above Dui, the Joyous, lake · below Li, the Clinging, fire
This is about a great change, a break with something old. The upheaval is like the turning of the seasons, or an animal moulting and changing its coat. ‘On your own day you are believed’, says the Judgement: in other words, only when the time has come. The conditions are strict: overturn things only when no other way out remains, and only if you are entirely free of selfish aims. Check honestly whether that is so, and prepare the transition early; then it succeeds. Don’t rush the break; only on these terms is there nothing to regret.
Is it really time to make the break, and are you doing it for the cause or for yourself?
The character originally denotes an animal’s pelt, which changes in the course of the year by moulting. From there the word is carried over to the moultings in the life of the state, the great revolutions that go with a change of government. The two figures of which the sign is composed are, as in Kui, ‘Opposition’ (No. 38), the two younger daughters, Li and Dui. But whereas there the elder of the two stands above, and in essence no more than an opposition of tendencies results, here the younger stands above, and the effects run counter to each other: the forces fight like fire and water (the lake), each striving to destroy the other. Hence the idea of revolution.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Revolution.On your own day you are believed.Supreme success, favourable through perseverance.Remorse disappears.
Revolutions in the state are an exceedingly grave matter. They may be undertaken only in the direst need, when no other way out remains. Not everyone is called to carry them out, but only the one who has the trust of the people, and even he only when the time is fulfilled. It must be done in the right way, so that the people are gladdened and excesses are prevented by enlightening them. Further, one must be entirely free of selfish aims and must truly relieve the people’s distress. Only then is there nothing to regret.
Times change, and with them their demands. So the seasons change in the course of the year. So too in the great year of the world there are springs and autumns of peoples and nations, and these call for transformations of society.
Fire in the lake: the image of revolution.So the noble one orders the reckoning of timeand makes the times plain.
The fire below and the lake above combat and destroy each other. In the same way, in the course of the year, there is a struggle between the light force and the dark, and it shows itself in the revolutions of the seasons. Man becomes master of the changes in nature when he recognises their regularity and divides the passage of time accordingly. In this way order and clarity enter the seemingly chaotic change of the seasons, and one can prepare in advance for what the different times will demand.
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 ○.
One is wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.
A change is tempting here, yet its time has not yet come. For now, hold right back, become firm within and undertake nothing yet; every premature stroke has evil consequences. Change only when there is no other way.
Changes should be undertaken only when there is no other way. Therefore the utmost restraint is needed at first. One must become wholly firm within and hold oneself in check (yellow is the colour of the middle, the cow is the symbol of docility) and undertake nothing for the present; for every premature stroke has evil consequences.
On one’s own day one may carry out the revolution.Setting out brings good fortune. No blame.
Every attempt at repair has been made, and now a deep change is needed. Prepare it well and get ready inwardly for the new thing that must come; go out to meet it. Join someone who has the ability to carry it through and enjoys people’s trust. This turns out well.
When everything has been tried to reform conditions and nothing has come of it, then the need for a revolution arises. But so profound an upheaval must be well prepared. There must be a man at hand who has the abilities and the public trust. To such a man one may then turn. This brings good fortune and is no mistake. At first it is only a matter of one’s inner stance towards the new thing that must come. One must, as it were, go out to meet it. Only in this way is it prepared.
Setting out brings misfortune. Perseverance brings danger.When talk of revolution has gone forth three times,one may turn to it and will be believed.
When change is needed, there are two mistakes you can make: pushing ahead too fast and too ruthlessly, or hesitating out of fear; striking too soon turns out badly. Don’t listen to every voice that calls for change, yet don’t ignore complaints that are repeated and well founded either. When the call comes a third time and you have weighed it carefully, act on it.
When change is needed, there are two mistakes to be avoided. One is to proceed too hastily and ruthlessly, and this brings misfortune. The other is over-conservative hesitation, which is just as dangerous. One must not listen to every voice that calls for changing what exists. But neither may one ignore complaints that are repeated and well founded. When word of change has reached one three times and one has weighed it carefully, then one may give it credence and act on it. Then one will be believed and achieve something.
Compare the threefold ‘It is time’ in Goethe’s Fairy Tale before the great upheaval comes about.
Remorse disappears. One is believed.To change the order of the state brings good fortune.
A fundamental change carries weight here because it comes from inner truth and is backed by strength of character. Check whether your plan accords with a higher truth and does not spring from arbitrary or petty motives. Then the change turns out very well, and what you regret will pass; in the long run, people only support what they sense to be just.
Changes that overturn foundations require the necessary authority. There must be inner strength of character as well as an influential position. What one does must accord with a higher truth and must not spring from arbitrary or petty motives; then it brings great good fortune. If a revolution is not grounded in such inner truth, it is always an evil and meets with no success. For in the end people support only those undertakings whose inner justice they sense by instinct.
The great man changes like a tiger.Even before he consults the oracle, he is believed.
The image is a tiger’s pelt with clear stripes: a change with broad, plain guidelines that everyone can understand. Make your plan so clear that others grasp it without a long explanation. Then you need no confirmation from outside; people come round of their own accord.
A tiger’s pelt, with its clearly visible black stripes on a yellow ground, is plainly patterned and can be seen from far off. So it is with revolutions brought about by a great man: broad, clear guiding lines become visible that everyone can understand. So he has no need to consult the oracle first, for the people come over to him of their own accord.
The noble one changes like a panther.The lesser man moults about the face.Setting out brings misfortune.To abide in perseverance brings good fortune.
Once the great change is made, details remain to be put in order, like the smaller spots on a panther’s pelt. Others adapt, if only on the surface; be content with what is possible now. If you try to go too far and achieve too much, it turns out badly. Securing calm, settled conditions turns out well.
Once the great questions of principle have been decided, there remain changes in detail and more precise implementation. These may be compared with the panther’s spots, which are likewise distinct, but smaller. As a result, a change takes place among the lesser people too. They also moult in keeping with the new order. This moulting, admittedly, does not go deep, but that is not to be expected either. One must be content with what is possible. If one tried to go too far and achieve too much, it would end in unrest and misfortune. For what a great revolution should aim at is clear, settled conditions that grant a general calm within the bounds of what is possible at the time.
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.