above Kan, the Abysmal, water · below Dschen, the Arousing, thunder
At the beginning a lot is slow going and hard to make sense of, and that is what this sign is about. According to the Judgement, great success can grow out of exactly that, if you persevere. The difficulty comes from the sheer abundance of what is struggling to take shape, much as with a first birth, and the work is like sorting silk threads out of a tangle and joining them into strands. Write the muddle down just as it is, pick up one thread and bring in people to help you put it in order. Grabbing at things too early can bring failure, and this is no time to stay on your own.
Which single thread in your muddle could you pick up today, and who could help you with it?
The name of the sign, Dschun, actually depicts a blade of grass that meets an obstacle as it sprouts from the earth. Hence the meaning of difficulty at the beginning. The sign shows how heaven and earth bring forth individual beings. It is their first meeting, and difficulties are bound up with it. The lower sign, Dschen, is the Arousing; its movement is upwards, and its image is thunder. The upper sign, Kan, is the Abysmal, the dangerous; its movement is downwards, and its image is rain. So the situation points to a dense, chaotic profusion. Thunder and rain fill the air. But the chaos clears. The movement directed upwards, while the Abysmal sinks, at last emerges from danger. In the thunderstorm the pent-up forces discharge themselves, and everything breathes again with relief.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Difficulty at the Beginning brings supreme success.Favourable through perseverance.One should undertake nothing.It is favourable to appoint helpers.
Times of coming into being bring difficulties. It is like a first birth. But these difficulties spring from the abundance of everything that is striving for form. Everything is in motion, and so, despite the danger that is present, there is the prospect of great success if one has perseverance. When such times of beginning come as fate, everything is still unformed and dark. One must therefore wait, for any premature grasping could bring failure. It is equally important not to remain alone. One must have helpers in order to master the chaos together with them. That does not mean, however, that one should look on idly at events oneself; one must lend a hand and be there in everything, spurring others on and guiding them.
Clouds and thunder: the image of Difficulty at the Beginning.So the noble one works to untangle and set in order.
Clouds and thunder are represented by particular line ornaments, which means that order is already laid down within the chaos of Difficulty at the Beginning. So in such times of beginning the noble one must sort and arrange the bewildering abundance, as one picks silk threads apart from a tangle and joins them into skeins. To find one’s way in the boundless, one must both separate and connect.
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 ○.
Delay and obstruction.It is favourable to remain persevering.It is favourable to appoint helpers.
An obstacle stands in the way at the start of an undertaking. Pause with care instead of forcing progress, and still keep your goal firmly in view. Look for the right helpers; you will find them if you meet people modestly and don’t set yourself above them.
If one meets with obstruction at the start of an undertaking, one must not try to force progress but must pause with caution. Yet one must not let oneself be thrown off course; one must keep one’s goal steadily and perseveringly in view. It is important to seek out the right helpers. One finds them only by dealing modestly with people and not setting oneself above them. Only then do people come over to one’s side, and with their help the difficulties can be tackled.
Difficulties tower up.Horse and carriage separate.No robber is he;he comes to woo in due time.The maiden is chaste and does not betroth herself.Ten years, then she betroths herself.
In the middle of a deadlock, someone unexpectedly offers relief, and from a quarter you have no connection with. Better to turn such an offer down, however kindly it is meant; the obligation that comes with it would curtail your freedom to decide. If you bide your time, you get what you hoped for in the end.
One is caught in difficulty and obstruction. Then suddenly a turn appears, as if someone were to drive up with horses and carriage and unharness them. This event comes so unexpectedly that one takes the newcomer for a robber. Gradually it becomes clear that he means no harm, but is seeking a friendly bond and offering relief. Yet one does not accept the offer, since it does not come from the right quarter, but waits until the time is fulfilled (ten years are a closed span, a fulfilled time). Then normal conditions return of their own accord, and one can unite with the friend who is meant for one.
Under the image of a bride who stays true to her beloved amid grave conflicts, advice is given for a particular situation in life: if, in times of difficulty when one meets with obstruction, relief is unexpectedly offered from a quarter with which one has no ties, one should be careful and not take on the obligations that such help would bring with it, since otherwise one’s freedom of decision would be impaired. If one waits for the right time, calm conditions will return, and one will attain what one hoped for.
Another interpretation follows from this alternative translation, which is equally possible:
Difficulties tower up.Horse and carriage turn about.Were the robber not there,the suitor would surely come.The maiden is faithful and does not betroth herself.Ten years, then she betroths herself.
He who hunts the stag with no foresterwill only lose himself in the woods.The noble one reads the signs of the timeand would rather hold back.Pressing on brings humiliation.
Anyone who sets off into unknown country without knowledge or guidance gets lost. Don’t try to extricate yourself from a difficult situation in a hurry and on your own. If you lack the advice you need, give up a wish rather than force it; carrying on would bring failure and humiliation.
If one has no guide and tries to hunt in an unfamiliar forest, one goes astray. One must not try to slip out of the difficulties one is in thoughtlessly and without guidance. Fate cannot be cheated. Rash striving without the necessary guidance leads to failure and disgrace. Therefore the noble one, who recognises the seeds of what is to come, will rather give up a wish than bring failure and humiliation on himself by trying to force it.
Horse and carriage separate.Search for union.To go forth brings good fortune.All things work favourably.
This line describes a situation where you ought to act, but your own strength is not enough, and just now a chance offers itself to join with others. Take it, and don’t let false pride hold you back. If you take the first step and let yourself be helped, it turns out well; in a difficult situation there is no shame in that.
One is in a situation where one has a duty to act, but one’s strength is not sufficient. Yet an opportunity offers itself to form a connection. Then one must take hold of it. One must not let false pride and false reserve hold one back. It is a sign of inner clarity when one can bring oneself to take the first step, even if a certain self-denial is involved. In a difficult situation there is no shame in accepting help. If one finds the right helper, all goes well.
Blessing meets with difficulty.Perseverance in small measure brings good fortune,perseverance in great measure brings misfortune.
Good intentions don’t get through here, because others push in between and twist everything. Don’t try to force through anything big now; the general trust it needs is still missing, and that would turn out badly. Keep working quietly, faithfully and conscientiously at small things until matters clear up; that turns out well.
One finds oneself in a position where there is no way to express one’s good intentions so that they really take shape and are understood. Others push in between and distort everything one does. Then one must be cautious and proceed gradually. One must not try to force through anything grand, for such a thing succeeds only when one already enjoys general confidence. Only quietly, through faithful and conscientious work, can one gradually bring it about that matters clear up and the obstruction falls away.
Horse and carriage separate.Tears of blood pour forth.
The line shows someone for whom the difficulties of the beginning have become too much, and who loses heart. This kind of resignation is among the saddest of things. Grief has its time, yet Confucius warns: ‘one must not go on like this for long.’ So don’t give up the fight for good.
There are people for whom the difficulties of the beginning become too heavy. They get stuck and can no longer find their way through. They let their hands fall and give up the struggle. Such resignation is among the saddest of things. That is why Kungtse remarks on it: ‘Tears of blood pour forth: one must not go on like this for long.’
When in the struggle of life one reaches a point where one can go no further and a sigh is wrung from one’s breast, as in that famous passage of Beethoven’s Symphony in C minor, this state must not last. One must harness once more the horses of strong-willed thought and carry the struggle through to its end.
‘Who never rests,who with heart and bloodis bent on what cannot be,he wins the day.’
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.