above Dschen, the Arousing, thunder · below Kun, the Receptive, earth
This sign is about enthusiasm and how it arises. At the beginning of summer the thunder comes rushing out of the earth, and a long tension is released; the Image links this with music that brings people together. Enthusiasm arises when someone is in touch with what others feel and acts in harmony with it. So listen first to what moves people, and start from there. Orders that run against their feelings only arouse bitterness.
What moves the people you want to win over, and where does your cause connect with it?
The strong line in the fourth place, the place of the leading official, meets with response and obedience from all the other, weak lines. The upper primary sign, Dschen, has movement as its attribute; the lower, Kun, obedience and devotion. So a movement is begun that meets with devotion and therefore carries people along and fills them with enthusiasm. Of great importance, moreover, is the law of movement along the line of least resistance, which is expressed in this sign as a law for natural events and human life.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Enthusiasm. It is favourableto appoint helpers and send armies on the march.
The time of enthusiasm rests on there being a man of consequence at hand who is in touch with the soul of the people and acts in harmony with it. That is why he meets with general, willing obedience. To awaken enthusiasm, therefore, one must shape one’s orders to the nature of those who are led. On this rule of movement along the line of least resistance rests the inviolability of the laws of nature. They are not something outside things, but the harmony of movement immanent in things. That is why the heavenly bodies do not stray from their courses, and all natural events take place with fixed regularity. Matters stand in a similar way in human society. Here too only such laws can be put into effect as have their roots in the feeling of the people, while laws that run counter to this feeling only arouse bitterness.
Enthusiasm then also makes it possible to appoint helpers to carry out the work without having to fear secret opposition. It is enthusiasm, too, that is able to unite mass movements, as in war, in such a way that they win victory.
Thunder rings out, rising from the earth:the image of enthusiasm.So the kings of old made musicin honour of meritand offered it gloriously to the highest God,inviting their ancestors to share in it.
When thunder, the electrical force, comes rushing forth from the earth again at the beginning of summer, and the first thunderstorm refreshes nature, a long tension is released. Relief and joy take hold. In a similar way music has the power to release the tension in the heart, the power of dark feelings. The enthusiasm of the heart expresses itself involuntarily in the sound of song, in dance and in rhythmic movement of the body. Since ancient times the inspiring effect of invisible sound, which moves and unites the hearts of men, has been felt to be a mystery. Rulers made use of this natural inclination towards music. They raised it up and gave it order. Music was regarded as something serious and sacred; it was meant to purify the feelings of men. It was meant to praise the virtues of heroes and so build a bridge to the invisible world. In the temple, God was approached with music and pantomimes (from which the theatre later developed). Religious feeling towards the creator of the world was united with the most sacred human feelings, those of reverence for the ancestors. The ancestors were invited to these services as guests of the Lord of Heaven and as representatives of mankind in those higher regions. As one’s own past was thus linked with the deity in solemn moments of religious enthusiasm, the bond between deity and mankind was made whole. The ruler, who revered the deity in his ancestors, was thereby the Son of Heaven, in whom the heavenly and the earthly worlds touched mystically. These thoughts are the last and highest summing-up of Chinese culture. Master Kung himself said of the great sacrifice at which these rites were performed: ‘He who fully understood this sacrifice could rule the world as though it were turning on his hand.’
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 ○.
Enthusiasm that shows itself brings misfortune.
Someone in a modest position boasts enthusiastically of their grand connections, and this arrogance turns out badly. Don’t show off about your connections or advantages. Enthusiasm belongs only where it is a shared mood that binds you to others, and never as a feeling that is about you alone.
Someone in a subordinate position has distinguished connections, of which he boasts with enthusiasm. Through this arrogance he inevitably draws misfortune upon himself. Enthusiasm must never be a selfish feeling; it is justified only as a general mood that binds one to others.
Firm as a stone. Not a whole day.Perseverance brings good fortune.
Whoever lets no enthusiasm dazzle them sees the first signs of what is coming with complete clarity. Don’t flatter those above you or neglect those below. As soon as the first discord appears, withdraw in good time, without waiting even a single day; if you stay this firm, it turns out well.
Here someone is portrayed who does not let himself be beguiled by any illusions. While others let themselves be dazzled by enthusiasm, he recognises the first signs of the time with complete clarity. So he is not flattering towards those above, nor negligent towards those below. So he is firm as stone. As soon as the first sign of discord appears, he knows how to withdraw in good time, without losing even a single day. Perseverance in such conduct brings good fortune.
Confucius says of this: ‘To know the seeds, that is surely divine. The noble one, in his dealings with those above, is not flattering, and in his dealings with those below, not presumptuous. He surely knows the seeds. The seeds are the first imperceptible beginning of movement, the first indication of good fortune (and misfortune). The noble one sees the seeds and acts at once. He does not first wait the whole day. In the Book of Changes it says:
“Firm as a stone. Not a whole day. Perseverance brings good fortune.”
Firm as a stone, why wait a whole day?One may know the judgement.The noble one knows the hidden and the manifest.He knows the weak, and knows the strong as well:therefore the myriads look up to him.’
Enthusiasm gazing upwards gives rise to remorse.Hesitating brings remorse.
Gazing up with enthusiasm at those above you, instead of staying independent, leads to regret. Hesitating too long brings regret as well. If you want to draw closer to someone, seize the right moment, neither too eager nor too late; only then do you get it right.
Here is the opposite of the preceding line: there independence, here enthusiastic gazing upwards. If one hesitates too long, that too gives rise to remorse. In drawing near, what matters is to seize the right moment; only then does one hit on what is right.
The origin of enthusiasm. He attains great things.Do not doubt.Your friends gather around youas around a hairpin.
Enthusiasm flows from someone who is sure, free of misgivings and wholly truthful. Don’t doubt, and place your trust in people; that is how you win them over to working with you wholeheartedly. As a hairpin holds the hair together, you can unite others through the support you give them.
Someone who is able to awaken enthusiasm through his own assurance and freedom from misgivings: because he does not doubt and is wholly truthful, he draws people to him. By placing his trust in them he wins them over to enthusiastic cooperation, and succeeds. As a hairpin gives the hair support and holds it together, so he holds people together through the support he gives them.
Constantly ill, and yet he never dies.
Constant pressure leaves no room to breathe freely, and no enthusiasm can arise. There is something good in it too: the pressure keeps you from using up your strength in empty enthusiasm. So see it as a safeguard as well; the very burden that persists can carry you through this time.
Here enthusiasm is obstructed. One is under constant pressure that does not let one breathe freely. But in certain circumstances this pressure has its good side. It keeps one from using up one’s strength in empty enthusiasm. So the constant pressure can serve precisely to keep one alive.
Blinded enthusiasm.But if, once it is complete, one comes round to change, there is no blame.
This is enthusiasm that has already turned into blindness. Even now it is not too late: if you change even now, that is not a mistake. Come back to your senses and correct your course; sobering up from false enthusiasm is quite possible and very favourable.
To let oneself be blinded by enthusiasm is bad. But even if this blindness is already an accomplished fact, if one can still change, one becomes free of blame. Sobering up from false enthusiasm is quite possible and very favourable.
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.