The I Ching or Book of Changes (124 page)

Six in the fourth place:

a
) The wild goose gradually draws near the tree.

Perhaps it will find a flat branch. No blame.

b
) “Perhaps it will find a flat branch.” It is devoted and gentle.

This line has entered the upper trigram Sun, wood, hence the image of its gradually approaching a tree. The tree itself affords no foothold for the wild goose, whose feet are not made for clutching; but through adaptability and devotion it may find a flat branch. This is a weak line in a weak place, hence correct. It is therefore adaptable and cautious, and thus temporarily finds a resting place.

Nine in the fifth place:

a
) The wild goose gradually draws near the summit.

For three years the woman has no child.

In the end nothing can hinder her.

Good fortune.

b
) In the end nothing can hinder good fortune. One attains one’s wish.

This line is the upper ruler of the hexagram, hence it is the summit to which the wild goose draws near. It stands in relationship to the lower ruler of the hexagram, the six in the second place; the correspondence between the two places is analogous to the relation of husband and wife. Hence the idea that union finally takes place. But this takes three years, for the line is separated from the six in the second place by the nuclear trigram K’an, danger. However, the union is based on natural affinity; hence it can be delayed but not permanently prevented.

Nine at the top:

a
) The wild goose gradually draws near the cloud heights.

Its feathers can be used for the sacred dance.

Good fortune.

b
) “Its feathers can be used for the sacred dance. Good fortune.” He is not to be disconcerted.

The place at the top is the region of the clouds, and here the character
lu
, really meaning a plateau (cf. the nine in the third place) has mistakenly been written in place of another character meaning “highest heights.”

The trigram Sun means wind. This suggests flight through the clouds. The line is strong and already outside the affairs of the world. It is regarded by the others solely as an example and thus exerts a beneficent influence. It no longer enters into the confusion of mundane affairs.

The dances mentioned were sacred pantomimes in which feathers of a special sort were used. The idea inhering in this line recalls that of the top line of Kuan, VIEW (
20
). In the latter too the line as such “stands outside the affairs of the world, taking part only as a spectator.

54. Kuei Mei / The Marrying Maiden

The hexagram of THE MARRYING MAIDEN is based on the idea that the girl is marrying on her own initiative. Her character is not good, therefore the Commentary on the Decision says: “ ‘Nothing that would further.’ The yielding rests upon the hard.” This refers to the six in the third place and to the six at the top, which are thus the constituting rulers of the hexagram. The six in the fifth place, on the other hand, is in the place of honor and associates with those below; thus it changes what is not good into good and transforms misfortune into good fortune. Because of this the six in the fifth place is the governing ruler of the hexagram.

The Sequence

Through progress one is sure to reach the place where one belongs. Hence there follows the hexagram of THE MARRYING MAIDEN.
¹

Miscellaneous Notes

THE MARRYING MAIDEN shows the end of maidenhood.

This hexagram is judged in very different ways. In later times it was considered immoral for a girl to marry on her own initiative. The mores demanded that the girl wait for the
man to take the lead, as set forth in the preceding hexagram. This goes back to patriarchal times. But the present hexagram has also so to speak a cosmic meaning. For, according to the arrangement of the eight trigrams by King Wên [Inner-World Arrangements
²
], the upper trigram Chên belongs in the east and denotes spring, the beginning of life; the lower trigram Tui belongs in the west and denotes autumn, the end of life, and the two nuclear trigrams K’an and Li represent the north (winter) and the south (summer) respectively. Consequently the whole cycle of life is contained in this hexagram.

THE JUDGMENT

THE MARRYING MAIDEN.

Undertakings bring misfortune.

Nothing that would further.

Commentary on the Decision

THE MARRYING MAIDEN describes the great meaning of heaven and earth. If heaven and earth do not unite, all creatures fail to prosper.

THE MARRYING MAIDEN means the end and beginning of humanity.

Joyousness in movement: she who marries is the young girl.

“Undertakings bring misfortune.” The places are not the appropriate ones.

“Nothing that would further.” The yielding rests upon the hard.

In the sequence of the trigrams in the Primal Arrangement,
³
which corresponds with the world of the idea, Ch’ien is in the south and K’un in the north; Li is in the east as the sun and K’an in the west as the moon. In the Inner-World Arrangement, which corresponds with the phenomenal world, the action is transferred to the four trigrams Chên (east), Li (south),
Tui (west), and K’an (north). Sun and moon here take the place of heaven and earth as active forces. Heaven, Ch’ien, has withdrawn to the northwest, and the eldest son, Chên, in the east, is the originator of life. The earth, K’un, has withdrawn to the southwest, and the youngest daughter, Tui, in the west, presides over harvest and birth. Thus the present hexagram indicates the cosmic order of the relations of the sexes and the cycle of life.

The interpretation given by Liu Yüan
⁴
in the
Chou I Hêng Chieh
is significant. He sees in the hexagram not the maiden (Tui) following an older man (Chên), but the elder brother (Chên) leading his younger sister to her husband. A certain basis for this view is afforded by the words accompanying the fifth line. We are dealing here with reminiscences of matriarchal times disseminated in popular romance by the story of how Chung K’uei gave his sister in marriage.

THE MARRYING MAIDEN means the beginning and end of humanity, as Chên in the east means spring, ascent, and Tui in the west means autumn, decline. The commentary then explains the name of the hexagram by citing the attributes of the two trigrams—Tui, joyousness, and Chên, movement. The judgment on the hexagram, “Undertakings bring misfortune,” is derived from the position of the four middle lines, none of which is in its proper place. “Nothing that would further” results from the position of the six in the third place (one of the rulers of the hexagram), which is over the hard nine in the second place, and from the positions of the other two rulers, the six in the fifth place and the six at the top, both over the hard nine in the fourth place.

THE IMAGE

Thunder over the lake:

The image of THE MARRYING MAIDEN.

Thus the superior man

Understands the transitory

In the light of the eternity of the end.

In the autumn everything comes to its end. When thunder is over the lake, this end is near. The eternity of the end is suggested by the trigram Chên, which comes forth in the east (spring) and reaches the end of its activity in the west (autumn), in accordance with fixed laws. At that moment the death-dealing power of autumn, which destroys all transient beings, becomes active. Through knowledge of these laws, one reaches those regions which are beyond beginning and end, birth and death.

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning:

a
) The marrying maiden as a concubine.

A lame man who is able to tread.

Undertakings bring good fortune.

b
) “The marrying maiden as a concubine,” because that gives duration.

“A lame man who is able to tread. Good fortune,” because they receive each other.

This line is at the bottom, in an inferior position. Furthermore, it is in the trigram Tui, the youngest daughter; hence the idea of a concubine. Tui, the youngest daughter, is weak in relation to the eldest son (just as Tui is weak in relation to Ch’ien in
hexagram 10
, Lü, TREADING, in which the image of a lame, one-eyed man likewise occurs). The lowest line stands for the foot, hence the idea of a lame man, because there is no relationship with the fourth line. “Receive each other” means that the first line is in the relationship of receiving to the second, serving the latter line as well as the fifth; therefore it is able to accomplish something indirectly at least, and advances.

Nine in the second place:

a
) A one-eyed man who is able to see.

The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.

b
) “The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.” The permanent law is not changed.

This line is in the lowest place of the nuclear trigram Li, which means eye. It stands in the relationship of correspondence to the fifth line, which is weak; hence the image of a one-eyed man.

Since the line is strong and central, it is not changed, although the line that belongs to it is weak and not good. It is true that this brings it into darkness and loneliness—it is under the nuclear trigram K’an, abyss, that is, a gloomy valley—but it does not change its attitude toward the law and remains faithful to its duty.

Six in the third place: