Being open to innovations
One experiments new ways so as to keep oneself up to date. taoscopy.com
Fellowship13
Unity through shared purpose and community effort.
↓ Line 2
Restricting fellowship to one's own group can lead to misunderstandings and humiliation.
↓ Line 3
Caution and preparation are necessary, but excessive caution can lead to stagnation and missed opportunities.
↓ Line 5
True fellowship may face initial difficulties, but perseverance leads to joy and success.
↓ Line 6
Fellowship with those who are different or distant can be achieved without regret, leading to harmony.
↓ The Marrying Maiden54
Proceed cautiously, recognizing limitations and external influences. Adapt to circumstances with humility and patience, but remain aware of your own path and intentions.
Original Readings
13 Fellowship
Other titles: Fellowship with Men, The Symbol of Companionship, Lovers, Beloved Friends, Like-minded persons, Concording People, Gathering Men, Sameness with People, Universal Brotherhood, Fellowship, Community, United, Human Association, Union of Men, Integration of Forces, Minor Synthesis, Cliques, Concordance, To Be In Accord With, Confirmation
Judgment
Legge: Union of Forces appears in the remote districts of the country, indicating progress and success. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to maintain the firm correctness of the superior man.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Fellowship with Men in the open. Success. It furthers one to cross the great water. The perseverance of the superior man furthers.
Blofeld:Lovers (friends) in the open -- success! It is advantageous to cross the great river (or sea). [To make any kind of journey.] The Superior Man will benefit if he does not slacken his righteous persistence.
Liu: Fellowship of men in the open (countryside). Success. It benefits one to cross the great water. It benefits the superior man to continue his task.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording People , tending-towards the countryside. Growing. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Harvesting: chun tzu, Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of sharing a goal with others. It emphasizes that finding ways to cooperate with and harmonize people's efforts is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Gathering men in the wilds; receipt; beneficial to ford the great river; beneficial for the gentleman to determine.
Cleary (1):Sameness with people in the wilderness is developmental. It is beneficial to cross great rivers. It is beneficial for a superior person to be upright.
Cleary (1): … Beneficial for a leader to be correct.
Wu: Fellowship in the open is pervasive, etc. … It will be advantageous to the jun zi who perseveres.
The Image
Legge: The images of heaven and fire form Union of Forces. The superior man, in accordance with this, distinguishes things according to their kinds and classes.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven together with fire: the image of Fellowship with Men. Thus the superior man organizes the clans and makes distinctions between things.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes heaven (the sun) and fire representing a pair of lovers. The Superior Man treats everything in a manner proper to his kind. [an analogy (based on the component trigrams) between the sun and fire, which to some extent are of a kind.]
Liu: Fire goes up to heaven, symbolizing Fellowship with Men. The superior man organizes his kinship group (party), and sorts them out.
Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven associating-with fire. Concording People. A chun tzu uses sorting the clans to mark-off the beings.
Cleary (1): Heaven with fire, sameness with others; superior people distinguish things in terms of categories and groups.
Cleary (2): … Leaders distinguish beings in terms of classes and families.
Wu: Heaven above and fire below form Fellowship. The jun zi distinguishes things by their kinds.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Union of Forces the magnetic line has the central place of influence and responds to her correlate line in the upper trigram of Strength. The hexagram takes its name from the upper trigram of Strength lending its power to the lower trigram of Clarity and Intelligence. This represents the correct course of the superior man. It is only the superior man who can comprehend and affect the minds of all under the sky.
Legge: Union of Forces describes a condition which is the opposite of the preceding hexagram of Divorcement. What was there distress and obstruction is here a union of forces. But it must be based entirely on the good of the whole, without any taint of selfishness.
The dynamic line correctly in the fifth place occupies the most important position, and has for his correlate the magnetic second line, also in her correct place. The one female line is naturally sought after by all the male lines. The editors of the K'ang-hsi edition would make the second line respond to all of the lines of the upper trigram, as being more agreeable to the idea of union.
The upper trigram is that of Heaven, the lower is of Fire, whose tendency is to mount upwards. This image suggests the fire ascending, blazing to the sky and uniting with it. All these ideas are in harmony with the notion of union, but it must be free of all factionalism, and this is indicated by its being in the remote districts of the country, where people are unsophisticated and free from the corrupting effects of urban intrigue. Although a union from such motives can cope with the greatest difficulties, yet a word of caution is added.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Connections are being made. If you are able to maintain your will, it is advisable to push for a synthesis .
The Superior Man differentiates and prioritizes; he sorts and evaluates his options.
This is another image of union -- not the supreme union of hexagram number eleven, Harmony, but a subordinate union of forces within the psyche which builds toward an eventual grand alliance. The component trigrams show the union of Strength and Clarity, suggesting that a certain level of mental comprehension is involved. To receive the hexagram without changing lines is often a confirmation of your particular thought -- saying, in effect: "You've made the connection."
Comprehension (synthesis) involves making distinctions (analysis) -- a paradoxical process in which one must divide before one can (re)unite. (This is the solve et coagula of alchemy.) Thus we see the superior man in the Image creating categories to bring about union -- this is discrimination directed toward reclassification or rectification. For example, a heterogeneous mixture of vegetable and flower seeds is made meaningful when one sorts them into their separate categories. The disparate elements then become coherently "united" -- in I Chingterms, each line obtains its proper correlate as in Hexagram number 63.
(Dialectic) alternates between synthesis and analysis until it has gone through the entire domain of the intelligible and has arrived at the principle. Stopping there, for it is only there that it can stop, no longer busying itself with a multitude of objects since it has arrived at unity, it contemplates. Plotinus -- The Enneads
The Chinese name of this hexagram includes the word Jen, which is apparently a difficult concept, since many philosophers have spent a good deal of energy in trying to define it:
Jen has been variously translated as benevolence, perfect virtue, goodness, human-heartedness, love, altruism, etc. None of these expresses all the meanings of the term. It means a particular virtue, benevolence, and also the general virtue, the basis of all goodness. ...Neo-Confucianists interpreted it as impartiality, the character of production and reproduction, consciousness, seeds that generate, the will to grow, one who forms one body with Heaven and Earth, or "the character of love and the principle of mind." In modern times, it has even been equated with ether and electricity... Wing-Tsit Chan -- A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
Chu Hsi defines Jen as the "character of the mind" (psyche) and "the principle of love" (union). Interpreted in this way we are enabled to apprehend the essence of the word "love," which is union -- becoming one with its object. I have chosen the title of Union of Forces to emphasize intra-psychic dynamics which are not immediately obvious in Wilhelm's title of Fellowship with Men. For example in dealing with questions pertaining to the Work, the concept of "ego states" or "subpersonalities" is often relevant to the symbolism of this hexagram:
The human self has been described here as composed of different ego states separated by boundaries. It has been likened to the structure of political principalities. From clinical observation we find that ego states can cooperate for mutual well-being, like allied nations against a common enemy. An ego state may become split, like East and West Germany, or fracture into many segments, like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ego states may become cognitively dissonant and hostile to each other, like Syria and Israel. In fact, the behavior of ego states within an individual is not unlike that between individuals, and between those groups of individuals called countries. Why should the behavior of human "stuff" not be substantially similar at all levels of its organizations? ...The evidence of self division into ego states is significant, and an equally tenable hypothesis might be that the states and boundaries of political entities have been imposed by men on each other because these represent an externalization of the internal divisions in their own selves. J.G. Watkins -- The Therapeutic Self
This hexagram's "shadow side" reveals circumstances preventing the union of entities or forces, more than those conditions promoting fruitful affiliation. Note that only the first and fifth lines of the figure depict a positive synthesis; the first one is minor, and in the case of line 5, union is attained only after much struggle. Line 2 reveals a clique or faction situation opposed to the general welfare, and lines 3 and 4 are images of recalcitrant forces unable to either join or attack the alliance. The sixth line depicts a partial union (probably the most common outcome in general experience), which the Confucian commentary nevertheless minimizes. Out of six lines then, only two describe anything like complete fellowship. I have received this hexagram without changing lines when the context of the question revealed an “incestuous,” clique-type situation, so not all "fellowship" or Union of Forcesis necessarily an ideal configuration.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows the representative of the Union of Forces in relation with her kindred. There will be occasion for regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fellowship with men in the clan. Humiliation.
Blofeld: His beloved (betrothed) is of the same clan as himself -- trouble!
Liu: Fellowship of men in the kinship group (party). Humiliation.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording People tending-towards ancestry.
Abashment.
Shaughnessy: Gathering men at the ancestral temple; distress.
Cleary (1): Sameness with people in the clan is regrettable.
Wu: Fellowship becomes kinship. There will be humiliation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Relationship with one's kindred is the path to regret. Wilhelm/Baynes: The way to humiliation. Blofeld: Choosing a beloved from a man's own clan is a sure way to unhappiness. [This Chinese belief was so strongly held that, until recently, even unrelated people of the same surname could not marry.]Ritsema/Karcher: Abashment tao indeed. Cleary (2): The road to regret. Wu: This is a way to humiliation.
Legge: Lines two and five are proper correlates, a fact which in this instance suggests the idea of a partial and limited union. This is blameworthy because union with only one's kindred implies narrowness of mind.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Because of special privileges and factions, only a limited fellowship is realized. Regrets and problems result.
Wing: There is a tendency toward elitism and exclusivity. This creates limitations for everyone in society. Such a situation of egotism and selfish interests will bring regret.
Editor: The image is one of incestuous exclusivity. The formation of factions, special interest groups and cliques can only cause harm to the larger psyche or to society because it excludes the vital give and take necessary for evolution and eventual synthesis. Sometimes the line can suggest the idea of being caught in a closed loop or vicious circle -- energy is trapped by limiting beliefs, thus preventing growth into new realms of being.
When a soul remains for long in this withdrawal and estrangement from the whole, with never a glance towards the intelligible, it becomes a thing fragmented, isolated, and weak. Activity lacks concentration. Attention is tied to particulars. Severed from the whole, the soul clings to the part; to this one sole thing, buffeted about by a whole world of things, has it turned and given itself. Adrift now from the whole, it manages even this particular thing with difficulty... Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. A self-serving alliance portends failure.
B. A recalcitrant complex refuses to integrate.
C. Dogmatic, hidebound perception prevents growth.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows its subject with his arms hidden in the thick grass, and at the top of a high mound. But for three years he makes no demonstration.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He hides weapons in the thicket; he climbs the high hill in front of it. For three years he does not rise up.
Blofeld: Concealing his weapons in the bushes, he climbs his high hill. For three years he enjoys no happiness. [His cowardice was so great that he dared not seek home, wife or children for three years. The implication is that boldness at all costs is required.]
Liu: They hide arms in the bushes. They climb to the summit of a hill. For three years they do not act.
Ritsema/Karcher: Hiding away arms, tending-towards the thickets. Ascending one's high mound. Three year's-time not rising.
Shaughnessy: Surrendered appearance in tall grass. Climbing its high peak, for three years it does not arise.
Cleary (1): Subduing fighters in the bush, climbing up a high hill, even in three years there will be no flourishing.
Cleary (2): He hides fighters in the bush, etc.
Wu: He conceals weapons in bushes. He moves up to high mounds. He makes no headway in three years. [He is planning to overwhelm by force those with whom he disagrees, but he is alone and cannot make a breakthrough.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He hides arms in the thick grass because of the strength of his opponent. For three years he makes no demonstration--how can he do anything? Wilhelm/Baynes: Because he had a hard man as opponent--how could it be done? Blofeld: He conceals his weapons because the enemy is strong--but three years without joy! Who would follow such a course? Ritsema/Karcher: Antagonistic solid indeed. Quieting movement indeed.
Cleary (2): Three years without flourishing is calm activity. Wu: He should be contented with his lot.
Legge: Line three is dynamic in a dynamic place, but without a proper correlate in line six. This makes him anxious to unite with line two, but two is devoted to her proper correlate in line five, of whose strength line three is afraid. Therefore he takes the measures described, but his abstaining so long from action will save him from misfortune.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Mistrust ensues. The man conceals his weapons, plans an ambush, but does not come forth.
Wing: There is a possibility that those involved in the situation have selfish interests and divergent goals. This is unfortunate, because the ensuing mistrust of each for the other will grind events to a halt. Unless goals are realigned, no progress can be made and nothing will come of the situation.
Editor: Wilhelm remarks here that the situation depicts mistrust -- union is blocked by some divisive element such as doubt or cynicism. Perhaps a pessimistic attitude is impeding the flow of events. Although the line is not necessarily always completely negative (note the lack of an appended value judgment), the image depicts latent forces of an inferior sort blocking the natural flow of energy or growth. If this is the only changing line we receive hexagram number 25, Innocence, with a corresponding line depicting undeserved misfortune. Psychologically interpreted, unconscious complexes could threaten the Work by refusing to integrate. It is possible that this transcends the ego's conscious awareness. Blofeld's note does not agree with the general sense of the line, and may be considered anomalous.
Unfortunately repression does not eliminate the qualities or drives or keep them from functioning. It merely removes them from ego awareness; they continue as complexes. By being removed from view they are also removed from supervision and can thereby continue their existence unchecked and in a disruptive way. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. A divisive element within the situation is unable to manifest or is preventing growth.
B. A hidden threat bides its time.
C. Something is blocked.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows the representative of the Union of Forces first wailing and crying out, and then laughing. His great army conquers, and he and his second line correlate meet together.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament, but afterward they laugh. After great struggles they succeed in meeting.
Blofeld: The lovers begin by weeping and wailing, but they finish by laughing, for the crowd succeeds in bringing them together.
Liu: Fellowship of men. They cry and lament. Later they laugh. After great battles they have success.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording People beforehand crying-out sobbing and-also afterwards laughing. Great legions controlling mutual meeting.
Shaughnessy: Gathering men at first weeping and wailing, but later laughing; the great captains succeed in meeting each other.
Cleary (1): In sameness with people, first there is weeping, afterward laughter. A great general wins, then meets others.
Wu: Men of fellowship first wail and then laugh. The large armed forces meet after victory.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This arises from his central position and straightforward character. The meeting secured by his great army intimates that its opponents have been overcome. Wilhelm/Baynes: The beginning of the men bound in fellowship is central and straight...they are victorious. Blofeld: This strong line which is central to the upper trigram indicates that they began by weeping. [A strong central line is usually auspicious, but not in this case where we are dealing with something so soft and tender as love.] Fortunately a crowd of people encountered them and, somehow, the right thing was said to bring them together again. Ritsema/Karcher: Using centering straightening indeed. Words mutualize controlling indeed. Cleary (2): It is the middle way. In meeting with the great general, his words overcome. Wu: They together finally achieve victory.
From the Great Treatise:
"The Master said on this:
The ways of good men different seem.
This in a public office toils;
That in his home the time beguiles.
One man his lips with silence seals;
Another all his mind reveals.
But when two men are one in heart,
Not iron bolts keep them apart;
The words they in their union use,
Fragrance like orchid plants diffuse."
Legge: Line five is dynamic in a dynamic and central place, and seeks union with his second-line correlate. However, lines three and four are powerful foes who oppose this union, and their opposition makes him weep. He finally effects his purpose by collecting his forces and defeating his opponents.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: After considerable difficulties, the man collects his forces and overcomes the obstacles to the union of men. Sadness gives way to joy.
Wing: The difficulties and obstacles within the situation cause you much sorrow. If you openly express your distress you will find that you generate similar expressions from your fellow man. Together you can overcome the difficult time and there will be much joy in your newfound unity.
Editor: This line changes the hexagram to Number thirty, Clarity. The corresponding line is almost identical to this one: "Shows its subject as one with tears flowing in torrents, and groaning in sorrow. There will be good fortune." The idea is that, in this case at least, union and clarity (comprehension and enlightenment) are achieved only through a bitter struggle.
To learn, we must not allow ideas to remain exterior to us, but fuse with them until they become part of our existence. When this is done and our dispositions correspond, the soul is able to formulate and make use of them. It comprehends now what it merely contained before. Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. Gather your forces and make a connection. Union or clarity is won after significant effort.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows the representative of the Union of Forces in the suburbs. There will be no occasion for repentance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fellowship with men in the meadow. No remorse.
Blofeld: Her beloved is in a distant frontier region -- no regret! [In Chinese history, it often happened that a man was drafted and sent far away to a frontier region from which he could not be expected to return for many years. In this case, his beloved (betrothed or wife) has enough wisdom to give up repining, since the case is a hopeless one. The implication is that we should not repine.]
Liu: Fellowship of men in the open countryside. No remorse.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording people tending-towards the suburbs. Without repenting.
Shaughnessy: Gathering men in the pasture; there is no regret.
Cleary (1): Being the same as people in the countryside, there is no regret.
Cleary (2): Sameness with people in the countryside involves no regret.
Wu: Men of fellowship gather outside of the city. There will be no regret.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His object has not yet been attained. Wilhelm/Baynes: The will is not yet satisfied. Blofeld: This is not what is desired. Ritsema/
Karcher: Purpose not-yet acquired indeed. Cleary (2): The aspiration has not yet been attained. Wu: Their aspirations have not prevailed.
Legge: The union reaches to all within the suburbs, but it is not yet universal. The ideal of the hexagram is found in the Judgment in which the union of forces occurs in the open country. In line six the union is only in the suburbs which surround the city, yet are not quite out in the "open country." This indicates only a partial success, but there is still no cause for repentance.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man achieves fellowship, but only with those nearby. Simply because mankind has not yet attained universal brotherhood, however, is no ground for remorse.
Wing: The unity and fellowship that are possible in this position are not significant in terms of universal needs. However, joining with others, even in a small way, is not a mistake.
Editor: The union of forces is adequate to meet the current situation, but it seems to be a compromise at best. Though the circumstances are said to evoke no remorse, the Confucian commentary leaves no doubt about his assessment of this position. The Work still has a long way to go to be complete, but since that seldom happens this side of hyperspace, any increment of integration has to be better than no progress at all. Blofeld's translation and note seem too specific to facilitate these wider meanings.
Thus, human ego development is basically conditioned by, and continues to unfold between, the divisive Yang pole of separateness and the connecting Yin pole of union. Between these polarities of separation and encounter -- loss of oneness and the re-establishment of oneness through meeting -- the sense of identity continues to grow throughout the life of the individual. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. A minor synthesis.
B. Psychic integration is adequate for the present, but further work is required.
C. "Half a loaf is better than none."
54 The Marrying Maiden
Other titles: The Marrying Maiden, The Symbol of the Marriage of the Younger Sister, Marriageable Maiden, The Marrying Girl, Subordinate, The Second Wife, Converting Maidenhood, Returning maiden, Making a young girl marry, Marrying a young girl, Marrying a Maiden, Unilateral Action, Impropriety, Improper Advances, "Deals with life and death, sex and birth. It contains a warning about a person or situation. It deals essentially with discrimination. The first step on the Path without which we are useless." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Propriety indicates that action will be evil, and in no wise advantageous.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Marrying Maiden. Undertakings bring misfortune. Nothing that would further.
Blofeld:The Marriageable Maiden. Advance brings misfortune. No goal (or destination) is now favorable.
Liu: The Marrying Girl. Undertaking leads to misfortune. Nothing benefits.
Ritsema/Karcher: Converting Maidenhood, chastising: pitfall. Without direction: Harvesting. [Without direction: Harvesting: ... In order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events.] [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the changing status of someone who cannot control their circumstances. It emphasizes that finding a real field of activity through accepting this imposition is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Returning maiden: To be upright is inauspicious; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Making a young girl marry: To go on will lead to misfortune; no profit is gained.
Cleary (2):Marrying a young girl. To go on an expedition leads to misfortune, with nothing gained.
Wu: Marrying a Maiden indicates that it will be foreboding to make moves. There is nothing to be gained.
The Image
Legge: The waters of a Marsh with Thunder over it form the hexagram of Propriety. The superior man, in accordance with this, having regard to the far-distant end, knows the mischief that may be done at the beginning.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder over the lake: the image of The Marrying Maiden. Thus the superior man understands the transitory in the light of the eternity of the end.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder over a pool. The Superior Man knows that, to achieve an enduring end, he must be aware of his mistakes at the beginning.
Liu: Thunder over the lake symbolizes the Marrying Girl. The superior man knows the cause of error, and persists in his virtue to the end.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above marsh possessing thunder. Converting Maidenhood. A chun tzu uses perpetually completing to know the cracked.
Cleary (1): There is thunder above a lake, making a young girl marry. Thus superior people persist to the end and know what is wrong.
Cleary (2): Thunder over a lake – Marrying a young girl. Developed people consider lasting results and know what is wrong. [The way developed people handle things is that before they take the time to ask how to start something, they first consider lasting results. If they think of lasting results, they know what is wrong with acting prematurely, like marrying an immature girl. If you understand the meaning of this, you can apply it to government and to contemplating mind as well.]
Wu: There is thunder above the marsh; this is Marrying a Maiden. Thus, the jun zi in the pursuit of lasting excellence realizes the flaws and corrects them.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In the marriage of a young bride the proper relationship between heaven and earth is seen. Nothing could grow or flourish if heaven and earth did not unite. The marriage of a young bride is therefore both the commencement and goal of humanity. But here the desire of pleasure employs movement to attain union. This action will be evil because the lines are in inappropriate places, and the magnetic three and five are mounted on dynamic lines.
Legge: The Chinese phrase for this hexagram might be equivalent to the English "giving in marriage,” but there are some special meanings in this case which must be understood. The Judgment gives a bad auspice because the trigram of the Youngest Daughter is beneath the trigram of the Eldest Son. Since the action of the hexagram begins with the lowest trigram, we have two violations of propriety. First, the marriage is initiated by the woman and her friends. She goes unilaterally to her future home instead of the bridegroom coming to fetch her. Second, the parties are unequally matched -- there is too great a disparity in their ages. In addition, all the lines in the hexagram except the top and the bottom are in places inappropriate for them. Some commentators insist that the symbol of the contracting of a marriage in this hexagram sets forth some principles which should obtain in the relation between a ruler and his ministers.
The growth of things in nature from the interaction of heaven and earth is analogous to the increase of mankind through the interaction between male and female in marriage. The K'ang-hsi editors reconcile this good auspice with the unfavorable Judgment by saying: "The interaction of the yin and yang cannot be dispensed with, but we ought to be careful about it in the beginning in order to prevent mischief in the end.” The error here is that the desire for the marriage originated with the lady, and that she is heedless of the disparity in their ages.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Propriety means that unilateral action is inappropriate.
The Superior Man understands that the Work is guided from within, and that choices which ignore this truth can only retard its progress. (Present actions originate future consequences: pay heed to your choices.)
The traditional name for this hexagram is The Marrying Maiden -- a title which does not convey to modern western readers the subtlety of its symbolism. Blofeld says: "This hexagram is, on the whole, a most unfortunate omen ... We must not suppose that it deals only with marriage. What is said about the maiden symbolizes in some way or other what we may expect for ourselves within the context of our enquiry." The figure is certainly difficult, but "unfortunate" only if its import is resisted or denied: any portrayal of our situation which eliminates illusion (however painful the realization), must be regarded as a positive lesson.
Although the Confucian commentary describes this hexagram in terms of self-seeking aspiration, the wretched protagonist of the figure is not invariably culpable, and neither Judgment nor Image imply this. In addition to being at the very bottom of the social pecking order, the maiden is portrayed as half-blind, crippled and a "slave." Although condemned by the commentators for importuning a marriage that would raise her status, a close reading of the lines reveals that only the sixth place suggests possible impropriety -- the others all contain advice about how one of extremely low status should cope with restricted circumstances. The hexagram therefore can deal with either of two possible conditions: those involving Proprietyand those involving Making-do as an adaptation to adversity.
In the first instance, it is useful to compare the symbolism here with that of the preceding hexagram of Gradual Progress. There we see the organic progression of the Work allegorized as the proper marriage of a young woman. In this case, Gradual Progress has been turned upside down and the symbolism reversed: this young woman improperly pursues a marriage on her own initiative. Psychologically interpreted, it can be regarded as an image of the ego pushing its own agenda or desire for union.
The ego may move in directions and toward actions that are at variance with the intentions and standards of the Self ... The mature adult needs to recognize eventually his or her relative limitedness vis-à-vis the "Self- field" and the cosmic organism of which s/he is but a cell. We are subject to the ordering and growth intents of the entelechy of the whole. E. C. Whitmont -- The Alchemy of Healing
To recognize our `relative limitedness “vis-à-vis the Self-field” is to renounce our claim to unilateral action. Though the ego ardently desires a marriage with the Self, only the Self can initiate such a union. Chou Tun I, an early Neo-Confucian, makes an observation which illuminates Legge's Image:
"The superior man, in accordance with this, having regard to the far-distant end, knows the mischief that may be done at the beginning. The most important things in the world are tendencies. Tendencies may be strong or weak. If a tendency is extremely strong, it cannot be controlled. But it is possible to control it quickly if one realizes that it is strong. To control it requires effort. If one does not realize early enough, it will not be easy to apply effort.”
To receive this hexagram without changing lines can be an admonition to examine your motives and actions in the matter at hand. Where are you out of line? If no obvious impropriety is involved, it could also portray an essentially impotent predicament. At such times Ritsema/Karcher's synopsis bears repetition: "This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the changing status of someone who cannot control their circumstances. It emphasizes that finding a real field of activity through accepting this imposition is the adequate way to handle it.”
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare Propriety with hexagram number fifty-three, Gradual Progress, then compare them both with hexagram number thirty-one,Initiative. What are the similarities in their ideas? Now look at hexagrams number eleven, seventeen and twenty-two and observe the over-all philosophy which begins to emerge.