above Sun, the Gentle, wind · below Li, the Clinging, fire
This is about order close to home: in the family, the household or a small team. The old text speaks of fixed roles as they applied in ancient China; what remains is the core idea that everyone knows their place. The influence has to come from you: words only have power when they are to the point and your whole behaviour matches them. Say clearly and concretely what you expect, and keep to it yourself. General speeches and admonitions achieve nothing at all.
Does what you say match what you do?
The hexagram represents the laws that hold sway within the family. The strong line at the top represents the father, the bottom line the son; the strong fifth line represents the husband, the yielding second line the wife. On the other hand, the two strong lines in the fifth and third places represent two brothers, and the weak lines belonging to them in the fourth and second places their wives, so that all the relationships and ties within the family find the expression proper to their nature. Each individual line has the nature that corresponds to its place. That a strong line nevertheless stands in the sixth place, where a weak line might be expected, indicates most plainly the strong rule that must go out from the head of the family. Here the line is considered not in its character as the sixth but as the topmost. The family shows at work within the household the laws which, carried over to the outside, keep state and world in order. The influence that works outward from within the family is represented by the image of the wind that is generated by the fire.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
The Family. The woman’s perseverance is favourable.
The foundation of the family is the relationship between husband and wife. The bond that holds the family together lies in the loyalty and perseverance of the woman. Her place is within (second line), the man’s place is without (fifth line). That man and woman should take their proper places accords with the great laws of nature. The family needs firm authority, and this authority lies with the parents. When the father is truly a father and the son a son, when the elder brother fills his place as elder brother and the younger his place as younger brother, when the husband is truly a husband and the wife a wife, then the family is in order. When the family is in order, all the social relationships of mankind come into order. Of the five social relationships, three lie within the family: that between father and son (love), between husband and wife (discipline), and between elder and younger brother (order). The loving reverence of the son is then carried over to the prince as loyalty to duty, and the order and affection between brothers are carried over to a friend as loyalty and to one’s superiors as subordination. The family is the seed cell of society, the natural soil on which the practice of moral duties is made easier by natural affection, so that within a narrow circle the foundation is laid from which these duties are then carried over to human relationships in general.
The wind issues from the fire:the image of the family.So the noble one gives his words real contentand his conduct permanence.
Heat generates power; that is the meaning of the wind, which is roused by the fire and issues from it. This is influence that works from the inside out. Exactly the same is needed in the ordering of the family. Here too the influence must go out from one’s own person to others. To be able to exert such an influence, words must have power, and they can have it only if they rest on something real, as the flame rests on its fuel. Only when words are to the point and refer clearly to definite circumstances do they carry influence. General speeches and admonitions have no effect whatever. Furthermore, words must be supported by one’s whole behaviour, just as the wind works through its constancy. Only firm, consistent action will make such an impression on others that they can adapt to it and take it as their guide. If word and behaviour are not in harmony and consistent, the effect fails to appear.
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 ○.
A firm enclosure within the family. Remorse disappears.
At the start of any group living together comes a firm order in which everyone knows their place. If you set clear rules early on, there will be things to regret too, yet what you regret will pass. Establish the order at the outset, before ingrained whims can stand in its way; later they put up far more resistance.
The family must form a firmly bounded unit within which each member knows his place. From the very beginning the children must be accustomed to firm rules, before their will is set on other things. If one begins too late to enforce order, when the children’s will has already been spoilt, then the whims and passions that have grown strong put up resistance, and there is cause for remorse. If one begins with order in good time, occasions for remorse will no doubt arise as well. They are unavoidable when people live together in a larger circle. But the remorse disappears again and again. Everything sorts itself out. For there is nothing that would be easier to avoid and harder to carry through than ‘breaking the children’s will’.
She should not yield to her moods.Within the house she should provide the food.Perseverance brings good fortune.
This shows someone whose task lies at the heart of a household, who provides what is needed and does not give in to moods. More generally: seek nothing by force and keep calmly to the duties at hand. Do what lies in front of you now, thoroughly and steadily; that turns out well for everyone.
The woman should always be guided by the will of the master of the house, be it the father, the husband or the grown son. Her place is in the midst of the house. Here she has great and important duties that she does not need to go looking for. She must provide nourishment for the household and the food for the sacrifices. In this way she becomes the centre of the social and religious life of the family. Perseverance in this position brings good fortune to the whole house.
Applied to circumstances in general, the counsel given is not to seek anything by force but to keep calmly to the duties at hand.
Cf.: ‘Let woman learn betimes to serve, as is her calling.’
When things grow heated in the family,remorse comes from too much severity.Good fortune all the same!When wife and child trifle and laugh,this ends at last in humiliation.
The task is to keep the right balance between harshness and indulgence. Too much severity in your closest circle brings regret; too much laxity ends in humiliation. Build firm dykes and leave full freedom of movement within them; when in doubt, a little too much severity turns out well, and too much weakness does not.
In the family the right mean should prevail between harshness and indulgence. Too much severity towards one’s own flesh and blood leads to remorse. The best thing is to build firm dykes within which each individual is left full freedom of movement. Yet when in doubt, too much severity, despite occasional missteps, is better than too much weakness, which leads to disgrace; for severity preserves the discipline of the family.
She is the wealth of the house.Great good fortune!
This is about the prosperity of a household, which depends on whoever keeps spending and income in sound proportion. On a larger scale, it means the faithful steward whose measures serve the common good. Make sure that giving and taking stay in balance; then it turns out very well.
It is the mistress of the house on whom the prosperity of the family depends. Prosperity always prevails when expenditure and income stand in a sound proportion to each other. This leads to great good fortune. Applied to public life, what is meant here is the faithful steward who promotes the common good by his measures.
As a king he comes near to his family; do not be afraid.Good fortune!
Someone in a leading role, fatherly and inwardly rich, whom nobody needs to fear: because love shapes how people treat each other, there is trust all round. Lead through who you are and through goodwill rather than pressure. Then it turns out well, and the right influence works of its own accord.
A king is the image of a fatherly man who is inwardly rich. He does not act in such a way that people must fear him; rather, the whole family can have trust, because love governs their dealings with one another. His nature of its own accord exerts the right influence.
Cf.: ‘There is no fear in love.’
His work inspires awe.Good fortune comes at last.
In the end, the order of a group rests on the person who leads it. Work on yourself until your bearing carries conviction because it comes from inner truth. In a leading position, take the responsibility on yourself; then, in time, things turn out well around you.
The order of the family rests in the last resort on the person of the master of the house. If he cultivates himself so that he commands respect through the force of inner truth, then all goes well in the family. One must take upon oneself the responsibility that a leading position brings.
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.