteen hexagrams, in all of which the result is favorable. It is wholly favorable in
hexagrams 4
,
7
,
11
,
14
,
18
,
19
,
32
,
34
,
38
,
40
,
41
,
46
,
50
, and
somewhat less favorable, owing to the time conditions, in hexagrams
26
,
54
,
64
. The relationship of correspondence between a yielding official and a strong ruler is not nearly so favorable. Its effect is quite unfavorable in hexagrams
12
,
13
,
17
,
20
,
31
. Difficulties appear in hexagrams
3
,
33
,
39
,
63
, but as these are explainable on the basis of the time, the relationship in itself can still be said to be correct. The relationship acts favorably in hexagrams
8
,
25
,
37
,
42
,
45
,
49
,
53
.

Occasionally there is correspondence also between the first and the fourth line. It is favorable when a yielding line in the fourth place is in the relationship of correspondence to a strong first line, because this means that an obedient official seeks strong, efficient assistants in the name of his ruler (cf. hexagrams
3
,
22
,
26
,
27
,
41
). On the other hand, correspondence of a strong fourth line with a yielding first line would indicate a temptation to intimacy with inferior persons, which should be avoided (cf. hexagrams
28
,
40
,
50
). A relationship between the third and the top line hardly ever occurs—or at most only as a temptation—because an exalted sage who has renounced the world would forfeit his purity if he became entangled in worldly affairs, and an official in the third place would forfeit his loyalty if he passed by his ruler in the fifth place.