☯
Takashima Ekidan · hexagram readings
Takashima Ekidan · Hexagram 4 Mountain over Water, the Covered Beginner: Success. It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me. At the first consultation, I give instruction; after repeated, careless questioning, I give no instruction. Beneficial to be steadfast.
䷃
Mountain over Water, the Covered Beginner: Success. It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me. At the first consultation, I give instruction; after repeated, careless questioning, I give no instruction. Beneficial to be steadfast.
The Covered Beginner: Success. It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me. At the first consultation, I give instruction; after repeated, careless questioning, I give no instruction. Beneficial to be steadfast.
04 Mountain over Water, the Covered Beginner
The character “Covered Beginner [28]” in ancient seal script is composed of the grass radical, a covering form, and the original form of “multitude,” meaning three people. The Commentary on the States says, “Three people make a multitude.” The common people have not yet received instruction in the right principles; their understanding has not opened, and they remain dark and unenlightened, like things hidden beneath a covering. This is the meaning of “Covered Beginner” as in immature children. This hexagram has Water within and Mountain without. Water beneath a mountain produces vapor that becomes mist, obscuring the mountain and making it invisible; hence it is named the Covered Beginner.
Meng: Success. It is not I who seek the young and inexperienced; the young and inexperienced seek me. At the first divination [29], I give an answer. Repeated questioning is disrespectful, and when it is disrespectful, I give no answer. Favorable for steadfastness.
▲ Oracle-bone inscription for the Covered Beginner
The “success” in “The Covered Beginner succeeds” is the same as the “great success” in Difficulty at the Beginning’s “great success.” It does not mean that being covered in ignorance immediately leads to success; it means that the ignorant can take an awakened person as teacher and thereby develop their intelligence—then the ignorant succeed. “I” refers to the teacher, and “the immature” refers to pupils. Since the outer trigram is Mountain, representing the youngest son, it contains the image of immature children. For immature children who seek intelligence, nothing is better than seeking a teacher. When they find one, they should sincerely ask for instruction. The Rites says that going to teach others is not proper etiquette. Since a teacher has no ritual obligation to go out and teach, it is called, “It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me.” A disciple seeking a teacher is like the yarrow stalk consultation seeking the spirits, hence, “At the first consultation, I give instruction.” “First” means the initial intention: sincere, single-minded, and unmixed. Meeting the proper moment and giving instruction, the way succeeds. But once “repeated, careless questioning” occurs, private intentions have arisen; the mind is mixed and impure, so instruction is withheld. This is the same “careless” conduct as in the saying of the Minor Ceremonies, “Do not treat the spirits carelessly.” “I give no instruction” has the meaning of the Poetry’s line, “My tortoise shell is already weary; it gives me no guidance.” The Commentary on the Trigrams says that Mountain is the hand. From the Second line through the Fourth, the nuclear trigram is Thunder, and Thunder is grass. Thus the image is taken from using the hand to manipulate the yarrow stalks; this is the image of the “first consultation.” Moreover, the Fifth line contains the nuclear image of the mouth, asking with empty-centered sincerity. “Give instruction” means that the tongue of the Water trigram in the Second line responds with the sound of Thunder. “Repeated” refers to the Third and Fourth lines, which form the image of the mouth; continual careless questioning causes the way of success and steadfastness to be entirely lost. Refusing to instruct preserves the teacher’s proper way, and the seeker likewise cannot fail to be proper; hence, “Beneficial to be steadfast.”
The Tuan Commentary says: There is danger beneath the mountain; danger and stopping—that is the Covered Beginner. The Covered Beginner succeeds because it acts through success and stays centered according to the time. It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me—our intentions respond to each other. At the first consultation, I give instruction because of firmness centered in the middle. Repeated, careless questioning means treating the immature carelessly, so I give no instruction. Nurturing what is right through the Covered Beginner is the work of the sage.
After Difficulty at the Beginning comes the Covered Beginner. The positions of mountains and rivers have been established, and the myriad things flourish, yet this is still the first awakening from ignorance. The image is a dangerous body of Water beneath a Mountain; water descends from the mountain and flows into a dangerous ravine. At first it is rain and water, and one does not know where it came from. Mountain means stopping, hence “danger and stopping, the Covered Beginner.” The Abyss means passage, hence “the Covered Beginner succeeds by acting through success.” When Mountain stops, yin energy closes and congeals, creating darkness. When the Abyss opens a passage, yang light shines through, creating brightness. This is the image of brightness arising from ignorance. From the Third line through the Fifth, the hexagram forms Earth; Earth is the ground. From the Second through the Fourth, it forms Thunder; Thunder is reeds. On the ground beneath a mountain, reeds grow thick and lush: this is the image of the Covered Beginner.
Applied to human affairs, this hexagram contains the image of ignorance and lack of understanding. When people are young and their intelligence has not yet developed, this is called immature ignorance; when they do not study and do not know the Way and righteousness, this is called troubled ignorance. The Fifth Six is yielding yet centered; its natural endowment is fundamentally fine, but it is young and ignorant, so its proper work is to be nurtured. The Fourth Six is doubly yielding; its temperament is inherently dull, and it does not know how to encourage itself, so what is beneficial is to stimulate it. Hence, “There is danger beneath the mountain; danger and stopping, the Covered Beginner.” The Second Nine, firm and centered, responds to the Fifth Six, which is the principal line; the Second Nine develops its ignorance. The yang lines represent teachers and the yin lines pupils. Thus the teacher is represented by the yang of the Second line, responding to the pupil’s request: “It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me, our intentions respond.” The pupil is represented by the yin of the Fifth line, seeking the teacher’s instruction; it should concentrate its essence and knock at the teacher’s door. Hence, “At the first consultation, I give instruction.” If it asks repeatedly for more instruction with careless disrespect, no instruction is given. The principle of the Book of Changes is like this: the teaching of a teacher connects with the way of the spirits. Whenever people face matters of the future, they must ask the spirits; the spirits teach them, which is called “receiving a command like an echo.” Therefore instruction to the ignorant is also called “the first consultation”: between spirits and people, as between teacher and pupil, one must respond to sincere seeking, not to careless disrespect. Hence, “Repeated, careless questioning; careless, and I give no instruction.” This is treating the ignorant carelessly. Thus the troubled ignorant are those whom the sage wishes to enlighten, while the immature are those whom the sage wishes to nurture in what is right. The way of nurturing what is right does not come from imposing something externally; it simply preserves their inborn innocence. When people receive life from Heaven, their ears are naturally acute, their eyes naturally clear, affection naturally exists between parent and child, and righteousness naturally operates between ruler and minister—everything is inherently present. If people do not lose the heart of a newborn child, they will love their kin, respect their elders, and the world will be well governed and peaceful. Moreover, immature ignorance is the beginning of life. If it is not nurtured then, hoping later that it will become sage-like will be impossible. This is what is meant by, “Through the Covered Beginner, nurture what is right; this is the work of the sage.”
Taking this hexagram as an analogy for the state, the government represented by the upper trigram has the nature of a mountain: arrogant in its high position, clinging to its position and remaining inactive, lacking the spirit of vigorous advance, neglecting governmental affairs, and showing no concern for the people below, but relying only on force and severity to suppress them. The people represented by the lower trigram have the nature of water: like water flowing downward, they are trapped in difficulties, suffering in their livelihood, forgetting the way of education, and not knowing what a state is. Thus, the two hexagrams of Beginning and Youthful Folly both depict an age of primordial wilderness, when the people lived in ease without education, fought and seized in order to survive, the weak were preyed upon by the strong, and people knew themselves but did not know that others existed. When the people of the world have not yet developed their intelligence and understanding, guiding them toward goodness is easy; once their desires have become intense and their innate moral sense has been submerged, teaching them becomes difficult. At such a time, the government should enlighten the people, help them take up occupations, and wait until their clothing and food are abundant before teaching them ritual and righteousness. From this hexagram, one can see that the government has not administered affairs appropriately, and that national education has also taken the wrong direction. With popular sentiment running high, rash action cannot be ruled out. If the government first guides the people through virtue and regulates them through ritual, yet those below still refuse to follow, it will have no choice but to resort to administrative measures and penal laws, striking down and eliminating them; this too is unavoidable under the circumstances. Therefore, the top line has the image of “striking the ignorant.”
In the time of the Covered Beginner, neither noble persons nor petty persons occupy their proper positions. Right and wrong are inverted, and the crooked and upright are confused. Of all the lines, only the Fourth Six obtains correctness, yet it is not tolerated by the age: the noble person is pushed aside by petty people and finds no place in the world. This is the state’s Covered Beginner. In the age of the Covered Beginner, the ruler represented by the Fifth Six is yielding, gentle, and compliant. One day, when his hearing and understanding are greatly opened, he will surely become a sage and enlightened ruler. Since he is still immature, his virtue has not spread throughout the world. Fortunately, the great worthy represented by the Second Nine responds to him. This is the teacher and adviser of the court, bearing the heavy responsibility of opening the ruler’s ignorance. This line does not mean a minister seeking the ruler; it means the ruler seeking the minister, like King Tai Jia seeking Yi Yin and King Cheng seeking the Duke of Zhou. Hence, “It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me.” In governing the state’s Covered Beginner, one should embrace the ignorant people and guide, support, and assist them, thereby completing the work of education. If there are still people who refuse the benefit of instruction, are lazy and unrestrained, and do not know how to reform themselves, the warning of the First Six—“It is beneficial to discipline people with punishment”—is profound.
Surveying this hexagram as a whole, the Initial Six and Top Nine represent the beginning and end of the governance of the ignorant. The Second Nine bears the responsibility of enlightening the multitude of the unenlightened; the Fifth Six is the ruler of the “childlike ignorance”; while the Third Six represents the ignorance of a woman, and the Fourth Six represents the most foolish beneath the “ignorance in distress.” Thus, the Initial Six is the ignorant common people who do not know how to receive instruction and do not diligently pursue their people’s occupations, thereby falling into difficulty and being subjected to penal law to punish their wrongdoing. Hence it says, “Enlighten the ignorant; it is beneficial to impose penalties.” The Second Nine is the teacher, endowed with the virtues of obedience, goodness, breadth, and tolerance. He is good at accommodating the multitude of the ignorant, instructs them correctly, and succeeds in continuing the aspirations of the ancestors, enabling them to preserve their occupations. Hence it says, “Embracing the ignorant is auspicious,” and “The son is able to establish the household.” The Third Six is treacherous and perverse by nature and does not follow instruction; hence, “Do not take this woman in marriage.” The Fourth Six has a stubborn, forceful, and arrogant nature. Refusing to listen to the teacher’s instruction, it brings suffering upon itself; hence, “Ignorance in distress; regret.” The Fifth Six is still like an infant: its innate nature is pure and upright, but its understanding has not yet opened. Though childish, it occupies the ruler’s position; by obediently following the instruction of the Second Nine, it ultimately develops mature understanding. This is the ignorance of the sage—the so-called intelligence, discernment, and wisdom preserved through apparent foolishness. Hence it says, “Childlike ignorance; auspicious.” The Top Nine’s teaching is not upright: it does not transform through virtue but drives people by punishment. This makes it a bandit; hence, “Strike the ignorant; it is not beneficial to act as a bandit, but beneficial to repel bandits.”
In the I Ching, the meanings of the six lines are naturally easier to understand when the first line is compared with the top line, and the third with the fourth. For example, in this hexagram the first line uses punishment, while the top line uses force to strike; the second line “embraces the unenlightened” in response to the fifth line, and the fifth line’s “childlike unenlightenment” follows the second; the third line sees the second and loses its virtue, while the fourth is far from the second and loses its advantage. The examples in the various hexagrams are generally like this.
The Commentary on the Image says: “A spring emerges below the mountain: the Unenlightened. Thus the superior person carries out his actions decisively and nurtures virtue.”
The lower trigram is Water, yet the text does not say “water” but “spring.” In the conventions of the I Ching, water is generally used to represent danger and difficulty, so that image is avoided here, and the image is taken instead from water just beginning to emerge as a spring. A spring first emerges below a mountain, trickling clear and pure, unstained by dust, like the nature of a child: it possesses innate goodness and the potential to flourish vigorously. Therefore this meaning is selected and named “the Unenlightened.” What is obtained in the heart is virtue; what appears in affairs is action. The mountain has the virtue of giving life and nurturing, while the spring has the form of flowing onward. The mountain’s production of living things is unlimited, and water travels over the earth without avoiding either danger or ease, pouring into rivers and paying homage at the sea. The superior person models this image by making his actions decisive and cultivating his virtue. In other words, when righteousness requires something to be done, he advances courageously without hesitation, avoiding the faults of delay and shrinking back; what principle he has grasped in his heart is developed with calm deliberation, without the dangers of empty pride or anxious haste. Those in the world who cannot put what they know to practical use often say that they can think but cannot act; they should reflect on themselves in light of this. In this hexagram, the second through fourth places form Thunder, which signifies action, while the lower trigram signifies fruitfulness; and the second through top places form Nourishment, which means nurturing.
[Divination]
○ Question about warfare: The Image says, “A spring emerges below the mountain,” which is water lying hidden and suggests an ambush. The superior person refers to the commanders in the army. “Carrying out actions decisively and nurturing virtue”: decisiveness means courage, and nurturing means storing and cultivating. It means that one should build up one’s sharp strength and advance resolutely.
○ Question about business: Considering the Image text, it seems to indicate a mining venture. One should undertake it decisively; auspicious.
○ Question about rank and reputation: This is the image of a scholar who has long possessed virtue and conduct, living in seclusion deep in the mountains. “A spring emerges below the mountain”: in the end he will emerge and be of service to the world.
○ Question about the home: The house must face the directions associated with Water and Mountain. “Below the mountain” means it must be near a mountain; “a spring emerges” means a spring must flow out beneath it. If a superior person lives there, the house will certainly be auspicious.
○ Question about marriage: The Water sign is at the Rat position, above which stands the Maiden. The Sacred Cold Talisman says, “The Maiden governs marriage.” Mountain below and Lake above form Influence; the two energies respond to each other, hence, “Taking a wife is auspicious.” “A spring emerges below the mountain: the Unenlightened” represents the beginning of marriage.
○ Question about illness: Mountain means stopping and Water means danger. The illness will certainly be internal heat and malign influence gradually sinking inward. Once the initial line enlightens the unenlightened and the pathogenic influence emerges outward, there should be no danger.
○ Pregnancy: A boy will be born.
04 Mountain over Water, the Covered Beginner
The character “Covered Beginner [28]” in ancient seal script is composed of the grass radical, a covering form, and the original form of “multitude,” meaning three people. The Commentary on the States says, “Three people make a multitude.” The common people have not yet received instruction in the right principles; their understanding has not opened, and they remain dark and unenlightened, like things hidden beneath a covering. This is the meaning of “Covered Beginner” as in immature children. This hexagram has Water within and Mountain without. Water beneath a mountain produces vapor that becomes mist, obscuring the mountain and making it invisible; hence it is named the Covered Beginner.
Meng: Success. It is not I who seek the young and inexperienced; the young and inexperienced seek me. At the first divination [29], I give an answer. Repeated questioning is disrespectful, and when it is disrespectful, I give no answer. Favorable for steadfastness.
▲ Oracle-bone inscription for the Covered Beginner
The “success” in “The Covered Beginner succeeds” is the same as the “great success” in Difficulty at the Beginning’s “great success.” It does not mean that being covered in ignorance immediately leads to success; it means that the ignorant can take an awakened person as teacher and thereby develop their intelligence—then the ignorant succeed. “I” refers to the teacher, and “the immature” refers to pupils. Since the outer trigram is Mountain, representing the youngest son, it contains the image of immature children. For immature children who seek intelligence, nothing is better than seeking a teacher. When they find one, they should sincerely ask for instruction. The Rites says that going to teach others is not proper etiquette. Since a teacher has no ritual obligation to go out and teach, it is called, “It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me.” A disciple seeking a teacher is like the yarrow stalk consultation seeking the spirits, hence, “At the first consultation, I give instruction.” “First” means the initial intention: sincere, single-minded, and unmixed. Meeting the proper moment and giving instruction, the way succeeds. But once “repeated, careless questioning” occurs, private intentions have arisen; the mind is mixed and impure, so instruction is withheld. This is the same “careless” conduct as in the saying of the Minor Ceremonies, “Do not treat the spirits carelessly.” “I give no instruction” has the meaning of the Poetry’s line, “My tortoise shell is already weary; it gives me no guidance.” The Commentary on the Trigrams says that Mountain is the hand. From the Second line through the Fourth, the nuclear trigram is Thunder, and Thunder is grass. Thus the image is taken from using the hand to manipulate the yarrow stalks; this is the image of the “first consultation.” Moreover, the Fifth line contains the nuclear image of the mouth, asking with empty-centered sincerity. “Give instruction” means that the tongue of the Water trigram in the Second line responds with the sound of Thunder. “Repeated” refers to the Third and Fourth lines, which form the image of the mouth; continual careless questioning causes the way of success and steadfastness to be entirely lost. Refusing to instruct preserves the teacher’s proper way, and the seeker likewise cannot fail to be proper; hence, “Beneficial to be steadfast.”
The Tuan Commentary says: There is danger beneath the mountain; danger and stopping—that is the Covered Beginner. The Covered Beginner succeeds because it acts through success and stays centered according to the time. It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me—our intentions respond to each other. At the first consultation, I give instruction because of firmness centered in the middle. Repeated, careless questioning means treating the immature carelessly, so I give no instruction. Nurturing what is right through the Covered Beginner is the work of the sage.
After Difficulty at the Beginning comes the Covered Beginner. The positions of mountains and rivers have been established, and the myriad things flourish, yet this is still the first awakening from ignorance. The image is a dangerous body of Water beneath a Mountain; water descends from the mountain and flows into a dangerous ravine. At first it is rain and water, and one does not know where it came from. Mountain means stopping, hence “danger and stopping, the Covered Beginner.” The Abyss means passage, hence “the Covered Beginner succeeds by acting through success.” When Mountain stops, yin energy closes and congeals, creating darkness. When the Abyss opens a passage, yang light shines through, creating brightness. This is the image of brightness arising from ignorance. From the Third line through the Fifth, the hexagram forms Earth; Earth is the ground. From the Second through the Fourth, it forms Thunder; Thunder is reeds. On the ground beneath a mountain, reeds grow thick and lush: this is the image of the Covered Beginner.
Applied to human affairs, this hexagram contains the image of ignorance and lack of understanding. When people are young and their intelligence has not yet developed, this is called immature ignorance; when they do not study and do not know the Way and righteousness, this is called troubled ignorance. The Fifth Six is yielding yet centered; its natural endowment is fundamentally fine, but it is young and ignorant, so its proper work is to be nurtured. The Fourth Six is doubly yielding; its temperament is inherently dull, and it does not know how to encourage itself, so what is beneficial is to stimulate it. Hence, “There is danger beneath the mountain; danger and stopping, the Covered Beginner.” The Second Nine, firm and centered, responds to the Fifth Six, which is the principal line; the Second Nine develops its ignorance. The yang lines represent teachers and the yin lines pupils. Thus the teacher is represented by the yang of the Second line, responding to the pupil’s request: “It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me, our intentions respond.” The pupil is represented by the yin of the Fifth line, seeking the teacher’s instruction; it should concentrate its essence and knock at the teacher’s door. Hence, “At the first consultation, I give instruction.” If it asks repeatedly for more instruction with careless disrespect, no instruction is given. The principle of the Book of Changes is like this: the teaching of a teacher connects with the way of the spirits. Whenever people face matters of the future, they must ask the spirits; the spirits teach them, which is called “receiving a command like an echo.” Therefore instruction to the ignorant is also called “the first consultation”: between spirits and people, as between teacher and pupil, one must respond to sincere seeking, not to careless disrespect. Hence, “Repeated, careless questioning; careless, and I give no instruction.” This is treating the ignorant carelessly. Thus the troubled ignorant are those whom the sage wishes to enlighten, while the immature are those whom the sage wishes to nurture in what is right. The way of nurturing what is right does not come from imposing something externally; it simply preserves their inborn innocence. When people receive life from Heaven, their ears are naturally acute, their eyes naturally clear, affection naturally exists between parent and child, and righteousness naturally operates between ruler and minister—everything is inherently present. If people do not lose the heart of a newborn child, they will love their kin, respect their elders, and the world will be well governed and peaceful. Moreover, immature ignorance is the beginning of life. If it is not nurtured then, hoping later that it will become sage-like will be impossible. This is what is meant by, “Through the Covered Beginner, nurture what is right; this is the work of the sage.”
Taking this hexagram as an analogy for the state, the government represented by the upper trigram has the nature of a mountain: arrogant in its high position, clinging to its position and remaining inactive, lacking the spirit of vigorous advance, neglecting governmental affairs, and showing no concern for the people below, but relying only on force and severity to suppress them. The people represented by the lower trigram have the nature of water: like water flowing downward, they are trapped in difficulties, suffering in their livelihood, forgetting the way of education, and not knowing what a state is. Thus, the two hexagrams of Beginning and Youthful Folly both depict an age of primordial wilderness, when the people lived in ease without education, fought and seized in order to survive, the weak were preyed upon by the strong, and people knew themselves but did not know that others existed. When the people of the world have not yet developed their intelligence and understanding, guiding them toward goodness is easy; once their desires have become intense and their innate moral sense has been submerged, teaching them becomes difficult. At such a time, the government should enlighten the people, help them take up occupations, and wait until their clothing and food are abundant before teaching them ritual and righteousness. From this hexagram, one can see that the government has not administered affairs appropriately, and that national education has also taken the wrong direction. With popular sentiment running high, rash action cannot be ruled out. If the government first guides the people through virtue and regulates them through ritual, yet those below still refuse to follow, it will have no choice but to resort to administrative measures and penal laws, striking down and eliminating them; this too is unavoidable under the circumstances. Therefore, the top line has the image of “striking the ignorant.”
In the time of the Covered Beginner, neither noble persons nor petty persons occupy their proper positions. Right and wrong are inverted, and the crooked and upright are confused. Of all the lines, only the Fourth Six obtains correctness, yet it is not tolerated by the age: the noble person is pushed aside by petty people and finds no place in the world. This is the state’s Covered Beginner. In the age of the Covered Beginner, the ruler represented by the Fifth Six is yielding, gentle, and compliant. One day, when his hearing and understanding are greatly opened, he will surely become a sage and enlightened ruler. Since he is still immature, his virtue has not spread throughout the world. Fortunately, the great worthy represented by the Second Nine responds to him. This is the teacher and adviser of the court, bearing the heavy responsibility of opening the ruler’s ignorance. This line does not mean a minister seeking the ruler; it means the ruler seeking the minister, like King Tai Jia seeking Yi Yin and King Cheng seeking the Duke of Zhou. Hence, “It is not I who seek the immature; the immature seek me.” In governing the state’s Covered Beginner, one should embrace the ignorant people and guide, support, and assist them, thereby completing the work of education. If there are still people who refuse the benefit of instruction, are lazy and unrestrained, and do not know how to reform themselves, the warning of the First Six—“It is beneficial to discipline people with punishment”—is profound.
Surveying this hexagram as a whole, the Initial Six and Top Nine represent the beginning and end of the governance of the ignorant. The Second Nine bears the responsibility of enlightening the multitude of the unenlightened; the Fifth Six is the ruler of the “childlike ignorance”; while the Third Six represents the ignorance of a woman, and the Fourth Six represents the most foolish beneath the “ignorance in distress.” Thus, the Initial Six is the ignorant common people who do not know how to receive instruction and do not diligently pursue their people’s occupations, thereby falling into difficulty and being subjected to penal law to punish their wrongdoing. Hence it says, “Enlighten the ignorant; it is beneficial to impose penalties.” The Second Nine is the teacher, endowed with the virtues of obedience, goodness, breadth, and tolerance. He is good at accommodating the multitude of the ignorant, instructs them correctly, and succeeds in continuing the aspirations of the ancestors, enabling them to preserve their occupations. Hence it says, “Embracing the ignorant is auspicious,” and “The son is able to establish the household.” The Third Six is treacherous and perverse by nature and does not follow instruction; hence, “Do not take this woman in marriage.” The Fourth Six has a stubborn, forceful, and arrogant nature. Refusing to listen to the teacher’s instruction, it brings suffering upon itself; hence, “Ignorance in distress; regret.” The Fifth Six is still like an infant: its innate nature is pure and upright, but its understanding has not yet opened. Though childish, it occupies the ruler’s position; by obediently following the instruction of the Second Nine, it ultimately develops mature understanding. This is the ignorance of the sage—the so-called intelligence, discernment, and wisdom preserved through apparent foolishness. Hence it says, “Childlike ignorance; auspicious.” The Top Nine’s teaching is not upright: it does not transform through virtue but drives people by punishment. This makes it a bandit; hence, “Strike the ignorant; it is not beneficial to act as a bandit, but beneficial to repel bandits.”
In the I Ching, the meanings of the six lines are naturally easier to understand when the first line is compared with the top line, and the third with the fourth. For example, in this hexagram the first line uses punishment, while the top line uses force to strike; the second line “embraces the unenlightened” in response to the fifth line, and the fifth line’s “childlike unenlightenment” follows the second; the third line sees the second and loses its virtue, while the fourth is far from the second and loses its advantage. The examples in the various hexagrams are generally like this.
The Commentary on the Image says: “A spring emerges below the mountain: the Unenlightened. Thus the superior person carries out his actions decisively and nurtures virtue.”
The lower trigram is Water, yet the text does not say “water” but “spring.” In the conventions of the I Ching, water is generally used to represent danger and difficulty, so that image is avoided here, and the image is taken instead from water just beginning to emerge as a spring. A spring first emerges below a mountain, trickling clear and pure, unstained by dust, like the nature of a child: it possesses innate goodness and the potential to flourish vigorously. Therefore this meaning is selected and named “the Unenlightened.” What is obtained in the heart is virtue; what appears in affairs is action. The mountain has the virtue of giving life and nurturing, while the spring has the form of flowing onward. The mountain’s production of living things is unlimited, and water travels over the earth without avoiding either danger or ease, pouring into rivers and paying homage at the sea. The superior person models this image by making his actions decisive and cultivating his virtue. In other words, when righteousness requires something to be done, he advances courageously without hesitation, avoiding the faults of delay and shrinking back; what principle he has grasped in his heart is developed with calm deliberation, without the dangers of empty pride or anxious haste. Those in the world who cannot put what they know to practical use often say that they can think but cannot act; they should reflect on themselves in light of this. In this hexagram, the second through fourth places form Thunder, which signifies action, while the lower trigram signifies fruitfulness; and the second through top places form Nourishment, which means nurturing.
[Divination]
○ Question about warfare: The Image says, “A spring emerges below the mountain,” which is water lying hidden and suggests an ambush. The superior person refers to the commanders in the army. “Carrying out actions decisively and nurturing virtue”: decisiveness means courage, and nurturing means storing and cultivating. It means that one should build up one’s sharp strength and advance resolutely.
○ Question about business: Considering the Image text, it seems to indicate a mining venture. One should undertake it decisively; auspicious.
○ Question about rank and reputation: This is the image of a scholar who has long possessed virtue and conduct, living in seclusion deep in the mountains. “A spring emerges below the mountain”: in the end he will emerge and be of service to the world.
○ Question about the home: The house must face the directions associated with Water and Mountain. “Below the mountain” means it must be near a mountain; “a spring emerges” means a spring must flow out beneath it. If a superior person lives there, the house will certainly be auspicious.
○ Question about marriage: The Water sign is at the Rat position, above which stands the Maiden. The Sacred Cold Talisman says, “The Maiden governs marriage.” Mountain below and Lake above form Influence; the two energies respond to each other, hence, “Taking a wife is auspicious.” “A spring emerges below the mountain: the Unenlightened” represents the beginning of marriage.
○ Question about illness: Mountain means stopping and Water means danger. The illness will certainly be internal heat and malign influence gradually sinking inward. Once the initial line enlightens the unenlightened and the pathogenic influence emerges outward, there should be no danger.
○ Pregnancy: A boy will be born.
Initial Six: Enlightening the unenlightened; it is beneficial to employ punishment, and to release them from fetters. If one proceeds, there will be regret.
Initial Six: Enlightening the unenlightened; it is beneficial to employ punishment, and to release them from fetters. If one proceeds, there will be regret.
The Commentary on the Image says: “It is beneficial to employ punishment, in order to uphold the law.”
Anyone who does not understand principles or comprehend affairs is called unenlightened. “Enlightening the unenlightened” means awakening the ignorant so that they understand. “Punishment” is what is used to govern those who disobey instruction and violate the law. Fetters are instruments of punishment: a fetter for the feet is a shackle, and one for the hands is a handcuff. “Release” means to remove them. The initial line is yielding, fails to occupy the central and correct position, and is at the very bottom of the six lines, sunk at the base of Water’s danger. It is like entering a dark and secluded place where no bright light can be seen; this is the image of the line. “Enlightening the unenlightened” does not mean that one does not wish to guide and encourage them. But when they refuse instruction, there is no alternative but to regulate them through punishment. Once they repent and awaken, the instruments of punishment are removed; one must not be excessively harsh. This reveals the painstaking good intention of the person who enlightens the unenlightened, hence, “It is beneficial to employ punishment, and to release them from fetters.” The ancient sages governed the people by using education to guide their customs and punishment to discipline the multitude. Although the sages valued virtue rather than punishment, they never completely abandoned punishment. Note: Mountain represents the hand, and the nuclear trigram Thunder represents the feet. Hands and feet entering Water’s danger give the image of fetters. Also, Water means penetration and Mountain means stopping: if one can reach understanding, the matter immediately stops, giving the image of release. If enforcement is excessively strict, so that even after a subordinate has corrected his error the superior continues to reproach him harshly, this not only obstructs his path to reform but may provoke him into rebellion. Hence it is called, “If one proceeds, there will be regret.” In governing the unenlightened people, one must neither be too lenient nor too urgent: warn them through punishment, and release them once they reform. This is the way of enlightening the unenlightened—“using grace and authority together, balancing leniency with severity.” Employing punishment is certainly not the sage’s original intention; yet a state establishes laws to bring what is disorderly into order. If all who commit crimes escaped the net, what use would the law have? As for criminal law, it should be administered with complete impartiality and justice. The proper punishment is that which punishes one person and makes ten thousand understand fear. Hence it says, “It is beneficial to employ punishment, in order to uphold the law.” When this line changes, it becomes Decrease. The initial Nine of Decrease says: “Having finished the matter, go quickly; no blame. Measure the decrease.” Its meaning of judging the proper measure can be seen here.
[Divination]
○ Question about warfare: The line says “Enlightening the unenlightened.” This is an army sent to punish violence and prosecute the guilty, like Yu the Great’s campaign against the Miao. Once they submit, the army is dismissed and returns; hence, “in order to uphold the law.”
○ Question about business: Being at the beginning of the inner trigram, the initial line indicates a first-time undertaking. Water represents difficulty; the line says “enlightening” and “using punishment,” so the business will certainly meet obstacles and may lead to litigation. Once one obtains a just and reasonable resolution, one should stop; if one insists on pursuing the matter to the end, harm is likely. Hence, “If one proceeds, there will be regret.”
○ Question about rank and reputation: If one goes forth seeking honor, one may instead suffer humiliation. It is advisable to stop oneself.
○ Question about marriage: The initial line occupies the beginning position, and its text says “enlightening the unenlightened,” indicating that the engagement must have been made in youth. Since many changes and complications will arise, it is acceptable to cancel the marriage.
○ Question about pregnancy: A yielding line occupies a yielding position, so it will be a girl; there is also concern that the delivery may be difficult.
[Case] My relative, Mr. Tanaka Heihachi, came to me. His younger brother was dissipated, and he wanted him to repent and reform. He planned to entrust the young man to my household. The divination produced the Unenlightened changing to Decrease.
My judgment was: The image of the Unenlightened is that the mountain is steamed by water vapor, becoming hazy and unclear; hence it is called the Unenlightened. In human beings, this means being obscured by improper desires, so that the principles of affairs are not understood. This young man has talent, intelligence, courage, and strength, all resembling his father’s, but because he was poorly taught when young, he ended up adopting the habits of the idle and wealthy, knowing nothing of hardship. Thus he wastes money and likes to associate with corrupt and eccentric people. If he now temporarily lives in my household, I should first explain to him the principles of conduct in the world and forbid him to go out, so that he may repent his former errors. This is also the meaning of “enlightening the unenlightened; it is beneficial to employ punishment.” Although his elder brother has entrusted him to me, his mother cannot help indulging him. She may complain that my instruction is too strict. The proverb says, “No one knows the faults of his own child,” and this is what it means.
It subsequently proved exactly as this divination indicated. After being taught for a year, his quick and lively nature led him to develop remorse, and there is hope that he will become a responsible adult in the future.
The Commentary on the Image says: “It is beneficial to employ punishment, in order to uphold the law.”
Anyone who does not understand principles or comprehend affairs is called unenlightened. “Enlightening the unenlightened” means awakening the ignorant so that they understand. “Punishment” is what is used to govern those who disobey instruction and violate the law. Fetters are instruments of punishment: a fetter for the feet is a shackle, and one for the hands is a handcuff. “Release” means to remove them. The initial line is yielding, fails to occupy the central and correct position, and is at the very bottom of the six lines, sunk at the base of Water’s danger. It is like entering a dark and secluded place where no bright light can be seen; this is the image of the line. “Enlightening the unenlightened” does not mean that one does not wish to guide and encourage them. But when they refuse instruction, there is no alternative but to regulate them through punishment. Once they repent and awaken, the instruments of punishment are removed; one must not be excessively harsh. This reveals the painstaking good intention of the person who enlightens the unenlightened, hence, “It is beneficial to employ punishment, and to release them from fetters.” The ancient sages governed the people by using education to guide their customs and punishment to discipline the multitude. Although the sages valued virtue rather than punishment, they never completely abandoned punishment. Note: Mountain represents the hand, and the nuclear trigram Thunder represents the feet. Hands and feet entering Water’s danger give the image of fetters. Also, Water means penetration and Mountain means stopping: if one can reach understanding, the matter immediately stops, giving the image of release. If enforcement is excessively strict, so that even after a subordinate has corrected his error the superior continues to reproach him harshly, this not only obstructs his path to reform but may provoke him into rebellion. Hence it is called, “If one proceeds, there will be regret.” In governing the unenlightened people, one must neither be too lenient nor too urgent: warn them through punishment, and release them once they reform. This is the way of enlightening the unenlightened—“using grace and authority together, balancing leniency with severity.” Employing punishment is certainly not the sage’s original intention; yet a state establishes laws to bring what is disorderly into order. If all who commit crimes escaped the net, what use would the law have? As for criminal law, it should be administered with complete impartiality and justice. The proper punishment is that which punishes one person and makes ten thousand understand fear. Hence it says, “It is beneficial to employ punishment, in order to uphold the law.” When this line changes, it becomes Decrease. The initial Nine of Decrease says: “Having finished the matter, go quickly; no blame. Measure the decrease.” Its meaning of judging the proper measure can be seen here.
[Divination]
○ Question about warfare: The line says “Enlightening the unenlightened.” This is an army sent to punish violence and prosecute the guilty, like Yu the Great’s campaign against the Miao. Once they submit, the army is dismissed and returns; hence, “in order to uphold the law.”
○ Question about business: Being at the beginning of the inner trigram, the initial line indicates a first-time undertaking. Water represents difficulty; the line says “enlightening” and “using punishment,” so the business will certainly meet obstacles and may lead to litigation. Once one obtains a just and reasonable resolution, one should stop; if one insists on pursuing the matter to the end, harm is likely. Hence, “If one proceeds, there will be regret.”
○ Question about rank and reputation: If one goes forth seeking honor, one may instead suffer humiliation. It is advisable to stop oneself.
○ Question about marriage: The initial line occupies the beginning position, and its text says “enlightening the unenlightened,” indicating that the engagement must have been made in youth. Since many changes and complications will arise, it is acceptable to cancel the marriage.
○ Question about pregnancy: A yielding line occupies a yielding position, so it will be a girl; there is also concern that the delivery may be difficult.
[Case] My relative, Mr. Tanaka Heihachi, came to me. His younger brother was dissipated, and he wanted him to repent and reform. He planned to entrust the young man to my household. The divination produced the Unenlightened changing to Decrease.
My judgment was: The image of the Unenlightened is that the mountain is steamed by water vapor, becoming hazy and unclear; hence it is called the Unenlightened. In human beings, this means being obscured by improper desires, so that the principles of affairs are not understood. This young man has talent, intelligence, courage, and strength, all resembling his father’s, but because he was poorly taught when young, he ended up adopting the habits of the idle and wealthy, knowing nothing of hardship. Thus he wastes money and likes to associate with corrupt and eccentric people. If he now temporarily lives in my household, I should first explain to him the principles of conduct in the world and forbid him to go out, so that he may repent his former errors. This is also the meaning of “enlightening the unenlightened; it is beneficial to employ punishment.” Although his elder brother has entrusted him to me, his mother cannot help indulging him. She may complain that my instruction is too strict. The proverb says, “No one knows the faults of his own child,” and this is what it means.
It subsequently proved exactly as this divination indicated. After being taught for a year, his quick and lively nature led him to develop remorse, and there is hope that he will become a responsible adult in the future.
Nine in the second place: Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious. Taking a wife is auspicious. The son is able to maintain the family.
Nine in the second place: Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious. Taking a wife is auspicious. The son is able to maintain the family.
The Commentary on the Image says: “The son is able to maintain the family: the firm and yielding meet.”
“Embracing” means encompassing and tolerating. “Embracing the unenlightened” means taking responsibility for the multitude of the Unenlightened and becoming their master. “Taking a wife” means receiving the multitude of yielding lines as a wife. “Embracing the unenlightened” speaks of the capacity to accommodate; “taking a wife” speaks of mutual accord; “the son is able to maintain the family” speaks of occupying a lower position yet being capable of shouldering responsibility. Hence all are called auspicious. The second line is firm in a yielding position. It possesses firm and bright talent and the virtue of balance and harmony, and bears the responsibility of enlightening the unenlightened. Able to adjust leniency and severity appropriately and to instruct with method, it can serve as the teacher of the ruler’s unenlightened people. The hexagram of the Unenlightened has only two firm lines; all the others are yielding. The firmness of the Top Nine goes too far, reaching the point of “striking the unenlightened.” Only the Nine in the second place is centered, so it can “embrace the unenlightened.” Moreover, the second position is that of a minister and a son. As a minister, it corresponds with the yielding and centered ruler in the fifth place, so yin and yang respond to each other. Internally, colleagues willingly submit to it; externally, the multitude turns toward it. Even though a woman’s nature is yielding, dark, and difficult to understand, it can receive her through gentleness and thereby gain intimacy and harmony. Hence, “Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious; taking a wife is auspicious.” As a son, it can serve the father represented by the Six in the fifth place and govern the younger members represented by the yielding lines, thereby cultivating and ordering the family. Hence, “The son is able to maintain the family.” When a son can govern the family, the family’s way flourishes daily and the father’s trust in him becomes complete; when a minister can spread instruction, the people’s virtue renews itself daily and the ruler’s trust in him becomes complete. The Image says, “The firm and yielding meet,” which is what is meant by the upper and lower joining their virtues. In the meaning of the Commentary on the Image, if the second place is taken as minister, the fifth is ruler; if the second is taken as son, the fifth is father. The circumstances differ, but the principle is one. The firm refers to the Nine in the second place, and the yielding to the Six in the fifth. The Nine in the second and Six in the fifth respond to each other; the firm-centered son succeeds the yielding-centered father and can govern the family way, hence, “The son is able to maintain the family; the firm and yielding meet.” Because firm yang cherishes yielding yin, there is the image of “taking a wife.” Because it occupies a lower position yet can undertake affairs above, there is the image of “the son is able to maintain the family.” The nuclear trigram is Thunder, which represents the eldest son and suggests taking charge of the ritual vessels and establishing a household.
[Divination]
○ Question about warfare: The second line is firm in a yielding position, and the line text says “embracing the unenlightened,” suggesting the inclusion of all the yielding lines. The Image says, “The firm and yielding meet.” The firm and yielding are the two armies; “meet” means engage in battle; “maintain the family” is another way of saying “defeat the enemy.” In divination examples, a wife represents wealth and a son represents blessing. Thus one both defeats the enemy army, receives its wealth, and enjoys its blessing—highly auspicious.
○ Question about business: The two yang lines at the top and bottom embrace the three yin lines, with one yang inside and one outside. This suggests encompassing goods and selling them in other regions; hence, “Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious.” “Taking a wife” indicates that one will surely marry while living away from home, and there will be both a wife and a son. “Maintaining the family” means that the son will certainly inherit his father’s business.
○ Question about rank and reputation: It seems the achievement will not lie with the person himself but with his son; hence, “The son is able to maintain the family.”
○ Question about the home: “Embracing the unenlightened,” with Mountain encompassing Water, indicates a place surrounded by mountains and embracing water. “Taking a wife” and “maintaining the family” indicate that the house will certainly have an excellent wife and son who can revive the family business. Auspicious.
○ Question about marriage: Considering the line text, there are two auspicious indications; it plainly says there will be both a wife and a son. Nothing could be more auspicious.
○ Question about pregnancy: A boy will be born, with wealth and honor indicated.
[Case] My friend, Mr. Yakushiji, came to tell me: “Since I was young, I have worked hard and devoted myself to my business for many years, gradually building up the family estate. Unfortunately, I have no children, so I adopted a child from among my relatives and entrusted my property to him. Consequently, all the relatives imagined that they could make him my heir and eagerly assisted him, helping each of them establish an occupation and set up a household. Yet most of them do not understand the hardships of conducting oneself in the world, nor do they consider that my property was accumulated through years of anxious effort and exhaustive labor, and certainly was not obtained easily. Moreover, discord has arisen among the members of the clan, with considerable jealousy. Whatever I say, they all outwardly comply but secretly go against it. I fear that after my death, the relatives will inevitably come to regard one another as enemies. This weighs heavily on my mind. How should I handle the situation? I therefore request a divination.” The divination yielded the Meng hexagram changing into the Bo hexagram.
My judgment was: When people are young and immature, they should first seek a teacher and pursue learning, being taught moral principles and having their intelligence awakened. When grown, they can then establish undertakings and careers by themselves and successfully complete the family way. If they are abandoned and not taught, the blame cannot be shifted onto the younger generation. The proverb says, “To raise without teaching is the father’s fault; to teach without strictness is the teacher’s laziness.” This should serve as a warning. Yet the way of teaching includes both strictness and leniency. Strictness causes resentment; it is better to be lenient while showing kindness. Hence, “Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious.” Moreover, the upper nuclear trigram is Earth, the mother, and the lower nuclear trigram is Thunder, the son. This means teaching the son represented by Thunder, together with the mother represented by Earth, while also accommodating them; hence it is auspicious. When the son grows up and can maintain his family, he will not have betrayed the painstaking hopes of those who taught him. You possess lively intelligence and, through great effort, established your family fortune. You can divide your wealth to raise and support your relatives, enabling each to pursue an occupation and carry on the ancestors’ work; your feelings may be called sincere indeed. But your hope that all your relatives will understand the need to strive as diligently as you have managed your affairs is perhaps too extravagant. Your relatives have neither your ability nor your fortune, and it is very difficult to force them to be like you. This divination clearly displays the two words “embracing the unenlightened”; it is advising you to make tolerance your measure and not to be excessively demanding. Among human relationships, none is closer than father and son or elder and younger brothers, yet even fathers and sons and brothers often differ in temperament. A father cannot make all his sons model sons; an elder brother cannot make all his younger brothers perfectly fraternal—how much less can this be expected of relatives. Only by treating each one with tolerance will the enlightened surely understand your kindness, while the unenlightened will also be moved and transform themselves. Then both sides can be free from worry.
The Commentary on the Image says: “The son is able to maintain the family: the firm and yielding meet.”
“Embracing” means encompassing and tolerating. “Embracing the unenlightened” means taking responsibility for the multitude of the Unenlightened and becoming their master. “Taking a wife” means receiving the multitude of yielding lines as a wife. “Embracing the unenlightened” speaks of the capacity to accommodate; “taking a wife” speaks of mutual accord; “the son is able to maintain the family” speaks of occupying a lower position yet being capable of shouldering responsibility. Hence all are called auspicious. The second line is firm in a yielding position. It possesses firm and bright talent and the virtue of balance and harmony, and bears the responsibility of enlightening the unenlightened. Able to adjust leniency and severity appropriately and to instruct with method, it can serve as the teacher of the ruler’s unenlightened people. The hexagram of the Unenlightened has only two firm lines; all the others are yielding. The firmness of the Top Nine goes too far, reaching the point of “striking the unenlightened.” Only the Nine in the second place is centered, so it can “embrace the unenlightened.” Moreover, the second position is that of a minister and a son. As a minister, it corresponds with the yielding and centered ruler in the fifth place, so yin and yang respond to each other. Internally, colleagues willingly submit to it; externally, the multitude turns toward it. Even though a woman’s nature is yielding, dark, and difficult to understand, it can receive her through gentleness and thereby gain intimacy and harmony. Hence, “Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious; taking a wife is auspicious.” As a son, it can serve the father represented by the Six in the fifth place and govern the younger members represented by the yielding lines, thereby cultivating and ordering the family. Hence, “The son is able to maintain the family.” When a son can govern the family, the family’s way flourishes daily and the father’s trust in him becomes complete; when a minister can spread instruction, the people’s virtue renews itself daily and the ruler’s trust in him becomes complete. The Image says, “The firm and yielding meet,” which is what is meant by the upper and lower joining their virtues. In the meaning of the Commentary on the Image, if the second place is taken as minister, the fifth is ruler; if the second is taken as son, the fifth is father. The circumstances differ, but the principle is one. The firm refers to the Nine in the second place, and the yielding to the Six in the fifth. The Nine in the second and Six in the fifth respond to each other; the firm-centered son succeeds the yielding-centered father and can govern the family way, hence, “The son is able to maintain the family; the firm and yielding meet.” Because firm yang cherishes yielding yin, there is the image of “taking a wife.” Because it occupies a lower position yet can undertake affairs above, there is the image of “the son is able to maintain the family.” The nuclear trigram is Thunder, which represents the eldest son and suggests taking charge of the ritual vessels and establishing a household.
[Divination]
○ Question about warfare: The second line is firm in a yielding position, and the line text says “embracing the unenlightened,” suggesting the inclusion of all the yielding lines. The Image says, “The firm and yielding meet.” The firm and yielding are the two armies; “meet” means engage in battle; “maintain the family” is another way of saying “defeat the enemy.” In divination examples, a wife represents wealth and a son represents blessing. Thus one both defeats the enemy army, receives its wealth, and enjoys its blessing—highly auspicious.
○ Question about business: The two yang lines at the top and bottom embrace the three yin lines, with one yang inside and one outside. This suggests encompassing goods and selling them in other regions; hence, “Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious.” “Taking a wife” indicates that one will surely marry while living away from home, and there will be both a wife and a son. “Maintaining the family” means that the son will certainly inherit his father’s business.
○ Question about rank and reputation: It seems the achievement will not lie with the person himself but with his son; hence, “The son is able to maintain the family.”
○ Question about the home: “Embracing the unenlightened,” with Mountain encompassing Water, indicates a place surrounded by mountains and embracing water. “Taking a wife” and “maintaining the family” indicate that the house will certainly have an excellent wife and son who can revive the family business. Auspicious.
○ Question about marriage: Considering the line text, there are two auspicious indications; it plainly says there will be both a wife and a son. Nothing could be more auspicious.
○ Question about pregnancy: A boy will be born, with wealth and honor indicated.
[Case] My friend, Mr. Yakushiji, came to tell me: “Since I was young, I have worked hard and devoted myself to my business for many years, gradually building up the family estate. Unfortunately, I have no children, so I adopted a child from among my relatives and entrusted my property to him. Consequently, all the relatives imagined that they could make him my heir and eagerly assisted him, helping each of them establish an occupation and set up a household. Yet most of them do not understand the hardships of conducting oneself in the world, nor do they consider that my property was accumulated through years of anxious effort and exhaustive labor, and certainly was not obtained easily. Moreover, discord has arisen among the members of the clan, with considerable jealousy. Whatever I say, they all outwardly comply but secretly go against it. I fear that after my death, the relatives will inevitably come to regard one another as enemies. This weighs heavily on my mind. How should I handle the situation? I therefore request a divination.” The divination yielded the Meng hexagram changing into the Bo hexagram.
My judgment was: When people are young and immature, they should first seek a teacher and pursue learning, being taught moral principles and having their intelligence awakened. When grown, they can then establish undertakings and careers by themselves and successfully complete the family way. If they are abandoned and not taught, the blame cannot be shifted onto the younger generation. The proverb says, “To raise without teaching is the father’s fault; to teach without strictness is the teacher’s laziness.” This should serve as a warning. Yet the way of teaching includes both strictness and leniency. Strictness causes resentment; it is better to be lenient while showing kindness. Hence, “Embracing the unenlightened is auspicious.” Moreover, the upper nuclear trigram is Earth, the mother, and the lower nuclear trigram is Thunder, the son. This means teaching the son represented by Thunder, together with the mother represented by Earth, while also accommodating them; hence it is auspicious. When the son grows up and can maintain his family, he will not have betrayed the painstaking hopes of those who taught him. You possess lively intelligence and, through great effort, established your family fortune. You can divide your wealth to raise and support your relatives, enabling each to pursue an occupation and carry on the ancestors’ work; your feelings may be called sincere indeed. But your hope that all your relatives will understand the need to strive as diligently as you have managed your affairs is perhaps too extravagant. Your relatives have neither your ability nor your fortune, and it is very difficult to force them to be like you. This divination clearly displays the two words “embracing the unenlightened”; it is advising you to make tolerance your measure and not to be excessively demanding. Among human relationships, none is closer than father and son or elder and younger brothers, yet even fathers and sons and brothers often differ in temperament. A father cannot make all his sons model sons; an elder brother cannot make all his younger brothers perfectly fraternal—how much less can this be expected of relatives. Only by treating each one with tolerance will the enlightened surely understand your kindness, while the unenlightened will also be moved and transform themselves. Then both sides can be free from worry.
Six in the third place: Do not take [30] such a woman in marriage. She sees a man of wealth and loses herself; nothing is beneficial.
Six in the third place: Do not take [30] such a woman in marriage. She sees a man of wealth and loses herself; nothing is beneficial.
The Commentary on the Image says: “Do not take such a woman in marriage: her conduct is not compliant.”
“Metal man” is another way of saying “husband.” Metal is a designation for a yang line, taking the meaning of firmness and strength, and refers to the nine in the second place. The nine in the second place embraces the ignorant, hence the image of wealth. It is called “metal man” to distinguish him from the husband who is the proper correlate of the top nine. The third line is yielding, weak, and neither central nor correct. It is obscure and occupies the extreme of the danger of Water; unable to hold to chastity and wait for the right time, it seeks without stopping, desires without choosing, acts perversely, and conducts matters ambiguously. Seeing that the nine in the second place is where the ignorant turn and is flourishing with opportunity, it abandons the husband who is its proper correlate at the top and wishes to follow the nearby nine in the second place. Since her conduct is improper and she cannot maintain herself, marrying this woman of many desires will bring no benefit. Hence: “Do not marry the woman. She sees the metal man, has no self-possession, and gains nothing.” The mountain of Keeping Still stops and does not move, while the water of the gorge flows and does not stop—an image of “having no self-possession.” Moreover, the Water trigram is a thief; when this line changes, it becomes Wind, and Wind signifies near profit. Seeing someone possessing money, she breaks her restraint and ruins her reputation, no longer knowing that she has a self. When this line changes again, it becomes Decay: the eldest daughter of Wind follows the youngest son of the mountain, an image of confusion and disorder. Although the line statement speaks of woman and husband, it is also an allegorical statement; all who are yielding, weak, and full of desire may be understood by analogy. The nine in the second place possesses the virtue of firmness and centrality, and certainly will not associate with the six in the third place in an unrighteous act. It is only the six in the third place that, being neither central nor correct, wishes to associate with the nine in the second place. Therefore the statement is attached to the six in the third place, showing that the fault lies with the six in the third place. The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that yang initiates and yin responds, the man goes forward and the woman follows—this is proper. For a woman to seek a man already violates principle; how much more so to abandon the husband who is her proper correlate and follow the nearby metal man? Hence: “Do not marry the woman; her conduct is not compliant.”
[Divination]
○ Regarding warfare: The line says, “Do not marry the woman.” The woman is an image of yin; in divination texts, a female line represents wealth, and metal also represents wealth. This means that when conducting a campaign, one should distribute wealth to accommodate the masses, not hoard wealth and provoke resentment. If one plunders property, the army will surely be defeated and its men killed. “Do not use” is a profound warning.
○ Regarding business: The six in the third place is yin in a yang position, yin within and yang without; this surely means traveling outside to conduct trade. In commerce, the greatest danger is greed for sexual beauty: the man becomes attached to the woman’s beauty, while the woman schemes for his money. Once caught in the trap, at best one loses wealth; at worst one is physically harmed. The Image says, “The conduct is not compliant.” Since “compliant” and “cautious” are alike in sound and connected in meaning, how could one fail to be cautious?
○ Regarding the household: Reflecting on the line statement, one should take deeply to heart the warning, “When the hen crows at dawn, the household declines.”
○ Regarding reputation and office: The way of a wife corresponds to the way of a minister. Forgetting righteousness upon seeing wealth will surely ruin one’s reputation; unchaste conduct in a woman is the same as disloyalty in a minister.
○ Pregnancy: A boy will be born.
[Case] A certain eminent person left his domain before the Restoration and associated with wandering samurai from various domains, jointly championing a great cause and traveling east and west. On one occasion he returned to his home village and consequently became disliked by the domain officials. Many relatives drifted away, so even his wife and daughters treated him poorly—just as when Su Qin returned home, his robe was worn out and his gold exhausted, his wife would not rise from the loom and his sister-in-law would not cook. Later, in the era of the Restoration, he rose to a prominent office, established a residence in Tokyo, and summoned his family. His wife, who had shared his poverty, was plain and rustic in nature, and her appearance, manner, and movements were often displeasing. Added to this was her resentment over having formerly neglected him. He therefore left her, kept another woman outside, became deeply attached to her, and planned to take her as his wife. One day he came and said, “I am going to marry. Please divine whether it will be auspicious.” The resulting hexagram was Meng changing to Decay.
The judgment says: Meng denotes things being obscure and undeveloped, and therefore means childishness. Yet it does not refer only to children; all people who have not been taught morality and righteousness are generally called “meng.” You now wish to marry your mistress, and this line says, “She sees the metal man and has no self-possession.” This woman must have licentious conduct—perhaps she is the daughter of a courtesan. “Metal man” means that she is about to redeem herself with money. I fear her character is improper and that lasting harmony will be difficult. This woman has used her behavior for the moment to win your favor, and you wish to marry her. If you do, later entanglements will likely arise, binding you without end, and regret is certain. Your family has a distinguished lineage and has always maintained purity. If you marry a courtesan, it will certainly not suit the wishes of the elders at home. Even if that woman temporarily endures the rules of the household, she may not be able to observe them forever. Even if you do not dismiss her, she will eventually leave the household and seek separation herself.
The man ignored my advice, took her as his wife, and afterward the outcome was exactly as this judgment predicted.
The Commentary on the Image says: “Do not take such a woman in marriage: her conduct is not compliant.”
“Metal man” is another way of saying “husband.” Metal is a designation for a yang line, taking the meaning of firmness and strength, and refers to the nine in the second place. The nine in the second place embraces the ignorant, hence the image of wealth. It is called “metal man” to distinguish him from the husband who is the proper correlate of the top nine. The third line is yielding, weak, and neither central nor correct. It is obscure and occupies the extreme of the danger of Water; unable to hold to chastity and wait for the right time, it seeks without stopping, desires without choosing, acts perversely, and conducts matters ambiguously. Seeing that the nine in the second place is where the ignorant turn and is flourishing with opportunity, it abandons the husband who is its proper correlate at the top and wishes to follow the nearby nine in the second place. Since her conduct is improper and she cannot maintain herself, marrying this woman of many desires will bring no benefit. Hence: “Do not marry the woman. She sees the metal man, has no self-possession, and gains nothing.” The mountain of Keeping Still stops and does not move, while the water of the gorge flows and does not stop—an image of “having no self-possession.” Moreover, the Water trigram is a thief; when this line changes, it becomes Wind, and Wind signifies near profit. Seeing someone possessing money, she breaks her restraint and ruins her reputation, no longer knowing that she has a self. When this line changes again, it becomes Decay: the eldest daughter of Wind follows the youngest son of the mountain, an image of confusion and disorder. Although the line statement speaks of woman and husband, it is also an allegorical statement; all who are yielding, weak, and full of desire may be understood by analogy. The nine in the second place possesses the virtue of firmness and centrality, and certainly will not associate with the six in the third place in an unrighteous act. It is only the six in the third place that, being neither central nor correct, wishes to associate with the nine in the second place. Therefore the statement is attached to the six in the third place, showing that the fault lies with the six in the third place. The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that yang initiates and yin responds, the man goes forward and the woman follows—this is proper. For a woman to seek a man already violates principle; how much more so to abandon the husband who is her proper correlate and follow the nearby metal man? Hence: “Do not marry the woman; her conduct is not compliant.”
[Divination]
○ Regarding warfare: The line says, “Do not marry the woman.” The woman is an image of yin; in divination texts, a female line represents wealth, and metal also represents wealth. This means that when conducting a campaign, one should distribute wealth to accommodate the masses, not hoard wealth and provoke resentment. If one plunders property, the army will surely be defeated and its men killed. “Do not use” is a profound warning.
○ Regarding business: The six in the third place is yin in a yang position, yin within and yang without; this surely means traveling outside to conduct trade. In commerce, the greatest danger is greed for sexual beauty: the man becomes attached to the woman’s beauty, while the woman schemes for his money. Once caught in the trap, at best one loses wealth; at worst one is physically harmed. The Image says, “The conduct is not compliant.” Since “compliant” and “cautious” are alike in sound and connected in meaning, how could one fail to be cautious?
○ Regarding the household: Reflecting on the line statement, one should take deeply to heart the warning, “When the hen crows at dawn, the household declines.”
○ Regarding reputation and office: The way of a wife corresponds to the way of a minister. Forgetting righteousness upon seeing wealth will surely ruin one’s reputation; unchaste conduct in a woman is the same as disloyalty in a minister.
○ Pregnancy: A boy will be born.
[Case] A certain eminent person left his domain before the Restoration and associated with wandering samurai from various domains, jointly championing a great cause and traveling east and west. On one occasion he returned to his home village and consequently became disliked by the domain officials. Many relatives drifted away, so even his wife and daughters treated him poorly—just as when Su Qin returned home, his robe was worn out and his gold exhausted, his wife would not rise from the loom and his sister-in-law would not cook. Later, in the era of the Restoration, he rose to a prominent office, established a residence in Tokyo, and summoned his family. His wife, who had shared his poverty, was plain and rustic in nature, and her appearance, manner, and movements were often displeasing. Added to this was her resentment over having formerly neglected him. He therefore left her, kept another woman outside, became deeply attached to her, and planned to take her as his wife. One day he came and said, “I am going to marry. Please divine whether it will be auspicious.” The resulting hexagram was Meng changing to Decay.
The judgment says: Meng denotes things being obscure and undeveloped, and therefore means childishness. Yet it does not refer only to children; all people who have not been taught morality and righteousness are generally called “meng.” You now wish to marry your mistress, and this line says, “She sees the metal man and has no self-possession.” This woman must have licentious conduct—perhaps she is the daughter of a courtesan. “Metal man” means that she is about to redeem herself with money. I fear her character is improper and that lasting harmony will be difficult. This woman has used her behavior for the moment to win your favor, and you wish to marry her. If you do, later entanglements will likely arise, binding you without end, and regret is certain. Your family has a distinguished lineage and has always maintained purity. If you marry a courtesan, it will certainly not suit the wishes of the elders at home. Even if that woman temporarily endures the rules of the household, she may not be able to observe them forever. Even if you do not dismiss her, she will eventually leave the household and seek separation herself.
The man ignored my advice, took her as his wife, and afterward the outcome was exactly as this judgment predicted.
Six in the fourth place: Trapped in ignorance; shame.
Six in the fourth place: Trapped in ignorance; shame.
The Commentary on the Image says: The shame of being trapped in ignorance comes from being alone and far from what is solid.
The fourth line is yin in a yin position, and its place is neither central nor correct. Like the foot of the mountain below Keeping Still, it is firmly immovable, signifying stubbornness and ignorance of how to turn toward goodness. It is near the ruler at six in the fifth place, yet its ability is meager while its responsibility is heavy; having no worthy person to assist and guide it, it cannot endure hardship and ultimately behaves in a mean and stingy manner. This is what is meant by, “When people are in difficulty and do not learn, they become low.” The young son of Keeping Still is weak and off-center, darkly ignorant and unopened, and keeps company with a crowd of petty men; thus it traps itself. Above it is the mountain of Keeping Still, which it cannot climb; below it is the danger of Water, from which it cannot retreat. Its correlates and neighbors are all yin, and it has no firm and lucid relative or ally to aid it. All who draw near to it are weak, yielding, and improper. Intelligence therefore has no means to emerge, and darkness has no means to open; hence everything it undertakes is difficult. This is called “trapped in ignorance; shame.” To be blocked and unable to pass through is called being trapped; to take in and not let out is called stinginess. Being trapped is like a sick person who avoids a physician; stinginess is like someone who hides a fault from a teacher. Such a person cannot follow instruction, even when taught according to the proper way; this is extreme shame. The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that the first line is associated with the firm second nine, the third line corresponds to and associates with the firm top nine, and the fifth line corresponds to the second nine and associates with the top nine. Each has a firm yang correlate or neighbor and receives guidance from worthy teachers and good friends. This line alone is sunk among three yin lines and cannot obtain a firm, substantial teacher or friend. Hence: “The shame of being trapped in ignorance comes from being alone and far from what is solid.” “Alone” means without assistance. Yang is the principal of life and is therefore called solid. “Far from what is solid” means that one distances oneself from the Way. A person who distances himself from the Way is what Mencius called one who abandons himself.
[Divination]
○ Regarding warfare: In a campaign, one should penetrate deeply and emerge openly. “Trapped in ignorance” means entering a dangerous yin region and being unable to get out, hence being trapped. What can relieve the trap is the yang of the first line, but the six in the fourth place is separated from the first by two lines. Yang is solid, so it is “far from what is solid.” Thus we know that the relief force is far away and cannot arrive. Misfortune.
○ Regarding business: The way of commerce should be prosperous, not trapped; open, not stingy. “Solid” means capital; being “far from what is solid” means damaging one’s capital. The shame of being trapped in ignorance means the path has reached exhaustion.
○ Regarding fortune and timing: “Meng” means darkness and obscurity; “trapped” means distress and exhaustion. Being obscure and trapped means the final outcome is entrapment.
○ Regarding the household: Judging from the line statement, the family business is in hardship and the dwelling is also secluded and remote. The Image says, “Alone and far from what is solid,” so it must be an isolated village lacking neighbors.
○ Regarding pregnancy: A girl will be born. She will surely have few brothers and sisters; hence the word “alone.”
[Case] The lay Buddhist Ubi Tokuan was someone I had long respected and trusted. In the twelfth month of the twenty-third year of Meiji, he visited me with several others, including Mr. Kosho Kamon, and said: “Next year, when the National Diet is to be opened, we intend to establish a principle and advocate something. Please divine what the prospects of its fortune will be.” The resulting hexagram was Meng changing to Not Yet Fulfilled.
The judgment says: This hexagram shows water vapor rising before a mountain, an image of hazy indistinctness. The I Ching has four difficult hexagrams—Inception, Entrapment, Limping, and Water. Those who encounter them cannot easily escape danger. Meng is different: although one is caught in the danger of Water, depending on the line’s position, a person with knowledge and understanding can escape the danger. Considering the fourth line now, its support, relation, and correspondence are all yin, providing no strength to assist us. In human terms, there is no worthy teacher or good friend to help open our ignorance. Hence, “Trapped in ignorance; shame.” Your learning encompasses ancient and modern times, and your talent combines civil and military abilities. The principle you wish to advocate is the public way of the world, and you possess outstanding insight and bold courage; in theory, you are like one without rival under Heaven. Yet having obtained Meng, the people of the world are all like inexperienced children, unable to distinguish right from wrong, crooked from upright—like birds whose sex cannot be told in the darkness of night. Thus, although you explain the balanced and correct principles, in the end you cannot awaken their understanding. “Trapped in ignorance” means that your efforts produce no effect. However, after this one year, when the fifth line reaches the time of “the inexperienced child, good fortune,” and the yang line at nine in the second place responds below, you will receive assistance and guidance and will naturally accomplish your aspiration greatly.
The result later proved exactly as this divination indicated.
[Case] At the winter solstice of the twenty-seventh year of Meiji, a divination was performed regarding the deliberations of the House of Peers in the twenty-eighth year. The resulting hexagram was Meng changing to Not Yet Fulfilled.
The judgment says: This hexagram presents the image of water beneath a mountain. Water flows down from the mountain, and one does not know where the road ahead will lead. People are likewise; therefore, even a worthy and wise person who obtains this hexagram is in a time when their inherent knowledge is obscured by circumstances and their words and actions are clouded. Viewed now in terms of the House of Peers, if it fails to recognize its own ignorance yet worries over affairs of state, it is like a blind person who cannot see the whole image but judges its shape, which is called “the shame of being trapped in ignorance, alone and far from reality.” This is a divination concerning the non-convening of the House next year.
The Commentary on the Image says: The shame of being trapped in ignorance comes from being alone and far from what is solid.
The fourth line is yin in a yin position, and its place is neither central nor correct. Like the foot of the mountain below Keeping Still, it is firmly immovable, signifying stubbornness and ignorance of how to turn toward goodness. It is near the ruler at six in the fifth place, yet its ability is meager while its responsibility is heavy; having no worthy person to assist and guide it, it cannot endure hardship and ultimately behaves in a mean and stingy manner. This is what is meant by, “When people are in difficulty and do not learn, they become low.” The young son of Keeping Still is weak and off-center, darkly ignorant and unopened, and keeps company with a crowd of petty men; thus it traps itself. Above it is the mountain of Keeping Still, which it cannot climb; below it is the danger of Water, from which it cannot retreat. Its correlates and neighbors are all yin, and it has no firm and lucid relative or ally to aid it. All who draw near to it are weak, yielding, and improper. Intelligence therefore has no means to emerge, and darkness has no means to open; hence everything it undertakes is difficult. This is called “trapped in ignorance; shame.” To be blocked and unable to pass through is called being trapped; to take in and not let out is called stinginess. Being trapped is like a sick person who avoids a physician; stinginess is like someone who hides a fault from a teacher. Such a person cannot follow instruction, even when taught according to the proper way; this is extreme shame. The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that the first line is associated with the firm second nine, the third line corresponds to and associates with the firm top nine, and the fifth line corresponds to the second nine and associates with the top nine. Each has a firm yang correlate or neighbor and receives guidance from worthy teachers and good friends. This line alone is sunk among three yin lines and cannot obtain a firm, substantial teacher or friend. Hence: “The shame of being trapped in ignorance comes from being alone and far from what is solid.” “Alone” means without assistance. Yang is the principal of life and is therefore called solid. “Far from what is solid” means that one distances oneself from the Way. A person who distances himself from the Way is what Mencius called one who abandons himself.
[Divination]
○ Regarding warfare: In a campaign, one should penetrate deeply and emerge openly. “Trapped in ignorance” means entering a dangerous yin region and being unable to get out, hence being trapped. What can relieve the trap is the yang of the first line, but the six in the fourth place is separated from the first by two lines. Yang is solid, so it is “far from what is solid.” Thus we know that the relief force is far away and cannot arrive. Misfortune.
○ Regarding business: The way of commerce should be prosperous, not trapped; open, not stingy. “Solid” means capital; being “far from what is solid” means damaging one’s capital. The shame of being trapped in ignorance means the path has reached exhaustion.
○ Regarding fortune and timing: “Meng” means darkness and obscurity; “trapped” means distress and exhaustion. Being obscure and trapped means the final outcome is entrapment.
○ Regarding the household: Judging from the line statement, the family business is in hardship and the dwelling is also secluded and remote. The Image says, “Alone and far from what is solid,” so it must be an isolated village lacking neighbors.
○ Regarding pregnancy: A girl will be born. She will surely have few brothers and sisters; hence the word “alone.”
[Case] The lay Buddhist Ubi Tokuan was someone I had long respected and trusted. In the twelfth month of the twenty-third year of Meiji, he visited me with several others, including Mr. Kosho Kamon, and said: “Next year, when the National Diet is to be opened, we intend to establish a principle and advocate something. Please divine what the prospects of its fortune will be.” The resulting hexagram was Meng changing to Not Yet Fulfilled.
The judgment says: This hexagram shows water vapor rising before a mountain, an image of hazy indistinctness. The I Ching has four difficult hexagrams—Inception, Entrapment, Limping, and Water. Those who encounter them cannot easily escape danger. Meng is different: although one is caught in the danger of Water, depending on the line’s position, a person with knowledge and understanding can escape the danger. Considering the fourth line now, its support, relation, and correspondence are all yin, providing no strength to assist us. In human terms, there is no worthy teacher or good friend to help open our ignorance. Hence, “Trapped in ignorance; shame.” Your learning encompasses ancient and modern times, and your talent combines civil and military abilities. The principle you wish to advocate is the public way of the world, and you possess outstanding insight and bold courage; in theory, you are like one without rival under Heaven. Yet having obtained Meng, the people of the world are all like inexperienced children, unable to distinguish right from wrong, crooked from upright—like birds whose sex cannot be told in the darkness of night. Thus, although you explain the balanced and correct principles, in the end you cannot awaken their understanding. “Trapped in ignorance” means that your efforts produce no effect. However, after this one year, when the fifth line reaches the time of “the inexperienced child, good fortune,” and the yang line at nine in the second place responds below, you will receive assistance and guidance and will naturally accomplish your aspiration greatly.
The result later proved exactly as this divination indicated.
[Case] At the winter solstice of the twenty-seventh year of Meiji, a divination was performed regarding the deliberations of the House of Peers in the twenty-eighth year. The resulting hexagram was Meng changing to Not Yet Fulfilled.
The judgment says: This hexagram presents the image of water beneath a mountain. Water flows down from the mountain, and one does not know where the road ahead will lead. People are likewise; therefore, even a worthy and wise person who obtains this hexagram is in a time when their inherent knowledge is obscured by circumstances and their words and actions are clouded. Viewed now in terms of the House of Peers, if it fails to recognize its own ignorance yet worries over affairs of state, it is like a blind person who cannot see the whole image but judges its shape, which is called “the shame of being trapped in ignorance, alone and far from reality.” This is a divination concerning the non-convening of the House next year.
Six in the fifth place: Childlike ignorance—auspicious.
Six in the fifth place: Childlike ignorance—auspicious.
The Commentary on the Image says: The auspiciousness of childlike ignorance lies in following with humility.
The fifth line is yin occupying a yang place: yielding, compliant, and humble, responding below to Nine in the second place. As the youngest son of Mountain, it possesses the virtue of yielding moderation while occupying the honored position—an image of a young ruler governing those below. The worthy minister represented by Nine in the second place has firm central virtue and can assist the ruler represented by Six in the fifth place. When a young ruler knows his own youth, entrusts government to a worthy minister, and governs without forced action, as King Cheng did with the Duke of Zhou, this is the way. If a ruler can refrain from relying on authority, set himself aside and follow others, and appoint the worthy without wavering, he is like the “child in ignorance” who has obtained a worthy teacher and listens wholeheartedly; hence, “Childlike ignorance—auspicious.” The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that rulers, born and raised amid rank and wealth, do not know the hardships of conducting themselves in the world. They often neglect loyal remonstrance and distance themselves from venerable elders, so the ruin of the state becomes unavoidable. Here Six in the fifth place can follow Nine in the second; therefore it says, “The auspiciousness of childlike ignorance lies in following with humility.” The nuclear hexagram of this line is Kun. Kun means compliance; when changing, it becomes Xun. The two words “compliance” and “Xun” arise from this.
In the I Ching, when a yang line occupies the fifth place and a yin line the second, although they are in their proper positions, the wording is often difficult. When a yin line occupies the fifth and a yang line the second, although they are not in their proper positions, the wording is often auspicious. This is because a ruler should take strength and vigor as the substance, but emptiness at the center as the function; a minister should take yielding compliance as the substance, but firmness at the center as the function. Thus ruler and subjects interact and their intentions become one. This is a general rule of the hexagrams.
[Divination]
○ Asked about warfare: The fifth line has Kun as its nuclear hexagram. Its earthly branch is Wei, corresponding to the Well lunar mansion; the Bow and Arrow Nine Stars lie southeast of the Well and preside over campaigns against rebels. The east also represents the Descendants Star, called “childlike ignorance”; this means leading sons and younger men to follow the army. Therefore, it is auspicious.
○ Asked about business: The fifth line is the ruler of the hexagram, and its line text says “childlike ignorance”; surely the shopkeeper is still young. The fifth responds to the second. The orthodox commentary says, “Entrust things to those capable,” meaning to assign affairs to a capable person—namely, the second line. The shopkeeper represented by the fifth line knows he is young and follows the second line, appointing it as manager; hence, “Childlike ignorance—auspicious.”
○ Asked about achievement and reputation: The year is in “childlike ignorance”; achievement is not complete and fame is not established. Only by obediently listening to the instruction of the teacher represented by the second line can success become immeasurable. Therefore, it says “auspicious.”
○ Asked about marriage: The upper component of the Ignorance hexagram is Mountain. Mountain represents the youngest son, so the marriage is arranged while still young. Therefore, it says “childlike ignorance—auspicious.”
○ Pregnancy: A boy will be born.
【Case】 My friend Mr. Fukuhara Minoru visited one day and told me that he had been honorably transferred to become governor of Okinawa Prefecture. He asked me to divine the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of his prospects. The casting produced Ignorance changing to Dispersion.
The judgment says: This hexagram concerns principles that have not yet become clear; it is the image of ignorance and immaturity, and is therefore called Ignorance. In this hexagram, yang lines are teachers and yin lines are pupils. Here Six in the fifth place is yin and responds to yang, occupying the central and correct position—like a child whose natural endowment is inherently fine and entirely free of selfish desire—so it is auspicious. Your nature is gentle, sincere, and steady, as I know. After taking office, when dealing with your colleagues and subordinates, you should be open and straightforward, harbor no personal agenda, be broad-minded, and listen with an empty heart. Naturally, those above and below will unite in purpose, mutual relations will be harmonious, and both public and private interests will benefit. Viewed through the Ignorance hexagram, when you first assume office, you will inevitably be unfamiliar with local customs and human feelings. Select among your subordinate officials someone who understands affairs well and entrust him with responsibility; rely on his clarity to dispel your own ignorance. This is crucial. The divination truly accords with your nature. If you can understand the principles of affairs and devote yourself to county administration, you will certainly achieve solid results later. This is why it says, “Childlike ignorance—auspicious.”
【Case】 At the winter solstice of the twenty-seventh year of the Meiji era, I divined the situation of the House of Representatives for the following year. The casting produced Ignorance changing to Dispersion.
The judgment says: Ignorance is the image of water beneath a mountain; in human affairs, it means that knowledge is unclear and one does not know the direction of principle. Earlier, the House of Representatives proposed reducing public expenditure, cutting it every year, without carefully considering the government’s actions or paying attention to the situation of other countries. As this proposal arose amid much dispute, the government was deeply worried about insufficient funds. Then, suddenly, the imperial edict to wage war against Qing arrived. The members of the House all felt as though thunder had split the clear sky. They gathered in Hiroshima to deliberate, and before the day was over decided on a proposal to raise a public loan of one hundred million yen. This was called “awakening from ignorance.” Ignorance does not mean foolishness; it means that, while young, one’s knowledge has not yet opened. Hence the phrase “childlike ignorance.” Now, obtaining the fifth line, there is the meaning of “childlike ignorance receiving instruction and having its intelligence awakened.” Therefore, it is the divination concerning next year’s parliamentary deliberations.
The Commentary on the Image says: The auspiciousness of childlike ignorance lies in following with humility.
The fifth line is yin occupying a yang place: yielding, compliant, and humble, responding below to Nine in the second place. As the youngest son of Mountain, it possesses the virtue of yielding moderation while occupying the honored position—an image of a young ruler governing those below. The worthy minister represented by Nine in the second place has firm central virtue and can assist the ruler represented by Six in the fifth place. When a young ruler knows his own youth, entrusts government to a worthy minister, and governs without forced action, as King Cheng did with the Duke of Zhou, this is the way. If a ruler can refrain from relying on authority, set himself aside and follow others, and appoint the worthy without wavering, he is like the “child in ignorance” who has obtained a worthy teacher and listens wholeheartedly; hence, “Childlike ignorance—auspicious.” The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that rulers, born and raised amid rank and wealth, do not know the hardships of conducting themselves in the world. They often neglect loyal remonstrance and distance themselves from venerable elders, so the ruin of the state becomes unavoidable. Here Six in the fifth place can follow Nine in the second; therefore it says, “The auspiciousness of childlike ignorance lies in following with humility.” The nuclear hexagram of this line is Kun. Kun means compliance; when changing, it becomes Xun. The two words “compliance” and “Xun” arise from this.
In the I Ching, when a yang line occupies the fifth place and a yin line the second, although they are in their proper positions, the wording is often difficult. When a yin line occupies the fifth and a yang line the second, although they are not in their proper positions, the wording is often auspicious. This is because a ruler should take strength and vigor as the substance, but emptiness at the center as the function; a minister should take yielding compliance as the substance, but firmness at the center as the function. Thus ruler and subjects interact and their intentions become one. This is a general rule of the hexagrams.
[Divination]
○ Asked about warfare: The fifth line has Kun as its nuclear hexagram. Its earthly branch is Wei, corresponding to the Well lunar mansion; the Bow and Arrow Nine Stars lie southeast of the Well and preside over campaigns against rebels. The east also represents the Descendants Star, called “childlike ignorance”; this means leading sons and younger men to follow the army. Therefore, it is auspicious.
○ Asked about business: The fifth line is the ruler of the hexagram, and its line text says “childlike ignorance”; surely the shopkeeper is still young. The fifth responds to the second. The orthodox commentary says, “Entrust things to those capable,” meaning to assign affairs to a capable person—namely, the second line. The shopkeeper represented by the fifth line knows he is young and follows the second line, appointing it as manager; hence, “Childlike ignorance—auspicious.”
○ Asked about achievement and reputation: The year is in “childlike ignorance”; achievement is not complete and fame is not established. Only by obediently listening to the instruction of the teacher represented by the second line can success become immeasurable. Therefore, it says “auspicious.”
○ Asked about marriage: The upper component of the Ignorance hexagram is Mountain. Mountain represents the youngest son, so the marriage is arranged while still young. Therefore, it says “childlike ignorance—auspicious.”
○ Pregnancy: A boy will be born.
【Case】 My friend Mr. Fukuhara Minoru visited one day and told me that he had been honorably transferred to become governor of Okinawa Prefecture. He asked me to divine the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of his prospects. The casting produced Ignorance changing to Dispersion.
The judgment says: This hexagram concerns principles that have not yet become clear; it is the image of ignorance and immaturity, and is therefore called Ignorance. In this hexagram, yang lines are teachers and yin lines are pupils. Here Six in the fifth place is yin and responds to yang, occupying the central and correct position—like a child whose natural endowment is inherently fine and entirely free of selfish desire—so it is auspicious. Your nature is gentle, sincere, and steady, as I know. After taking office, when dealing with your colleagues and subordinates, you should be open and straightforward, harbor no personal agenda, be broad-minded, and listen with an empty heart. Naturally, those above and below will unite in purpose, mutual relations will be harmonious, and both public and private interests will benefit. Viewed through the Ignorance hexagram, when you first assume office, you will inevitably be unfamiliar with local customs and human feelings. Select among your subordinate officials someone who understands affairs well and entrust him with responsibility; rely on his clarity to dispel your own ignorance. This is crucial. The divination truly accords with your nature. If you can understand the principles of affairs and devote yourself to county administration, you will certainly achieve solid results later. This is why it says, “Childlike ignorance—auspicious.”
【Case】 At the winter solstice of the twenty-seventh year of the Meiji era, I divined the situation of the House of Representatives for the following year. The casting produced Ignorance changing to Dispersion.
The judgment says: Ignorance is the image of water beneath a mountain; in human affairs, it means that knowledge is unclear and one does not know the direction of principle. Earlier, the House of Representatives proposed reducing public expenditure, cutting it every year, without carefully considering the government’s actions or paying attention to the situation of other countries. As this proposal arose amid much dispute, the government was deeply worried about insufficient funds. Then, suddenly, the imperial edict to wage war against Qing arrived. The members of the House all felt as though thunder had split the clear sky. They gathered in Hiroshima to deliberate, and before the day was over decided on a proposal to raise a public loan of one hundred million yen. This was called “awakening from ignorance.” Ignorance does not mean foolishness; it means that, while young, one’s knowledge has not yet opened. Hence the phrase “childlike ignorance.” Now, obtaining the fifth line, there is the meaning of “childlike ignorance receiving instruction and having its intelligence awakened.” Therefore, it is the divination concerning next year’s parliamentary deliberations.
Nine at the top: Strike ignorance. It is not beneficial to act as a bandit; it is beneficial to defend against bandits.
Nine at the top: Strike ignorance. It is not beneficial to act as a bandit; it is beneficial to defend against bandits.
The Commentary on the Image says: It is beneficial to defend against bandits because those above and below are in accord.
“Striking the ignorant” means that when one cannot “embrace the ignorant,” one uses a staff as a disciplinary instrument and, in anger, drives them out by striking them. This hexagram has four yin lines and two yang lines. The four yin lines are all benighted, while the two yang lines both possess the firm and enlightened talents and virtues sufficient to strike ignorance. The Second Nine has the virtue of firmness and centrality; its instruction and guidance are measured, with leniency and severity appropriately balanced. It can embrace ignorance, which is what is meant by “disciplining them with encouragement.” This line, however, is yang occupying a yin position; its firmness has gone to excess and lost centrality. In dealing with ignorance, it therefore strikes it, which is what is meant by “admonishing them with authority.” The character “strike” is sharper and more severe than “embrace” in “embracing the ignorant” or “bring forth” in “bringing forth the ignorant”; this is self-evident. Yet when ignorance is repeatedly encountered and the teaching is rejected—when it is first brought forth without gratitude, then embraced without awakening—the methods of instruction are nearly exhausted. The Top Nine likewise acts only because circumstances leave no alternative. If the striking becomes too severe, it inevitably turns excessively harsh and violent; the one who strikes may in turn become the bandit. Hence it says, “It is not favorable to become a bandit.” Yet because the ignorant are stubborn and unresponsive, if one merely tolerates them generously without warning them through authority, they may become bandits when their ignorance reaches its extreme; excessive leniency would then harm them. The one who strikes them governs ignorance strictly precisely in order to prevent them from becoming bandits. Hence it says, “It is favorable to ward off bandits.” To “become a bandit” means that the bandit is within oneself; to “ward off bandits” means that the bandit is on the other side. Gen is the hand, an image of striking; Kan is the thief, an image of banditry; Gen’s stopping above is an image of warding off bandits. Although the Top Nine corresponds with the Third Six, the Third Six does not proceed smoothly: it is a bandit, not a marriage partner. Therefore it is favorable to ward it off. When this line changes, it becomes the Shi hexagram, which also contains an image of striking and thus an image of banditry. The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that this hexagram possesses the virtue of firm enlightenment, stands beside the Fifth Six to assist and support it, and corresponds with the Third Six to instruct and guide it. Moreover, from the Top Nine down to the Third Six, there is no yang-line obstacle between their correspondences and affinities. This represents the utmost compliance; therefore it says, “It is favorable to ward off bandits; those above and below are compliant.”
[Divination]
○ Divination concerning warfare: The upper celestial marker is in Xu, and Kui is presiding above. Kui governs the storehouse of weapons; prohibitions must not violate the proper time. Hence it says, “It is favorable to ward off bandits.”
○ Divination concerning business: In commerce, everything depends on taking advantage of circumstances, and it is also important to acquire things smoothly. Acquiring by opposition is banditry; acquiring smoothly is warding off bandits. “Those above and below” means the selling and buying parties; when seller and buyer are harmonious, those above and below are compliant. Auspicious.
○ Divination concerning marriage: “Striking the ignorant” was rendered by Ma and Zheng as “binding the ignorant,” which accords perfectly with the idea of the old man beneath the moon binding red silk around the feet. The Tun hexagram twice says, “Not bandits but marriage partners,” meaning that a good match becomes a marriage, while a resentful match becomes an enemy. “It is favorable to ward off bandits” necessarily indicates a good match. A woman’s virtue prizes compliance; the Image says, “Those above and below are compliant,” so the household must be peaceful. Auspicious.
○ Divination concerning pregnancy: A boy. This boy should certainly be raised with strict discipline during childhood.
[Case] At the winter solstice of the twenty-seventh year of the Meiji era, divination was performed concerning relations between our country and Britain in the twenty-eighth year, yielding Meng changing to Shi.
Judgment: This hexagram depicts mist beneath a mountain, an image of dimness in which one cannot see far; hence it is named Meng. When a person obtains this hexagram, it means that feelings between oneself and another are not communicated and one does not know what to do; relations between states are the same. Those whose knowledge and understanding are not yet clear are called “repeatedly ignorant”; each line of this hexagram contains the meaning of teaching the ignorant. Yang lines represent teachers, yin lines students. The top line is yang but has lost centrality; it handles matters too aggressively, lacking human feeling and justice, and may even provoke resentment in return. Hence it says, “Strike the ignorant; it is not favorable to become a bandit, but favorable to ward off bandits.” Now that this hexagram has been obtained, let our country be compared to an honest and well-behaved student and Britain to an arrogant teacher. After our country defeated Qing in war, Britain consequently developed jealous thoughts. Fortunately, the top line occupies a position without office or rank, so there is no need to trouble ourselves; we may simply refrain from regarding it as a teacher, respect it while keeping our distance, speak gently, and be tolerant in order to strengthen friendly relations. Even if it takes steps to interfere, we should politely decline; we must not create an enemy. This is what is meant by “it is not favorable to become a bandit, but favorable to ward off bandits.”
The Commentary on the Image says: It is beneficial to defend against bandits because those above and below are in accord.
“Striking the ignorant” means that when one cannot “embrace the ignorant,” one uses a staff as a disciplinary instrument and, in anger, drives them out by striking them. This hexagram has four yin lines and two yang lines. The four yin lines are all benighted, while the two yang lines both possess the firm and enlightened talents and virtues sufficient to strike ignorance. The Second Nine has the virtue of firmness and centrality; its instruction and guidance are measured, with leniency and severity appropriately balanced. It can embrace ignorance, which is what is meant by “disciplining them with encouragement.” This line, however, is yang occupying a yin position; its firmness has gone to excess and lost centrality. In dealing with ignorance, it therefore strikes it, which is what is meant by “admonishing them with authority.” The character “strike” is sharper and more severe than “embrace” in “embracing the ignorant” or “bring forth” in “bringing forth the ignorant”; this is self-evident. Yet when ignorance is repeatedly encountered and the teaching is rejected—when it is first brought forth without gratitude, then embraced without awakening—the methods of instruction are nearly exhausted. The Top Nine likewise acts only because circumstances leave no alternative. If the striking becomes too severe, it inevitably turns excessively harsh and violent; the one who strikes may in turn become the bandit. Hence it says, “It is not favorable to become a bandit.” Yet because the ignorant are stubborn and unresponsive, if one merely tolerates them generously without warning them through authority, they may become bandits when their ignorance reaches its extreme; excessive leniency would then harm them. The one who strikes them governs ignorance strictly precisely in order to prevent them from becoming bandits. Hence it says, “It is favorable to ward off bandits.” To “become a bandit” means that the bandit is within oneself; to “ward off bandits” means that the bandit is on the other side. Gen is the hand, an image of striking; Kan is the thief, an image of banditry; Gen’s stopping above is an image of warding off bandits. Although the Top Nine corresponds with the Third Six, the Third Six does not proceed smoothly: it is a bandit, not a marriage partner. Therefore it is favorable to ward it off. When this line changes, it becomes the Shi hexagram, which also contains an image of striking and thus an image of banditry. The meaning of the Commentary on the Image is that this hexagram possesses the virtue of firm enlightenment, stands beside the Fifth Six to assist and support it, and corresponds with the Third Six to instruct and guide it. Moreover, from the Top Nine down to the Third Six, there is no yang-line obstacle between their correspondences and affinities. This represents the utmost compliance; therefore it says, “It is favorable to ward off bandits; those above and below are compliant.”
[Divination]
○ Divination concerning warfare: The upper celestial marker is in Xu, and Kui is presiding above. Kui governs the storehouse of weapons; prohibitions must not violate the proper time. Hence it says, “It is favorable to ward off bandits.”
○ Divination concerning business: In commerce, everything depends on taking advantage of circumstances, and it is also important to acquire things smoothly. Acquiring by opposition is banditry; acquiring smoothly is warding off bandits. “Those above and below” means the selling and buying parties; when seller and buyer are harmonious, those above and below are compliant. Auspicious.
○ Divination concerning marriage: “Striking the ignorant” was rendered by Ma and Zheng as “binding the ignorant,” which accords perfectly with the idea of the old man beneath the moon binding red silk around the feet. The Tun hexagram twice says, “Not bandits but marriage partners,” meaning that a good match becomes a marriage, while a resentful match becomes an enemy. “It is favorable to ward off bandits” necessarily indicates a good match. A woman’s virtue prizes compliance; the Image says, “Those above and below are compliant,” so the household must be peaceful. Auspicious.
○ Divination concerning pregnancy: A boy. This boy should certainly be raised with strict discipline during childhood.
[Case] At the winter solstice of the twenty-seventh year of the Meiji era, divination was performed concerning relations between our country and Britain in the twenty-eighth year, yielding Meng changing to Shi.
Judgment: This hexagram depicts mist beneath a mountain, an image of dimness in which one cannot see far; hence it is named Meng. When a person obtains this hexagram, it means that feelings between oneself and another are not communicated and one does not know what to do; relations between states are the same. Those whose knowledge and understanding are not yet clear are called “repeatedly ignorant”; each line of this hexagram contains the meaning of teaching the ignorant. Yang lines represent teachers, yin lines students. The top line is yang but has lost centrality; it handles matters too aggressively, lacking human feeling and justice, and may even provoke resentment in return. Hence it says, “Strike the ignorant; it is not favorable to become a bandit, but favorable to ward off bandits.” Now that this hexagram has been obtained, let our country be compared to an honest and well-behaved student and Britain to an arrogant teacher. After our country defeated Qing in war, Britain consequently developed jealous thoughts. Fortunately, the top line occupies a position without office or rank, so there is no need to trouble ourselves; we may simply refrain from regarding it as a teacher, respect it while keeping our distance, speak gently, and be tolerant in order to strengthen friendly relations. Even if it takes steps to interfere, we should politely decline; we must not create an enemy. This is what is meant by “it is not favorable to become a bandit, but favorable to ward off bandits.”