above Kiën, the Creative, heaven · below Kiën, the Creative, heaven
This sign is about beginning something under your own steam, where there is no pattern yet to follow. The Judgement promises that it succeeds if you persevere. Be strong and tireless, like heaven, which runs its course day after day. In that way every stage you reach prepares the next, and time becomes the means of making the possible real. So work at your plan regularly, a little every day. Keep at bay whatever drags you down, and make a point of shutting it out.
What could you begin in this matter by your own effort, and then keep up day after day?
The sign consists of six undivided lines. The undivided lines correspond to the primal power that is bright, strong, spiritual and active. In its nature the sign is uniformly strong throughout. Since no weakness of any kind clings to it, its attribute is strength. Its image is heaven. Strength is represented as bound to no particular conditions of space; it is therefore understood as movement. Time is taken to be the ground of this movement. So the sign also comprises the power of time and the power of persisting in time, that is, duration.
In explaining the sign, a twofold meaning must be borne in mind throughout: the macrocosmic one and its effect in the human world. Applied to the course of the world, the sign expresses the strong, creative working of the deity. Applied to the human world, it denotes the creative working of the holy man and sage, of the ruler and leader of men, who through his strength awakens their higher nature and helps it unfold.
The sign is assigned to the fourth month (May to June), when the light power stands at its height, before the solstice begins the decline of the year.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
The Creative brings about supreme success,favourable through perseverance.
In their original sense the attributes belong together in pairs. For whoever obtains this oracle, it means that success will be granted to him out of the primal depths of world events, and that everything depends on his seeking his own happiness and that of others solely through perseverance in what is right.
Very early on, reflection turned to the four attributes in their particular meanings. The Chinese word rendered as ‘supreme’ means ‘head, origin, great’. Hence the explanation by Kungtse says: ‘Great indeed is the originating power of the Creative; all beings owe their beginning to it. And this power pervades the whole of heaven.’ For this first attribute also runs through the other three.
The beginning of all things still lies, so to speak, in the beyond, in the form of ideas that have yet to be realised. But the Creative also holds the power to give shape to these archetypes of the ideas. That is what the word ‘success’ denotes. The process is presented under an image from nature: ‘The clouds go their way and the rain works, and every single being streams into its form.’
Carried over into the human sphere, these attributes show the great man the way to great success: ‘Seeing causes and effects in great clarity, he completes the six stages each in its time and, at the right time, ascends upon them to heaven as if on six dragons.’ The six stages are the six individual places of the sign, which are presented further on under the image of dragons. The way to success is here said to lie in recognising and realising the meaning of the world, which, as a law running continuously through end and beginning, brings about all appearances bound by time. Thus every stage attained becomes at the same time the preparation for the next, and time is then no longer an obstacle but the means of making the possible real.
Once the act of creation has been expressed through the two attributes supreme and success, the two terms that follow, ‘favourable’, literally ‘creating what accords with the nature of a being’, and ‘persevering’, literally ‘right and firm’, show the work of preservation as a shaping that goes on realising itself. ‘The course of the Creative alters and shapes the beings until each attains its true nature, the one appointed for it; then it keeps them in accord with the great equilibrium. Thus it shows itself favourable through perseverance.’
Carried over into the human sphere, this shows how the great man brings peace and security to the world through his ordering activity: ‘As he raises his head above the multitude of beings, all the lands come together in repose.’
Another line of speculation goes further still by separating the words ‘supreme, success, favourable, persevering’ and setting them parallel to the four cardinal human virtues. To the attribute ‘supreme’, which as the fundamental principle includes all the other attributes, love is assigned. To the attribute ‘success’ custom is assigned, which orders and organises the expressions of love and so makes them successful. To the attribute ‘favourable’ justice is assigned, which creates conditions in which each person receives what accords with his nature, what is his due and what makes up his happiness. To the attribute ‘perseverance’ wisdom is assigned, which recognises the fixed laws of all that happens and is therefore able to bring about lasting conditions.
These speculations, already suggested in the essay Wen Yen in the second part of the Book of Changes, then formed the bridge by which the philosophy of the five stages of change (elements), rooted in the Book of Documents, was combined with the philosophy of the Book of Changes, which rests purely on the polar duality of positive and negative principles; and in the course of time this opened the door to an ever more far-reaching number symbolism.
Compare Genesis 2:1 ff., where the unfolding of individual beings is likewise traced back to the falling of rain.
The Creative brings about the beginning and the begetting of all beings. It may therefore be called heaven, light power, father, lord. The question now is whether the Creative is conceived in Chinese thought as a person, like Zeus among the Greeks. The answer is that for the Chinese this problem is not the most important one at all. The divine creative principle is, so to speak, beyond the personal. It makes itself felt and noticed only through its overwhelming activity. It does indeed have, as it were, an outward form, and that is heaven. And heaven, like everything that lives, has a self-aware soul, and that is God (the Supreme Ruler). But speaking quite objectively, one refers to all of this as the Creative.
Heaven moves with power.So the noble one makes himself strong and tireless.
Since there is only one heaven, the doubling of the sign Kiën, whose image is heaven, points to the movement of heaven. One complete circuit of heaven is a day. The doubling of the sign means that each day is followed by another. This gives rise to the idea of time and, because it is the same heaven moving with tireless strength, also to the idea of powerful duration in time and beyond it: a movement that never stands still or flags, just as day follows upon day without end. This duration in time is the image of strength as it belongs to the Creative.
From this the wise man takes the model for how he may develop himself so that his influence endures. He must make himself strong in a wholly unified way, by consciously shutting out everything base and everything that drags him down. In this way he gains the tirelessness that rests on closed circles of activity.
Wilhelm placed the signs ○ and □ after certain lines (p. 334 f.). They mark the rulers of the hexagram. □ stands by the constituting ruler: the line that gives the hexagram its meaning, however high it stands and whatever its character. ○ stands by the governing ruler. It is always of good character and becomes ruler through the meaning of the time and its position, usually in the fifth place. Where a line is both, it carries ○.
Concealed dragon. Take no action.
This line shows a strength that still lies below the surface and so cannot yet have any effect. Wait with calm, strong patience, and don’t let outward success or failure throw you off course. Don’t spend your strength too soon trying to force something whose time has not yet come.
In China the dragon has a meaning quite different from the one it has in Western thought. The dragon is the symbol of the mobile, electric, strong and stirring power that shows itself in the thunderstorm. In winter this power withdraws into the earth; in early summer it becomes active again and appears in the sky as lightning and thunder. As a result, the creative forces on earth begin to stir again as well.
Here this creative power is still concealed beneath the earth and therefore has no effect as yet. Carried over into human affairs, this means that a person of consequence is still unrecognised. Yet he remains true to himself all the same. He does not let outward success or failure sway him, but waits for his time, strong and untroubled.
So for whoever draws this line, the task is to wait in calm and strong patience. The time will come to fulfilment. There is no need to fear that a strong will cannot prevail. But one must not spend one’s strength too early or try to force something whose time has not yet come.
Dragon emerging in the field.It is favourable to see the great man.
This is the moment when an ability first shows itself openly, with no special position yet, still one among equals. Anyone who stands out now does so through seriousness and reliability, without trying to. Seek out people who have that effect, and be the same yourself: serious and dependable.
Here the effects of the light power begin to show. Carried over into human affairs, this means that the great man appears in the field of his activity. He does not yet hold a ruling position but is still among his peers. What sets him apart from others, however, is his earnestness, his unconditional reliability, and the influence he exerts on those around him without conscious effort. Such a person is destined to gain great influence and to set the world in order. Therefore it is favourable to see him.
The noble one is creatively at work the whole day long.Even in the evening he is full of inner care.Danger. No blame.
A sphere of activity opens up; the work grows and runs on into the evening. This step upwards is dangerous, because praise and ambition can carry you away and spoil your inner purity. Stay alert to what the new situation really asks of you; that keeps you from going astray, and throwing yourself into it is no mistake.
A sphere of activity opens up for the man of consequence. His fame begins to spread. The masses come over to him. His inner strength is equal to the increased outward activity. There is more than enough to do, and even in the evening, when others rest, plans and cares crowd in on him. Danger is present here, at the place of transition from lowliness to the heights. Many a great man has been ruined because the masses came over to him and swept him along into their own courses. Ambition spoilt his inner purity. But true greatness is not impaired by temptations. If one stays in touch with the seeds of the new time and its demands, one has caution enough to guard against going astray, and remains without blame.
A wavering ascent over the deep. No blame.
At this point two paths lie open: out into a wide sphere of influence, or back into quiet, to work on yourself. No general rule tells you which is right. Decide freely, from what fits your innermost nature, and then follow the path you have chosen sincerely and consistently; that way your wavering is no mistake.
Here the point of transition is reached where freedom can come into play. A twofold possibility lies before the man of consequence: either to rise up and become a guiding force in the wider life of the world, or to withdraw and cultivate his personality in stillness: the way of the hero or that of the hidden saint. There is no general law as to which of these is right. Everyone in such a situation must decide freely according to the innermost laws of his being. If he acts with complete truth and consistency, he will find the way that suits him, and this way is right for him and without blame.
Dragon in flight across the sky.It is favourable to see the great man.
If you have drawn this line, you are at a peak, where your influence can be seen far and wide. Confucius says of this: ‘What is kindred by elective affinity in its innermost being seeks out its own.’ Look for a connection with people who suit you at the deepest level, and with someone whose maturity can show you the way.
Here the great man has reached the sphere of the heavenly beings. His influence extends over the whole world, visible far and wide. Anyone who sees him can call himself blessed.
Kungtse says of this: ‘What agrees in tone sounds together. What is kindred by elective affinity in its innermost being seeks out its own. Water runs towards the damp, fire turns to the dry. The clouds (the breath of heaven) follow the dragon, the wind (the breath of earth) follows the tiger. So the sage rises up, and all beings look to him. What comes from heaven feels akin to what is above. What comes from earth feels akin to what is below. Each follows its own kind.’
The haughty dragon will have something to regret.
The line warns against a climb that aims so high that the link with other people snaps. Anyone who strives like that ends up alone, and it leads to failure, at worst to a fall. Bring your plan back to a scale that matches your strength, and stay in touch with the people around you.
If one tries to climb so high that one loses touch with the rest of humanity, one becomes isolated, and that necessarily leads to failure. Here is a warning against a titanic striving upwards that goes beyond one’s strength. A fall into the depths would be the result.
A host of dragons appears, without heads. Good fortune!
When all six lines move, the Creative turns into the Receptive: strength and gentleness come together. The dragons keep their heads hidden, yet their power is undiminished. Be firm in your decision and gentle in the way you carry it out; then it turns out well.
When all the lines are nines, the whole sign is set in motion and changes into the sign Kun, the Receptive, whose character is devotion. The strength of the Creative and the mildness of the Receptive unite. Strength is indicated by the host of dragons, mildness by the fact that their heads are hidden. This means: mildness in one’s manner of acting, joined with strength of resolve, brings good fortune.
Would you like to put your own question to the I Ching? Six throws of three coins, and the answer appears straight away.
Consult the I ChingTexts by Richard Wilhelm: I Ging. Das Buch der Wandlungen (first edition Jena 1924), translated into English by NUMEN COMPASS from the Diederichs edition, Munich 1996. Wilhelm’s German text is in the public domain. The section ‘What the hexagram says today’, the question for you and the short notes under the lines are our own reading. The I Ching is no substitute for medical, legal or psychological advice.