above Dschen, the Arousing, thunder · below Kan, the Abysmal, water
This hexagram describes deliverance: what has weighed on you for a long time is lifting. It is like a releasing rain that makes all the buds burst open; return to ordinary conditions as soon as possible and deal quickly with whatever remains, ‘so that the slate is wiped clean’. The Image adds forgiveness: passing over faults and forgiving what was done on purpose. Go back to your everyday life soon and finish what is still outstanding; that way it turns out well. Don’t push the triumph too far, and don’t press on further than you need to.
What still needs doing before the slate is clean, and whom could you forgive?
Here the movement leads out of danger. The obstruction has been removed, and the difficulties are in the process of being resolved. Deliverance is not yet over but is only just setting in, and its various stages are represented in the hexagram.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Deliverance. The south-west is favourable.If there is nowhere left that one must go,coming back brings good fortune.If there is still somewhere one has to go,then speed brings good fortune.
This is a time when tensions and complications are beginning to dissolve. In such times one must withdraw to ordinary conditions as soon as possible (this is the meaning of the south-west). Such times of turning are very important. Just as a releasing rain eases the tension in the atmosphere and makes all the buds burst open, so a time of deliverance from an oppressive burden has a releasing and quickening effect on life. But one thing is important: in such times one must not try to push the triumph too far. The point is not to press on further than is necessary. To return to the order of life as soon as deliverance has been achieved: that brings good fortune. If there are still remnants to be dealt with, this must be done as quickly as possible, so that the slate is wiped clean and no delays arise.
Thunder and rain arise:the image of deliverance.So the noble one excuses faults and forgives guilt.
A thunderstorm has the effect of clearing the air. The noble one deals in the same way with the faults and sins of men that give rise to states of tension. Through clarity he brings about deliverance. But once the transgressions have come to light, he does not dwell on them; he simply passes over the faults, the unintentional transgressions, as thunder dies away, and forgives the guilt, the intentional transgressions, as water washes everything clean of dirt.
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 ○.
Without blame.
The obstruction is past, deliverance has come, and there is no need for many words. Once difficulties are over, rest is exactly the right thing, and it is not a mistake to take it. Recover, keep still and don’t make a great fuss about what lies behind you.
Few words are spoken, as befits the situation. The obstruction is past, deliverance has come. One recovers in peace and keeps still. After difficulties have been overcome, that is exactly the right thing to do.
Out in the field one brings down three foxesand is given a yellow arrow.Perseverance brings good fortune.
The image comes from hunting: cunning foxes, meaning flatterers who seek influence over those in charge, have to go before deliverance can come. Wage this fight with moderation and by straight means, without false weapons. Anyone who gives themselves wholly to the task finds it turns out well: they gain an inner rectitude that works of itself against everything false.
The image is taken from the hunt. The hunter catches three cunning foxes and receives a yellow arrow as his reward. The obstructions in public life are the false foxes who try to sway the ruler by flattery. They must be removed before deliverance can come. But the fight must not be waged with false weapons. The yellow colour points to moderation and the mean in proceeding against the enemy, the arrow to straightness of direction. If one devotes oneself wholeheartedly to the task of deliverance, one gains such a power of inner rectitude that it acts as a weapon against everything false and base.
One who bears a load upon his backand rides in a carriage all the samethereby draws the robbers to him.Perseverance leads to humiliation.
Anyone who has only just got out of hardship and now settles into comfort like an upstart, without inwardly fitting the part, draws robbers. Handle a new, more comfortable position modestly and don’t put it on show. Anyone who carries on like this is sure to come to disgrace.
A man has come out of poor circumstances into a comfortable position in which he is free from want. If, like an upstart, he now tries to make himself comfortable, though by nature he does not fit such comfortable circumstances, he thereby attracts robbers, and if he carries on like this he is sure to come to disgrace.
Kungtse says of this: ‘Carrying a load on one’s back is the work of a common man. A carriage is the equipment of a man of standing. Now if a common man uses the equipment of a man of standing, robbers set their minds on taking it from him. If someone is impudent to those above and hard on those below, robbers set their minds on attacking him. Careless safekeeping leads robbers on to steal. Rich adornment on a maiden tempts others to rob her of her virtue.’
Free yourself of your big toe.Then the companion draws near,and in him you may trust.
Some acquaintances have become indispensable in quiet times out of sheer habit, like the big toe to the foot. Free yourself from those you don’t inwardly belong with. Otherwise the like-minded people you can truly trust, and with whom you could achieve something together, will stay away full of mistrust.
In times of standstill it happens that base people attach themselves to a higher man and, through daily habit, grow so close to him that they become indispensable, like the big toe to the foot, which it helps to walk. But when the time of deliverance approaches with its call to action, one must free oneself from such chance acquaintances, with whom one does not belong inwardly after all. For otherwise the like-minded friends, whom one can truly trust and together with whom something can be achieved, will stay away, full of mistrust.
If only the noble one can set himself free, that brings good fortune.So he shows base people that he is in earnest.
Deliverance here calls for an inner decision; prohibitions and outward means won’t rid you of people who drag you down. Inwardly, free yourself from them completely; that turns out well. Then they notice of their own accord that you are in earnest, and withdraw.
Times of deliverance call for inner resolve. Base people cannot be removed by prohibitions and outward means. If one wants to be rid of them, one must first break away from them completely within; then they notice of their own accord that one is in earnest, and withdraw.
The prince looses an arrow at a hawk upon a high wall.He brings it down. All is favourable.
A hawk on a high wall stands for a powerful person in a high place, hardened in wickedness, who blocks deliverance and yields to no inner influence. What is needed here is resolute action with the right means. Prepare those means carefully, wait for the right time and then act; that way everything succeeds.
The hawk on the high wall is the image of a powerful base man in a high place who is hindering deliverance. He resists the effect of inner influences, since he is hardened in his wickedness. He must be removed by force, and this requires the appropriate means.
Kungtse says of this: ‘The hawk is the aim of the hunt. Bow and arrow are the tools and the means. The archer is the man who must use the means rightly for the end. The noble one holds the means in readiness within his own person. He waits for the time, and then he acts. How could everything fail to go well? He acts and is free. Therefore he need only go out, and he brings down the quarry. So it goes with a man who acts once he has got his means ready.’
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.