above Dui, the Joyous, lake · below Dschen, the Arousing, thunder
This is about following and about being followed. If you hold to what is right, it succeeds. Anyone who wants a following must first learn to adapt, and only by serving do you come to lead. Follow only where it agrees with what is right, and adapt to the times instead of wearing yourself out in misplaced resistance. The Image adds that in the evening you turn in and rest. Cunning and pressure win nobody over; a following that is forced always stirs up resistance.
Who are you following at the moment, and does that square with what you believe is right?
Above is the Joyous, whose character is joy; below is the Arousing, whose character is movement. Joy in movement leads to following. The Joyous is the youngest daughter, the Arousing the eldest son. An older man places himself beneath a young maiden and shows her consideration. In this way he moves her to follow him.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Following has supreme success.Perseverance is favourable. No blame.
To win a following, one must first know how to adapt oneself. Only by serving does one come to rule, for only in this way does one gain the glad assent of those below, without which there can be no following. Wherever a following is to be compelled by cunning or force, by conspiracy or faction, resistance always stirs and prevents people from following willingly.
Joyful movement, however, can also lead to evil. That is why a condition is added: ‘perseverance is favourable’, that is, consistency in what is right, and ‘without blame’. Just as one should demand a following only on this condition, so one may follow others only on this condition without coming to harm.
The idea of following while adapting to what the time demands is great and important; that is why the appended judgement is so favourable.
In the midst of the lake is thunder: the image of following.So at the hour of evening darkness the noble oneturns in for recovery and rest.
In autumn electricity withdraws into the earth again and rests. The image taken here is thunder in the midst of the lake: not thunder in motion, but thunder in its winter rest. From this image, following emerges in the sense of adapting to what the time requires. Thunder in the midst of the lake points to times of darkness and rest. So the noble one, having worked tirelessly all day, allows himself recovery and rest at night. Any situation turns out well only if one is able to adapt to it and does not wear oneself out in misplaced resistance.
Compare Goethe’s saying:
It still is day, so let a man bestir himself;The night comes on, when no one can work
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 ○.
What sets the standard is changing. Perseverance brings good fortune.Going out of the door to mix with others brings achievement.
There are situations in which the balance between leading and following shifts. If you want to guide others, stay open to their views now, without wavering over every passing opinion of the day. Go out and talk to people of every kind, friends and opponents alike, instead of sitting only among the like-minded; that way it turns out well, and you get something done.
There are exceptional conditions in which the relation between leader and led changes. It is inherent in the idea of adapting and following that, if one wishes to lead others, one stays approachable and lets oneself be guided by the views of those under one. But one must have firm principles in doing so, so as not to waver where only the opinions of the day are at stake. Once one is ready to listen to the opinions of others, one must not sit only with the like-minded and with one’s own party; one must go out of the door and mix freely with people of every kind, friend or foe. Only in this way does one accomplish anything.
If one attaches oneself to the little boy,one loses the strong man.
This is about choosing in friendships and close ties: you cannot keep good company and bad company at the same time. Look carefully at whom you attach yourself to. Throw yourself away on people who are unworthy of you, and you lose touch with those who could help you along in what is good.
In friendships and close relationships one must choose with care. One surrounds oneself either with good company or with bad; one cannot have both at once. If one throws oneself away on the unworthy, one loses touch with people of spiritual stature who could help one forward in what is good.
If one attaches oneself to the strong man,one loses the little boy.Through following one finds what one seeks.It is favourable to remain persevering.
Every real choice has its price: if you stick with people who truly move you forward, you have to part with what is shallow, and that stings a little. In return you find what you are looking for in order to grow. Stand firm, be clear about what you want, and do not let passing whims talk you out of it again.
Once one has found the right connection with people of stature, a certain loss naturally goes with it. One must part from what is low and superficial. Yet in one’s innermost being one will feel content, for one finds what one seeks and needs for the growth of one’s personality. Only one must stand firm. One must know what one wants and not let passing inclinations lead one astray.
Following brings success. Perseverance brings misfortune.To walk the way in truthfulnessbrings clarity.How could that count as blame?
When you have some influence and are approachable towards those below you, followers come easily, though many are only after their own advantage and make themselves indispensable through flattery. If you grow so used to them that you can no longer manage without them, it turns out badly. Keep your own ego out of it and look only at the matter in hand; then you will see through people like that.
When one has a certain influence, one often succeeds in winning followers through affability towards those below. But the people who attach themselves to one are not sincere. They seek their own advantage and try to make themselves indispensable through flattery and servility. If one grows so used to such partisans that one can no longer do without them, it brings misfortune. Only when one is wholly free of one’s own ego and, from conviction, intent solely on what is right and objective, does one gain the clarity to see through such people, and one becomes free of blame.
True in the good. Good fortune!
A short, encouraging line: everyone needs something to follow, something that serves as a guiding star. If you follow what is beautiful and good out of conviction, you may take heart from this line and stay on that path; it turns out well.
Everyone must have something to follow, something that serves him as a guiding star. Whoever follows the beautiful and the good from conviction may find himself strengthened by this saying.
He finds firm devotionand is bound fast besides.The king presents him to the Western Mountain.
The picture is of a sage who has already finished with the bustle of the world, yet comes back once more because someone understands him and will not let him go. Out of this grows a bond that lasts. If someone truly seeks out your experience, it may be right to get involved once more and stand by them in their work.
This concerns a man who for his own part has already left the bustle of the world behind him, an exalted sage. But a follower appears who understands him and will not let him go. So he returns to the world once more and helps the other in his work. Thus a bond of an eternal kind arises.
The parable is taken from the Dschou dynasty. This dynasty honoured meritorious helpers by granting them a place in the ancestral temple of the ruling family on the Western Mountain. In this way such a man was received into the destiny of the ruling house.
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.