above Sun, the Gentle, wind · below Kun, the Receptive, earth
Contemplation has two sides: wanting to understand a situation first, and being seen yourself. This is the moment of deepest inner composure during a sacrifice; whoever is gathered in that way has an effect on others without their knowing how. So look closely at the situation for a while before you act, and gather yourself inwardly. Mere busyness will achieve little now; your bearing speaks louder than many words.
What do you see when you look at your situation calmly for a while, without acting straight away?
With a slight change of stress, the Chinese name of the sign has a double meaning. On the one hand it means contemplating, on the other being seen, being an example. These ideas are suggested by the fact that the sign can be understood as the picture of a tower of the kind that was common in ancient China. From such towers one had a wide view all around, and at the same time such a tower, standing on a mountain, could be seen from far away. So the sign shows a ruler who contemplates the law of heaven above and the customs of the people below, and who by his good government is a lofty example to the masses.
The sign is assigned to the eighth month (September to October). The light force is withdrawing, and the dark is rising again. This aspect, however, does not come into consideration here for the explanation of the sign as a whole.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Contemplation.The washing has been done, but not yet the offering. Trustingly they look up to him.
In China the sacrificial rite began with a washing and a libation, by which the deity was called down. Then the offerings were made. The moment between these two acts is the most sacred, the moment of deepest inner composure. When piety is full of faith and sincere, contemplating it transforms those who are its witnesses and commands their reverence.
In the same way, a sacred seriousness can be seen in nature in the regularity with which all natural events take their course. Contemplating the divine meaning of the world’s workings gives the man who is called to influence others the means of producing the same effects. For this an inner composure is needed, such as religious contemplation brings forth in great people strong in faith. Through it they behold the mysterious divine laws of life and, by the utmost seriousness of inner composure, bring them to realisation in their own personalities. So a mysterious spiritual power goes out from the very sight of them, which works upon people and subdues them without their noticing how it comes about.
The wind moves across the earth:the image of contemplation.So the ancient kings visited the regions of the world,contemplated the people and imparted instruction.
When the wind blows over the earth, it reaches everywhere, and the grass must bow to its power. These two processes find their confirmation in the sign. They were put into practice in the institutions of the kings of antiquity, who on the one hand made regular journeys to gain a view of their people, so that nothing that lived as custom among the people could escape them, and who on the other hand made their influence felt, so that customs that were not right were changed.
The whole points to the power of the superior personality. Such a person will see through the great mass of people to their true dispositions, so that he cannot be deceived; and on the other hand, by his mere presence, by the weight of his personality, he will make such an impression on them that they take their direction from him as the grass does from the wind.
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 ○.
Boyish contemplation.For a lesser man, no blame.For a noble one, humiliating.
This is thoughtless watching from a distance, like a child who does not understand what is going on. For someone without responsibility, that is not a mistake. If you mean to act with maturity, though, it would be shameful: look at how the influences on your situation fit together and try to understand them.
What is depicted here is an uncomprehending contemplation from a distance. Someone is at work whose effects are not understood by lesser people. That does not matter much among the masses. Whether or not they understand the actions of the ruling sage, they still benefit from them. But for the higher man it is a disgrace. He must not content himself with a foolish, thoughtless contemplation of the prevailing influences. He must contemplate them in their connections and try to understand them.
Contemplation through a chink in the door.Favourable for the perseverance of a woman.
The view through a chink in the door is narrow; it looks from inside out and relates everything to yourself. Within a small, domestic setting that may be enough. If you want to have an effect beyond it, it will not get you far; try to put yourself in other people’s place and enter into their motives.
Through a chink in a door one has only a limited view. One looks from inside out. The way of seeing is subjectively limited. One relates everything to oneself. One cannot put oneself in the other person’s place and enter into his motives. This is fitting for a good housewife. She need understand nothing of the affairs of the world. For a man who has to work in public life, however, such a narrowly selfish way of seeing is of course harmful.
The difference in how the conduct of men and of women is judged is not confined to ancient China. The picture of the housewife that Schiller draws in the ‘Song of the Bell’ moves entirely within this circle of ideas.
Contemplation of my lifedecides between progress and withdrawal.
Here you turn your gaze from the world outside back to yourself, to decide between going forward and drawing back. What counts is less the circling of your own thoughts than a look at the effects you have. See what your actions have brought about in others; that tells you whether to go on or step back.
This is the place of transition. One no longer looks outwards to receive more or less limited or confused pictures, but turns one’s contemplation upon oneself in order to find the direction for one’s decisions. This turning inwards of contemplation is precisely the overcoming of the naive selfishness of one who views everything only from his own standpoint. One arrives at reflection and with it at objectivity. Self-knowledge, however, is not a preoccupation with one’s own thoughts, but with the effects that go out from one. Only the effects of one’s life give a picture that entitles us to decide between progress and decline.
Contemplation of the light of the kingdom.It is favourable to act as the guest of a king.
This line shows someone who understands what makes a community flourish and who therefore belongs where they can be effective. Look for a place where you are left to work independently and are respected. There you should be treated as an honoured guest, and nobody should use you as a mere tool.
Here we see a man who understands the secrets by which a kingdom is brought to flower. Such a man must be given an authoritative position where he can be effective. He should be, as it were, a guest; that is, he should be able to act independently and be honoured, not used as a tool.
Contemplation of my life.The noble one is without blame.
Anyone who carries responsibility and knows that others look up to them must always be ready to examine themselves. This does not mean idle brooding about yourself; the measure is the effect you have. Check whether your influence on others is good; then you make no mistake.
A man in an authoritative position, to whom others look up, must always be ready to examine himself. The right kind of self-examination, however, does not consist in idly reflecting on oneself, but in examining the effects that go out from one. Only when these effects are good, when one exerts a good influence on others, will contemplation of one’s own life bring the satisfaction of being without fault.
Contemplation of his life.The noble one is without blame.
In the highest place everything personal recedes: a sage, apart from the bustle of the world and free of self, contemplates the laws of life. Stand back and look at your question free of your own wishes; from that distance you see most clearly how to act so that you make no mistake.
Whereas the previous line depicts a man who contemplates himself, here, in the highest place, everything personal, everything bound up with one’s own self, is set aside. Here we see a sage who, outside the bustle of the world and free of self, contemplates the laws of life and so recognises, as the highest thing, how one becomes free of blame.
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.