above Kun, the Receptive, earth · below Kan, the Abysmal, water
This sign is about putting a group in order and achieving something together with others. With perseverance and strong, trustworthy leadership, it turns out well. Discipline can’t be forced; it takes someone who wins people’s hearts, and a clear aim that everyone understands. The Image adds the largeness of heart that wins people over. Be open about what you are all working for, and be generous with those who come along. Fighting itself is to be treated like a poisonous medicine, a last resort, and even in the heat of it no one should be wronged.
What goal would make people follow you willingly?
The sign is made up of the primary sign Kan, water, and Kun, earth. This symbolises the groundwater that collects within the earth. In the same way the fighting strength of a people collects within its masses: invisible in peace, but always at hand as a source of power. The attributes of the primary signs are danger within and obedience without. This points to the nature of an army, which at its core is something dangerous, while outwardly discipline and obedience must prevail.
Considered in terms of the individual lines, the ruler of the sign is the strong nine in the second place, to which the other, soft lines are subordinate. This line denotes the commander, since it stands in the centre of one of the two primary signs. But since it stands in the lower and not the upper sign, it is the image not of the ruler but of the capable general who keeps the army obedient through his authority.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
The Army requires perseverance and a man of strength.Good fortune without blame.
An army is a mass that needs organisation in order to become an army. Without firm discipline nothing can be achieved. But this discipline cannot be enforced by violent means; it needs a strong man to whom hearts turn and who awakens enthusiasm. For him to be able to unfold his powers, he needs the unconditional trust of his ruler, who must leave him full responsibility for as long as the war lasts. Yet war is always something dangerous and brings damage and devastation with it. It must therefore not be undertaken lightly, but only as a last resort, like a poisonous medicine. The just cause and a clear, intelligible aim of the war must be made plain to the people by an experienced leader. Only when there is a quite definite aim of war, to which the people can consciously commit themselves, do the unity and strength of conviction arise that lead to victory. But the leader must also see to it that, in the passion of war and the intoxication of victory, nothing unjust happens that would not meet with general approval. Justice and perseverance are the basic conditions for everything to go well.
Within the earth there is water: the image of the army.So the noble one, through largeness of heart towards the people, increases his multitudes.
Groundwater is present, unseen, within the earth. In the same way the fighting strength of a people is present, unseen, in its masses.
Every farmer becomes a soldier when danger threatens and returns to his plough when the war is over. Whoever is generous towards the people wins the people’s love, and a people that lives under mild rule grows strong and vigorous. Only an economically strong people can count for anything as a military power. Power must therefore be fostered by promoting the economic relations of the people and by humane government. Only where this invisible bond exists between government and people, so that the people are sheltered under the government as groundwater is in the earth, is it possible to wage a war to victory.
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 ○.
An army must march out in good order.If that order is not sound, misfortune looms.
A large undertaking needs order from the outset. There must be a just and sound reason for it, and everyone involved has to work well together. Clear up both before you set off; if either is lacking, it turns out badly.
At the beginning of a military undertaking there must be order. There must be a just and compelling cause, and the obedience and coordination of the troops must be well organised; otherwise failure is the inevitable result.
In the midst of the army!Good fortune! No blame!The king confers a threefold distinction.
Whoever leads belongs right in the midst of those they lead, sharing the good times and the hard ones with them. Only then are they equal to the heavy task. Stay in touch with the people you are guiding; the recognition you get for it then rightly belongs to all of you, and it turns out well.
The leader must be in the midst of his army. He must be in touch with it and share good and ill with the masses he leads. Only in this way is he equal to the heavy demands that rest upon him. In this he needs the recognition of the ruler. The distinctions he receives are justified, since this is not a matter of personal favour: in the leader, the whole army in whose midst he lives is honoured.
The army may be carting corpses in its wagon. Misfortune!
Here someone other than the rightful person grabs the leadership, or the crowd takes command itself. That turns out badly. Make sure it is clear in your affairs who decides, and don’t hand the leadership to those it doesn’t belong to.
One explanation points to a defeat that comes about because someone other than the appointed leader meddles in the command. The other explanation agrees with it in meaning, except that the expression ‘carrying corpses in the wagon’ is interpreted differently. At burials and sacrifices to the dead it was the custom in China for the deceased, to whom the sacrifice was offered, to be represented by a boy from the family, who sat in the place of the corpse and was honoured in place of the dead. From this the explanation takes the meaning that a ‘corpse boy’ sits on the wagon, that is, that authority does not come from the office appointed for it but is usurped by others. Perhaps the whole difficulty can be removed by assuming a scribal error (fan = all, for schī = corpse). Then the meaning would simply be: if the crowd in the army makes itself master (rides on the wagon), that bodes ill.
The army withdraws. No blame.
When you are up against a superior force and can achieve nothing against it, an orderly retreat is the only right course. It saves you from defeat and collapse. Taking on a hopeless fight at any cost has nothing to do with courage. Withdraw with a plan and without shame; that is no mistake.
When one faces a superior enemy against whom fighting is hopeless, an orderly retreat is the only right course, because it preserves the army from defeat and disintegration. It is by no means a sign of courage or strength to insist on taking up a hopeless fight whatever the circumstances.
Game has come into the field. It is favourable to catch it.Without blame.The eldest should lead the army.If the younger carts corpses,perseverance then brings misfortune.
If something breaks into your territory and lays it waste, it is no mistake to defend yourself firmly. Yet the defence needs rules and an experienced person at its head. If it turns into a wild free-for-all, with everyone acting on their own initiative, it turns out badly, however much stamina there is.
The game is in the field, that is, it has left its home, the forest, and broken into the fields, laying them waste. This points to an incursion by the enemy. In this case vigorous fighting and punishment are entirely justified. Only the fight must be conducted according to rule. It must not become a wild free-for-all in which everyone defends himself on his own account. Despite the greatest perseverance and bravery, that would lead to misfortune. Rather, the army must be led by an experienced commander. War must be waged. The crowd must not simply strike dead whatever falls into its hands; otherwise one suffers defeat, and despite all perseverance misfortune threatens.
The great prince gives his orders,founds states, grants fiefs to families.Base people should not be employed.
After a success has been won, tasks and responsibility are shared out anew. Reward everyone who helped, yet give influence and the right to decide only to those whose character fits them for it. Someone who thinks only of themselves may get their reward; power in their hands leads to abuse.
The war has ended in victory. The victory is won, and the king distributes fiefs and family estates among his loyal followers. But here it is important that base people should not come to power. If they have helped, they may be paid off with money. But they must not be granted lands and rights of rule, so that no abuse can occur.
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.