above Kiën, the Creative, heaven · below Kun, the Receptive, earth
This sign shows a standstill: heaven and earth do not meet, and little will go right. Being stuck says nothing about you. The Image advises withdrawing into your own inner worth: people who are steady within stay true to their principles even when they have no chance to act. Make no concessions just to stay part of things, and use the quiet time for what matters to you. Be wary of glittering offers; don’t let them tempt you.
Which principle do you want to stay true to, even while nothing is moving forward?
The sign is the exact opposite of the preceding one. Heaven above withdraws further and further, the earth below sinks ever deeper. The creative powers are out of touch with each other. It is the time of standstill and decline. The sign is assigned to the seventh month (August to September), when the year has passed its peak and autumn’s withering is in preparation.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Standstill.Bad people are not favourableto the perseverance of the noble one.The great departs, the small draws near.
Heaven and earth have no dealings with each other, and all things grow rigid. Those above and those below are out of touch, and on earth confusion and disorder prevail. The dark is within, and the light is without. Within is weakness, without is hardness; within are the base people, and the noble ones are without. The way of the base is on the rise, the way of the noble is on the wane. But the noble ones do not let themselves be shaken in their principles. If they no longer have the chance to act, they still remain true to these principles and withdraw into seclusion.
Heaven and earth do not join:the image of standstill.So the noble one withdraws into his inner worthso as to avoid the difficulties.He does not accept honour in the form of income.
When mutual mistrust prevails in public life because of the influence the base people hold, fruitful activity is impossible, because the foundation is false. The noble one therefore knows what he has to do in such circumstances. He does not let himself be tempted by brilliant offers into taking part in public affairs, which, since he cannot join in the baseness of the others, would in any case only be dangerous for him. He therefore hides his worth and withdraws into seclusion.
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 ○.
If you pull up ribbon grass, the turf comes along with it.Each after his own kind.Perseverance brings good fortune and success.
One person draws others along, here into withdrawal, because there is no longer any chance to act. Recognise in good time when you can achieve nothing more, and withdraw together with like-minded people. That spares you humiliation and preserves your worth as a person; if you hold steady in this, it turns out well.
The text is almost the same as for the first line of the preceding sign, only in the reverse sense. There one man draws another after him on the way into an official career. Here one draws the other along with him in withdrawing from public life. That is why it says here not ‘Undertakings bring good fortune’ but ‘Perseverance brings good fortune and success’. Only by knowing how to withdraw in good time, when the possibilities of action are no longer there, does one spare oneself humiliation and achieve success in a higher sense, in that one knows how to preserve the worth of one’s personality.
They bear and forbear,which for base people means good fortune.Standstill serves the great man’s success.
In a muddled situation many people curry favour with the powerful, and they would gladly have you with them if you helped them out of the confusion. Don’t mix with the flatterers; your place is elsewhere. For those who fall in line it may turn out well. Bear the consequences of the standstill calmly yourself; it costs you personally, but it brings your principles success.
The base are ready to flatter their superiors in a fawning way. They would also tolerate the noble one if he helped them to resolve the confusion. For them this brings good fortune. But the great man calmly bears the consequences of the standstill. He does not mingle with the crowds of base people. His place is not there. Thus, by having to suffer personally, he brings success to his principles.
They carry shame.
Someone who has risen by illegitimate means realises here that they are not equal to the responsibility and begins to feel ashamed in private. Outwardly, nothing shows yet. Pay attention to this quiet shame, in yourself or in others: it is the beginning of the turn for the better.
The base people who have risen by illegitimate means feel unequal to the responsibility they have taken on. They begin, at first still without showing it outwardly, to feel ashamed in secret. That is the beginning of the turn for the better.
Whoever works at the bidding of the Highest stays without blame.Those of like mind enjoy the blessing.
The standstill is nearing its end, and someone is needed to restore order. Don’t appoint yourself to the task on your own authority; that can lead to mistakes and failures. Act when you are truly called to it and have the standing it needs; then it is not a mistake, the time works in your favour, and everyone of like mind shares in the blessing.
The time of standstill is nearing its turning point. Whoever wants to restore order must be called to it and have the necessary standing. Whoever set himself up as the restorer of order at his own discretion could bring about mistakes and failures. But the one called to the task finds the conditions of the time working in his favour, and his blessing falls to all who are of like mind.
The standstill is easing. Good fortune for the great man!‘If it should miscarry, if it should miscarry!’So he binds it to a bundle of mulberry bushes.
The standstill is easing, and someone who can restore order is at hand. During the transition especially, though, the utmost care is needed. Keep thinking that it could miscarry; it is like tying the matter to mulberry bushes, whose deep roots hold especially fast. Then it turns out well, and the success lasts.
The time is changing. The right man has come who can restore order. Hence good fortune! But precisely in such times of transition, fear and trembling are needed. Only through the utmost concern, which constantly thinks: ‘If it should miscarry!’, is success made firm. When a mulberry bush is cut back, a number of shoots sprout from the root that are especially firm. Hence the securing of success is symbolised by the image of tying it to mulberry bushes.
Confucius says of this: ‘Danger arises where a man feels secure in his place. Ruin threatens where a man seeks to preserve his existence. Confusion arises where a man has everything in order. Therefore the noble one, when he is secure, does not forget danger; when he is established, does not forget ruin; and when he has order, does not forget confusion. In this way he himself comes into safety, and the realm is preserved.’
Standstill ceases.Standstill first, good fortune after.
The standstill ends, though it does not stop of its own accord. It takes the right person and real effort to turn a time of decline into a good one. Tackle whatever can be put back in order; the good that follows the standstill has to be worked for, and then it turns out well.
Standstill does not last for ever. It does not, however, end of its own accord; the right man is needed to bring it to an end. That is the difference between peace and standstill. Peace needs constant effort to be held fast. Left to itself, it would turn into standstill and decline. The time of decline does not turn into peace and prosperity of its own accord; effort is needed to do away with it. This marks out the creative position of man, which is needed if the world is to be put in order.
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.