above Li, the Clinging, fire · below Sun, the Gentle, wind
This is about what gives your life strength and meaning. The cauldron over the fire is an image of culture, in which the visible nourishes the spiritual. ‘Wood is the fate of fire’, he writes; ‘as long as there is wood below, the fire burns above.’ Give your life its right place and you make your fate firm. Ask yourself what you spend your time and strength on, and give the highest thing you know a fixed place in your everyday life; that turns out very well. Beware of pride; inner illumination only arises once the higher is humbly received.
What do you spend your time and strength on, and does it serve what you hold highest?
The whole sign is the image of the cauldron: at the bottom the legs, then the belly, then the ears or handles, and at the top the rings for carrying it. The image of the cauldron also suggests the idea of nourishment. The cauldron, cast in bronze, was the vessel that held the cooked food in the ancestral temple and at banquets. From it the master of the house ladled the food into his guests’ bowls.
The Well, too, carries the secondary idea of providing nourishment, but more for the people. The cauldron, as a vessel of refined culture, suggests the care and nourishment of able men, a care that benefited the government of the state (compare the four signs of nourishment, Nos. 5, 27, 48, 50).
This sign and the sign ‘The Well’ are the only two signs in the Book of Changes that represent concrete objects made by human hands. Yet here too the idea has its abstract side. Below, Sun is wood and wind; above, Li is the flame; so the sign shows the flame kindled by wood and wind, which likewise suggests the idea of preparing food.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
The Cauldron. Supreme good fortune. Success.
Whereas the Well deals with the social foundation of society, which is like the water that serves the wood as nourishment, here the cultural superstructure of society is indicated. Here it is the wood that serves as nourishment for the flame, the spiritual. All that is visible must rise beyond itself and continue on into the invisible. In this way it receives its proper consecration and proper clarity and takes firm root in the order of the world.
So culture is shown here as it reaches its summit in religion. The cauldron serves for sacrifices to God. The highest things on earth must be offered up to the divine. But the truly divine does not show itself apart from the human. God’s highest revelation is in prophets and saints. To revere them is the true worship of God. The will of God, revealed through them, must be humbly received; then an inner illumination arises, and with it the true understanding of the world, which leads to great good fortune and success.
Fire over wood: the image of the cauldron.So the noble one makes fate firmby setting the position right.
Wood is the fate of fire; as long as there is wood below, the fire burns above. So it is with human life. In man too there is a fate that lends his life its strength. And if one succeeds in giving life and fate their right place, one makes fate firm, since life is then directly in harmony with fate. These words contain hints about the cultivation of life as it is handed down by word of mouth in the secret teaching of Chinese yoga practice.
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 cauldron with its legs turned up.Favourable for clearing out what has stagnated.One takes a concubine for the sake of her son.No blame.
A cauldron turned upside down shows that before anything new begins, the old refuse has to come out. Even someone of lowly standing is accepted if they are of good will and ready to purify themselves. Clear out what has built up in you, then show what you can do; that is not a mistake, and it is how you find recognition.
If one turns the cauldron upside down before putting it to use, that does no harm; on the contrary, the refuse comes out in this way. A concubine is in herself of low standing, but because she has a son she comes to be honoured.
These two parables express the thought that in times of high culture, such as the sign indicates, anyone of good will can somehow find his place. However lowly one may be, if only one is ready to purify oneself, one will be accepted. One comes into a position where one can prove fruitful in what one achieves, and in consequence one finds recognition.
There is food in the cauldron.My companions are envious,but they cannot harm me.Good fortune!
Anyone who really achieves something easily draws envy. Here that envy is not dangerous. Stick to your work and rely on what you actually get done; this turns out well, and the more you keep to it, the less the envious can harm you.
In times of high culture, everything depends on really achieving something. If one relies solely on such real achievements, one may well meet with envy and ill will, but that is not dangerous. The more one confines oneself to one’s positive achievements, the less the envious can harm one.
The handle of the cauldron is altered.One is hindered in one’s course.The fat of the pheasant is not eaten.Once the rain falls, remorse is spent. In the end good fortune comes.
The cauldron cannot be lifted, and the fine food inside nourishes no one. That is how it is when you are in a place where your gifts go unseen, and it is a severe hindrance. Make sure you truly have something of value within. As rain releases tension, the time will come when the obstacles dissolve, and in the end it turns out well.
The handle is the part by which the cauldron is lifted. If the handle is altered, the cauldron cannot be lifted and used, and the fine food in it, such as the fat of pheasants, regrettably nourishes no one.
This depicts someone who, in a time of high culture, finds himself in a place where nobody notices or recognises him. That is a severe hindrance to his work. All his good qualities and gifts of mind are thus used up to no purpose. But one need only make sure that one truly has spiritual substance within. Then the time will surely come at last when the obstacles dissolve and all goes well.
The release of tension is symbolised here, as elsewhere, by the falling of rain.
The cauldron’s legs break.The prince’s meal is spilt,and his form is sullied.Misfortune!
Here a heavy, responsible task collapses under someone who is not equal to it and who, besides, gives it only half their attention because they keep the wrong company. This turns out badly, and they bring disgrace on themselves. Check honestly whether your strength is enough for what you have taken on, and either give yourself to it fully or take on less.
One has a heavy and responsible task that one is not equal to. Since, moreover, one does not devote oneself to this task with full strength but keeps company with people of low standing, the work fails. In this way one also brings disgrace and shame upon oneself.
Kungtse says of this: ‘Weak character in an honoured position, little knowledge with great plans, small strength with heavy responsibility will seldom escape misfortune.’
The cauldron has yellow handles, golden carrying rings.Perseverance is favourable.
This describes someone in a leading position who stays approachable and modest, and so finds able helpers who complement them. That stance demands constantly putting your own ego second. Don’t let anything lead you astray from it, and hold fast to it; it is exactly what brings you the support your work needs.
Here is a man in a ruling position who is approachable and modest by nature. Through this inner attitude he succeeds in finding strong and able helpers who complement him and assist him in his work. It is important not to be led astray from this stance, which demands a lasting inner self-denial, but to hold fast to it.
The cauldron has rings of jade. Great good fortune!Nothing that would not be favourable.
Rings of jade, a hard stone with a soft sheen, unite hardness and lustre. Good advice is like that: firm in substance and gentle in manner. When you advise someone, be clear, yet never harsh. Then the work finds favour in the eyes of the deity and becomes pleasing to men, and it turns out very well.
In the preceding line the carrying rings are called golden to denote their strength. Here they are said to be of jade. Jade is distinguished by combining hardness with a soft lustre. From the standpoint of the man who is open to counsel, this counsel acts as a strong help. Here the counsel is described from the standpoint of the sage who gives it. In giving it he will be gentle and refined, like fine jade. In this way the work finds favour in the eyes of the deity, who bestows great good fortune, and becomes pleasing to men, so that all goes well.
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.