The I Ching or Book of Changes (65 page)

This section refers again to the Book of Changes in general. Its theme is that the book reveals the meaning of events in the universe and thereby imparts a divine mystery to the nature and action of the man who puts his trust in it, so that he is enabled to meet every event in the right way and even to aid the gods in governing the world.

10. The Master said: Whoever knows the tao of the changes and transformations, knows the action of the gods.

CHAPTER X. The Fourfold Use of the Book of Changes

1. The Book of Changes contains a fourfold tao of the holy sages. In speaking, we should be guided by its judgments; in action, we should be guided by its changes; in making objects, we should be guided by its images; in seeking an oracle, we should be guided by its pronouncements.

2. Therefore the superior man, whenever he has to make or do something, consults the Changes, and he does so in words. It takes up his communications like an echo; neither far nor near, neither dark nor deep exist for it, and thus he learns of the things of the future. If this book were not the most spiritual thing on earth, how could it do this?

Here the psychological basis of the oracle is described. The person consulting the oracle formulates his problem precisely in words, and regardless of whether it concerns something distant or near, secret or profound, he receives—as though it were an echo—the appropriate oracle, which enables him to know the future. This rests on the assumption that the conscious and the supraconscious enter into relationship. The conscious process stops with the formulation of the question. The unconscious process begins with the division of the yarrow stalks, and when we compare the result of this division with the text of the book, we obtain the oracle.

3. The three and five operations are undertaken in order to obtain a change. Divisions and combinations of the numbers are made. If one proceeds through the changes, they complete the forms of heaven and earth. If the number of changes is increased to the utmost, they determine all images on earth. If this were not the most changing thing on earth, how could it do this?

A great deal has been said about the “three and five” divisions, and even Chu Hsi
¹
is of the opinion that the passage is no longer comprehensible. But we need only take as a basis
chapter IX
, section 3, which the passage above serves to explain further, in order to establish coherence in the text. The “three” operations are the division into two heaps and the special disposition of a single stalk, “to represent the three powers.” After this each of the two heaps is counted through by fours, because “there are two intercalary months in five years,” and thus we arrive at three plus two, i.e., five operations, which yield one change. We proceed in this way with divisions and combinations until we “complete the forms of heaven and earth,” that is, until we obtain, as a first result, one of the eight primary trigrams or a “small completion” (cf.
chapter IX
, sec. 7). Continuing until the topmost or sixth line is reached, we obtain a complete image, which is always composed of two trigrams.

4. The Changes have no consciousness, no action; they are quiescent and do not move. But if they are stimulated, they penetrate all situations under heaven. If they were not the most divine thing on earth, how could they do this?

Here we have a plain statement of what has been brought out in the remarks on section 2.
²

5. The Changes are what has enabled the holy sages to reach all depths and to grasp the seeds of all things.

6. Only through what is deep can one penetrate all wills on earth. Only through the seeds can one complete
all affairs on earth. Only through the divine can one hurry without haste and reach the goal without walking.

Here it is shown that because the Book of Changes reaches down into the regions of the unconscious, both space and time are eliminated. Space, as the principle of diversity and confusion, is overcome by the deep, the simple. Time, as the principle of uncertainty, is overcome by the easy, the germinal.

7. When the Master said, “The Book of Changes contains a fourfold tao of the holy sages,” this is what is meant.

It may be assumed that section 1 is based on a saying of Confucius that has been rhetorically elaborated and is once more summarized here.

CHAPTER XI. On the Yarrow Stalks and the Hexagrams and Lines

1. The Master said: The Changes, what do they do? The Changes disclose things, complete affairs, and encompass all ways on earth—this and nothing else. For this reason the holy sages used them to penetrate all wills on earth and to determine all fields of action on earth, and to settle all doubts on earth.

Here again we have a saying of the Master placed at the head of a chapter which then develops and interprets it.

2. Therefore the nature of the yarrow stalks is round and spiritual. The nature of the hexagrams is square and wise. The meaning of the six lines changes, in order to furnish information.

In this way the holy sages purified their hearts, withdrew, and hid themselves in the secret. They concerned themselves with good fortune and misfortune
in common with other men. They were divine, hence they knew the future; they were wise, hence they stored up the past. Who is it that can do all this? Only the reason and clear-mindedness of the ancients, their knowledge and wisdom, their unremitting divine power.

Here the triplicity of the first section is consistently carried further. Penetration of all wills is paralleled with the spirituality of the yarrow stalks: they are round because they are symbols of heaven and of the spirit. Their basic number is seven, their total number is forty-nine (7 x 7). The hexagrams stand for the earth; their basic number is eight, their total number is sixty-four (8 x 8). They serve to determine the field of action. Finally, the individual lines are movable and changeable (their basic numbers are nine and six), in order to give information and to settle doubts pertaining to particular situations.

The holy sages were possessed of this knowledge. They withdrew into seclusion and cultivated the spirit, so that they were able to penetrate the minds of all men (penetration), so that they could determine good fortune and misfortune (the field of action), and so that they knew the past and the future (settlement of doubts). They could do this thanks to their reason and clear-mindedness (penetration of wills), their knowledge and wisdom (determination of the field of action), and their divine power (settlement of doubts). This divine power to battle (
shên wu
) acts without weakening itself (this is a better reading than “without killing”).

3. Therefore they fathomed the tao of heaven and understood the situations of men. Thus they invented these divine things in order to meet the need of men. The holy sages fasted for this reason, in order to make their natures divinely clear.

Because these wise men knew equally well the laws of the universe and what was needful to man, they invented the use of the oracle stalks—“these divine things”—in order thus to
answer the needs of men. And so they concentrated their thoughts in holy meditation for the purpose of attaining the necessary power and fullness of being. Therefore the understanding of the Book of Changes calls for a similar concentration and meditation.

4. Therefore they called the closing of the gates the Receptive, and the opening of the gate the Creative. The alternation between closing and opening they called change. The going forward and backward without ceasing they called penetration. What manifests itself visibly they called an image; what has bodily form they called a tool. What is established in usage they called a pattern. That which furthers on going out and coming in, that which all men live by, they called the divine.

In this passage are shown the tao of heaven and the conditions of men as recognized by the holy sages. The closing and the opening of the gates signify the alternation of rest and movement. These are likewise two conditions pertaining to yoga practice that are attainable only through individual training. Penetration is that state in which the individual has attained sovereign mastery in the psychic sphere as well and is able to move forward and backward in time. The next sentences show how the material world arises. First of all there is a pre-existent image, an idea; then a copy of this archetypal image takes shape as a corporeal form. That which regulates this process of imitation is a pattern; and the force that generates these processes is the divine principle. Many parallels to these expositions are to be found in Lao-tse.

5. Therefore there is in the Changes the Great Primal Beginning. This generates the two primary forces. The two primary forces generate the four images. The four images generate the eight trigrams.

The Great Primal Beginning,
t’ai chi
, plays an important role in later Chinese natural philosophy. Originally
chi
is the ridgepole—a simple line symbolizing the positing of oneness
(———). This positing of oneness implies also a positing of duality, an above and a below. The conditioning element is further designated as an undivided line, while the conditioned element is represented by means of a divided line (— —). These are the two polar primary forces later designated as yang, the bright principle, and yin, the dark. Then, through doubling, there arise the four images:

These correspond with the four seasons of the year. Through addition of another line, there arise the eight trigrams:

The same procedure is mentioned in chapter 42 of Lao-tse.

6. The eight trigrams determine good fortune and misfortune. Good fortune and misfortune create the great field of action.

The “great field of action” are the regulations and rules instituted by the sages in order to obtain good fortune for men and to avoid misfortune.

7. Therefore: There are no greater primal images than heaven and earth. There is nothing that has more movement or greater cohesion than the four seasons. Of the images suspended in the heavens, there is none more light-giving than the sun and the moon. Of the honored and highly placed, there is none greater than he who possesses wealth and rank. With respect to creating things for use and making tools helpful to the whole world, there is no one greater than the holy sages. For comprehending the chaotic diversity of things and exploring what is hidden, for penetrating the depths and extending influence afar, thereby determining good fortune and
misfortune on earth and consummating all efforts on earth, there is nothing greater than the oracle.

As in chapter 25 of Lao-tse, where the four great things in the universe are discussed, the great things in nature and in the world of men are here named together. Heaven and earth offer the archetypal image to be imitated. Among all things, the seasons have the most movement and the greatest degree of cohesion; the brightest are the sun and the moon.

On earth the most exalted person is the king of men, the sage on the throne, who, wealthy and noble himself, is at the same time the source of wealth and nobility. His helpers are, first, the active man of wisdom, directing and inventing, and, second, the oracle, which, corresponding with the light-giving images, the sun and moon, clarifies and illumines all conditions on earth.

8. Therefore: Heaven creates divine things; the holy sage takes them as models. Heaven and earth change and transform; the holy sage imitates them. In the heavens hang images that reveal good fortune and misfortune; the holy sage reproduces these. The Yellow River brought forth a map and the Lo River brought forth a writing; the holy men took these as models.