Preserving resources
One takes care not to damage the materials that one has received. taoscopy.com
Wealth14
Abundance is present. Use your resources wisely and share generously. Celebrate success with humility and grace, knowing that true wealth comes from balance and integrity.
↓ Line 2
Preparedness and capability allow for successful undertakings.
↓ Line 3
Generosity and nobility of spirit are rewarded, beyond the reach of the small-minded.
↓ Line 4
Maintaining clear boundaries and self-awareness leads to a blameless life.
↓ Line 6
Divine favor and alignment with higher principles ensure success in all endeavors.
↓ Return24
Pause, reflect, and start anew. Embrace change and renewal.
Original Readings
14 Wealth
Other titles: Possession in Great Measure, The Symbol of Great Possession, Sovereignty, Great Having, Great Possessing, The Great Possessor, Great Wealth, Abundance, Having What is Great, "Often means things other than material possessions or achievement. Count your blessings for they are many." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Wealth means great progress and success.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Possession in Great Measure. Supreme success.
Blofeld: He who possesses much -- supreme success!
Liu: Great Possessions. Great Success.
Ritsema/Karcher: Great Possessing, Spring Growing. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of your relation to an overriding concern or central idea. It emphasizes that organizing all your efforts around this idea is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: The Great Possession: Prime receipt.
Cleary (1): In great possession are creation and development.
Cleary (2): Great possession is great success.
Wu: Great Wealth is primordial and pervasive.
The Image
Legge: Fire over Heaven -- the image of Wealth. The superior man represses evil and nurtures virtue in accordance with the benevolent will of heaven.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fire in heaven above: the image of Possession in Great Measure. Thus the superior man curbs evil and furthers good, and thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire in the heavens. [When the trigram for heaven is above, whatever is below may be separated from it; when it is below, it indicates fusion or intermixture with what is above. The significance here is that the splendor of a very great man lights up the heavens.] The Superior Man suppresses those who are evil and upholds the virtuous. Most gladly he accords with heaven and carries out its commands.
Liu: Fire over heaven symbolizes Great Possessions. The superior man suppresses evil and honors virtue, and thus follows the will of heaven and waits upon destiny.
Ritsema/Karcher: Fire located above heaven. Great Possessing. A chun tzu uses terminating hate to display improvement. A chun tzu uses yielding-to heaven to relinquish fate.
Cleary (1): Fire is in the sky;great possession.Thus does the superior person stop evil and promote good, obeying heaven and accepting its order.
Cleary (2): … Leaders obey nature and accept its order by stopping the bad and promoting the good.
Wu: Fire above and heaven below form Great Wealth.Thus the jun zi suppresses the evil and promotes the good; he abides by the will of heaven to enrich his life.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Wealth shows the magnetic line in the central ruler's place, and honored by the dynamic lines above and below. The figure is composed of the trigrams of Strength and Clarity. The central line of Clarity responds to the central line of Strength, eventuating in timely action. This indicates great progress and success.
Legge: Wealth means "great havings," and symbolizes a kingdom, family or individual in a state of prosperity. The danger in such a position arises from the pride it is likely to engender. Here however, everything is against that: the place of honor is occupied by a magnetic line, so that the ruler will be humble, and all the dynamic lines will respond to her with sympathetic allegiance. The ruler's seat is in the central position of the trigram of Clarity, and hence her strength is directed by intelligence, and all her actions are timely, like the seasons of heaven.
Fire above the sky shines far -- symbolizing the vastness of the territory of wealth. To develop virtue and repress evil is in accordance with the will of heaven, which has given to all men a nature fitted for goodness.
Cleary (2): All states of being have this essence inherent in them and are indeed made of this essence, but all states other than that of complete enlightenment are out of harmony with this essence in some way. Buddhahood is when you accord with this essence.
Wu: As the sun shines brightly high in the sky, both the good and the bad will be exposed. The responsibility of the jun zi is to discriminate between them. He acts in accordance with the nature of goodness (the will of heaven) to enrich his life.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The greatest kind of Wealth accrues from furthering the Work.
The Superior Man manages his forces in accordance with the goals of the Work.
Wealthis the inverse of the preceding figure, Union of Forces. If the thirteenth hexagram depicts a process of uniting, the fourteenth might be seen as the completion of that process. To have one's inner forces correctly united is indeed Possession in Great Measure, which is the title that Wilhelm gives to this figure.
It is emphasized in the Image that this Wealth must be administered in accordance with the "benevolent will of heaven,” which is to say: the principles of the Work must always guide one's choices if one is not to lose equilibrium and become pauperized by illusion.
The superior man considers a rich possession of moral principles to be honor, and peace in his person to be wealth. Chou Tun-I
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows a large wagon with its load. In whatever direction advance is made, there will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A big wagon for loading. One may undertake something. No blame.
Blofeld: There are large supply wagons. [Apparently we need not fear failure through lack of resources.] If there is some desired goal (or destination), setting out (to attain it) will involve no error.
Liu: Loading the big wagon. Undertaking without blame. [One can expect to achieve his undertaking and acquire property.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The great chariot used to carry. Possessing directed going. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: The great cart is used to carry; there is someplace to go; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Using a great car for transport, when there is a place to go there is no fault.
Cleary (2): Using a large car for transport, there is a place to go, etc.
Wu: To haul in a cart to a certain destination is without fault.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This refers to the virtue accumulated by the subject of the line, so that he will suffer no loss in the conduct of affairs. Wilhelm/ Baynes: Accumulating in the middle; thus no harm results. Blofeld: Some place where supplies have been accumulated will escape from danger. Ritsema/Karcher: Amassing centering, not destroying indeed. Cleary (2): If the load is balanced you will not fail. Wu: Means to accumulate at the center with no failure.
Legge: The dynamic second line has his proper correlate in the fifth line ruler of the figure, and will subordinate his strength to his humility.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Accumulated virtues and competent helpers enable the man to assume great responsibilities. Like a huge wagon ready for loading, he subordinates strength to humility.
Wing: You not only have tremendous resources to work with, but you also possess the wherewithal to coordinate these assets and make them work for you. Such ingenuity will allow you to fearlessly attempt ambitious endeavors.
Editor: A wagon is a "vessel" which contains something as well as a vehicle which can go somewhere. Thus the image suggests the power to accomplish a task or reach a goal.
If a man worships the Self only as his true state, his work does not perish, for whatever he desires that he gets from that Self. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
A. The image favors progress in furthering the Work.
B. A receptive vehicle.
C. An accumulation of virtue permits progress.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows us a feudal prince presenting his offerings to the Son of Heaven. An inferior man would be unequal to such a duty.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A prince offers it to the Son of Heaven. A petty man cannot do this.
Blofeld: A prince may win rewards from his emperor, but this is beyond an ordinary man's power.
Liu: A duke makes an offering to the emperor. The inferior man is unable to do this.
Ritsema/Karcher: A prince availing-of Growing, tending- towards heavenly sonhood. Small People nowhere controlling.
Shaughnessy: The duke uses aromatic grass to the Son of Heaven; the little man is not capable of it.
Cleary (1): The work of barons serves the son of heaven. Petty people are incapable of this.
Cleary (2): Impartial action gets through to the ruler. Small people, etc.
Wu: A duke has the honor of dining with the king. The little man is unworthy of the honor.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: An inferior man in such a position does himself harm. Wilhelm/Baynes: A petty man harms himself. Blofeld: The little man would only harm himself in the attempt. [This omen suggests that a great goal can be won only by someone very powerful or distinguished; others would be well advised not to attempt it.]Ritsema/Karcher: Small People harmful indeed. Cleary (2): Small people would be harmed. Wu: This will be unfitting to the little man.
Legge: Line three is dynamic in a correctly dynamic place. The top line of the lower trigram is the proper place for a feudal lord. He will humbly serve the condescending ruler in the fifth place. An inferior man in the same position, but without the virtue, would give himself airs.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The superior man places his property and talents at the service of the ruler and the public. The inferior man employs them for his own gain.
Wing: A superior-minded person will place his talents or resources at the disposal of his leader or his community. Through this type of open generosity he is benefited, for he is loyally supported in turn. A lesser man cannot do this.
Editor: This line is often received under painful conditions in which a sacrifice of some kind is demanded. Blofeld and Wu’s versions differ conceptually from the other translators, and may be considered eccentric unless the matter under question supports their interpretations.
Whether your task demands abject poverty of you or gives you the greatest wealth, you must always remember that nothing, absolutely nothing, ever or anywhere really belongs to you. On the contrary, everything is God’s property, and from his property you receive something only for your actual needs, corresponding to your task. Just as it's a matter of indifference to a canal whether more or less water flows through it, because the water doesn't belong to it, you too must regard everything fate gives you as something that comes to you from God, and something you must pass on. Elisabeth Haich --Initiation
A. Sacrifice your ego-autonomy for the good of the Work. This is impossible for one who has not advanced beyond his own narrow self-interest.
B. A superior man's meat is an inferior man's poison.
C. A difficult sacrifice is called for.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject keeping his great resources under restraint. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He makes a difference between himself and his neighbor. No blame.
Blofeld: Pride is not involved -- no error!
Liu: He distinguishes between himself and his friends. This brings no blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: In-no-way one's preponderance . Without fault.
Shaughnessy: It is not his fullness ; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Repudiate self-aggrandizement and there is no fault.
Cleary (2): Negating self-inflation, there is no blame.
Wu: He who keeps his strength under restraint will not be humiliated.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His wisdom discriminates clearly what he ought to do. Wilhelm/Baynes: He is clear, discriminating, and intelligent. Blofeld: Implies the possession of very great discriminatory powers. [Such as the power to recognize how very little of our success is really due to our own merits.]Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness differentiating clearly indeed. Cleary (2): Because the understanding is clear. Wu: Because he exercises clear discriminations.
Legge: The strength of line four is tempered by his position in a magnetic place. Hence he will do no injury to the mild ruler just above him.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man discriminates clearly what should be done. He keeps his strength under control, yields not to competition and envy, and does not injure the mild ruler.
Wing: Quell your pride and envy and do not attempt to compete with others or emulate those in power. Give your full attention to the business at hand and you will avoid mistakes.
Anthony: When we argue, we engage and compete with other people’s inferiors. We should remain disengaged. Even when we mentally argue with or inwardly look at the problem, we remain engaged, thinking of ways to deal with their inferiors. Such looking to the side causes us to deviate from our own direction.
Editor: Wilhelm and Liu both render this line in terms of making a distinction between oneself and others. The distinction to be made is to see the difference between the minister in line four and the ruler in line five -- i.e., don't overstep your authority or aspire above your proper place. The line can also refer to co-dependence to other people's illusions. You have your own unique path to follow: you cannot acquiesce to the unenlightened expectations of others without doing damage to yourself, to them, and to the Work. Choices like this are often extremely painful. This, however, does not absolve the aspirant from doing what the Work demands.
Better is one's own dharma, though imperfectly performed, than the dharma of another well performed. Better is death in the doing of one's own dharma: the dharma of another is fraught with peril. Bhagavad-Gita 3:35
A. Follow your own path and let others follow theirs.
B. The situation calls for discrimination and restraint.
C. Differentiate the difference between a superior and an inferior element in the situation.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows its subject with help accorded to him from Heaven. There will be good fortune, advantage in every respect.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He is blessed by heaven. Good fortune. Nothing that does not further.
Blofeld: Those under heaven's protection enjoy good fortune and success in everything. [The top line of a very favorable hexagram is sometimes taken to symbolize heaven. Whoever receives (this line) may expect utmost success.]
Liu: One is blessed by heaven. Good fortune. Benefit in everything.
Ritsema/Karcher: Originating-from heaven shielding it. Significant, without not Harvesting.
Shaughnessy: From heaven blessing it; auspicious; there is nothing not beneficial.
Cleary (1): Help from heaven is auspicious, unfailingly beneficial.
Cleary (2): Good fortune that is a blessing from heaven is beneficial to all.
Wu: With blessings from heaven, there will be good fortune and nothing disadvantageous.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Good fortune arises from the help of heaven. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The place at the top of Possession in Great Measure has good fortune. This is because it is blessed by heaven. Blofeld: The great good fortune presaged by this line is that of being specially protected by heaven. Ritsema/Karcher: Great Possessing the above: significant. Originating-from heaven shielding indeed. Cleary (2): A blessing from heaven. Wu: The blessings come from heaven.
Legge: Even the topmost line takes its character from line five. His strength is still tempered, and heaven gives its approval.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man attains the fullness of blessings. He recognizes the bases for the favorable state of affairs, remains devoted in his actions, and honors the sage who exerted the beneficent influence.
Wing: Here lies the potential for great blessings and good fortune. Know how to keep things in balance; be devoted in your endeavors and openly appreciative to those who help you. In this way you might expect supreme success.
Editor: Of all the lines and hexagrams in the I Ching, this is one of the most favorable combinations that one can receive. If it is the only changing line, the hexagram of Wealth is transformed into the thirty-fourth hexagram of Great Power -- a most energetic combination of images.
I cannot define for you what God is. I can only say that my work has proved empirically that the pattern of God exists in every man, and that this pattern has at its disposal the greatest of all his energies for transformation and transfiguration of his natural being. Jung -- Letters
A. "God is on your side."
24 Return
Other titles: The Turning Point, The Symbol of Returning, Revival, Recovery, To Repeat, Renewal, Restore, Return to the Way, Cyclic Repetition, "Return to virtue or happier conditions." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Progress and freedom of action are found in Return. Goings and comings are unimpeded, and friends approach without error. Return to repeat the proper course. Seven days returns the cycle to its beginning. There is advantage in choosing one's path.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Return. Success. Going out and coming in without error. Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the way. On the seventh day comes return. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
Blofeld: Return. Success! All going forth and coming in is free from harm. [For it is only when the whole series is completed that we can understand the reasons for many things (death, winter and so on) which, at the time, seemed unproductive, negative or positively evil.] Friends arrive and no error is involved. They return whence they came, spending seven days in all upon their coming and returning. It is favorable to have in view some goal (or destination).
Liu:Return:success. One goes out and comes back in without harm. Friends arrive without blame. Going to and fro is the way. Returning on the seventh day. It benefits one to go anywhere. [Return or Revival signifies a bad time becoming better... Anyone receiving this hexagram should prepare for a great opportunity...]
Ritsema/Karcher:Returning, Growing. Issuing-forth, entering, without affliction. Partnering coming, without fault. Reversing Returning one's tao. The seventh day coming: Returning. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of something that is re-emerging. It emphasizes that going back to the starting point in order to begin anew is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the times you are told to return!]
Shaughnessy:Returning: Receipt; in exiting and entering there is no illness; when the burying comes there is no trouble; turning around and returning to its way, in seven days it comes in return; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1): Return is developmental. Exiting and entering, there is no ill. When a companion comes, there is no fault. Reversing the path, returning in seven days, it is beneficial to have a place to go.
Cleary (2):Return is successful, etc. … Returning back on the path, etc.
Wu:Renewal is pervasive. He who comes and goes will have no error. Friends come without harm. The course repeats itself. In seven days, one cycle of reversion completes. There will be advantage to have an undertaking.
The Image
Legge: Thunder in the middle of the earth -- the image of Return. Thus the ancient kings closed the passes on the day of the winter solstice to prevent travelers from pursuing their journeys, and princes from inspecting their states.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder within the earth: the image of The Turning Point. Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes at the time of the solstice. Merchants and strangers did not go about, and the ruler did not travel through the provinces.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder in the bowels of the earth. [The component trigrams in this position suggest thunder coming from under the earth; but the trigram of thunder also means to sprout or quicken; it is this concept of a quickening within the earth that makes this hexagram generally favorable.] The ancient rulers closed the passes during the solstices [The solstices were times for solemn sacrifice; it has always been the practice in China for people to return to their homes for the celebration of the great yearly festivals. Return in this sense is highly auspicious.] and the merchants were unable to travel. Even the rulers abstained from touring their territories at those times.
Liu: Thunder in the earth symbolizes Return. Thus in ancient times the kings closed the roads during the winter solstice. Merchants and travelers ceased traveling. And rulers would not visit their territories.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder located-in earth center. Returning. The Earlier Kings used culminating sun to bar the passages. Bargaining sojourners [used culminating sun] not to move. The crown-prince [used culminating sun] not to inspect on-all- sides.
Cleary (1): Thunder is in the earth; Return. Thus did the kings of yore shut the gates on the winter solstice; caravans did not travel, the ruler did not inspect the regions.
Wu: Thunder is inside the earth; this is Renewal. Thus on the day of the winter solstice, the ancient kings ordered the city gates closed, so that merchants and travelers could take a break of their journeys; the kings refrained from performing official duties.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Return shows the coming back of the dynamic principle. His actions show movement directed in accordance with the natural order. Such is the movement of the heavenly cycle. The dynamic lines are growing and increasing. Do we not see inReturn the mind of heaven and earth?
Legge: Return symbolizes the idea of coming back or over again. The previous hexagram showed the ascendancy of inferior forces, when all that is good in nature or society yields before what is bad. But change is eternal, and here we see the beginnings of recovery from the former situation. Return is associated with the time of the winter solstice when the sun begins its journey back toward summer. In harmony with these cycles in nature are the cycles in human affairs.
The dynamic bottom line is the first line of the trigram of Movement, and the upper trigram is that of Docility. The dynamic returning line will meet with no resistance and all the magnetic lines above it will be transformed into allies. The bright quality will be developed brighter and brighter from day to day and month to month.
"In seven days brings return" refers to the idea of a new cycle commencing when each of the six lines of a hexagram has changed -- the "seventh line," or seventh day begins a new cycle just as Sunday begins a new week.
Thunder in the midst of the earth is thunder shut up and silent, just able to make its presence felt. So it is with the first stirrings of life after the winter solstice and the first returning steps of the wanderer to virtue. As the spring of life has to be nurtured in quietness, so also the purpose of goodness.
Wilhelm: The hexagram of RETURN, applied to character formation, contains various suggestions. The light principle returns; thus the hexagram counsels turning away from the confusion of external things, turning back to one’s inner light. There, in the depths of the soul, one sees the Divine, the One. It is indeed only germinal, no more than a beginning, a potentiality, but as such clearly to be distinguished from all objects. To know this One means to know oneself in relation to the cosmic forces. For this One is the ascending force of life in nature and in man.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The Work is recycled, perfected and refined over and over again.
The Superior Man pauses before he begins anew.
The mention of seven days in the Judgment and the winter solstice in the Image tells us that the hexagram of Return deals with cyclic progression.
In the I Ching, the hexagram fu, signifying the Return (one yang line beneath five yin lines) is the symbol of the rebirth of the Yang. At the winter solstice, the Yang seems to have disappeared, whereas the Yin is at its full; but this is the moment when the Yang is reborn and begins its return. Symmetrically, at the summer solstice the Yang is at the apogee of its power while the Yin prepares to return. The alteration of the Yin and the Yang is a going away and a coming back. Max Kaltenmark -- Lao Tzu and Taoism
Seven days is one-quarter of a lunar cycle and the module upon which a week is based. The Sabbath day is the seventh day and a day of rest in the Hebrew tradition, as was also the day of the new moon. The "closing of the passes" in the Image is another expression of the idea of resting at the beginning of a new cycle. To refrain from activity at these times was a sacrifice and a spiritual obligation. The concept behind it is the acknowledgment of one's Source, a review of the past cycle and a meditation upon the new cycle just beginning. Psychologically interpreted, forces in the unconscious psyche demand a pause before their dance can resume.
A special atmosphere of solemn celebration surrounded the Sabbath, which was thoroughly pervaded with Kabbalistic ideas about man's role in the unification of the upper worlds. Gershom Scholem -- Kabbalah
Although the Chinese observed no “Sabbath” that I am aware of, the idea of a rest at the commencement of a cycle is clearly intended in this hexagram. In terms of the Work, one eventually becomes aware of cycles and rest periods, even if one never noticed them previously. When one learns how to synchronize conscious awareness with these inner rhythms, the tempo of the Work begins to accelerate.
"There is advantage in choosing one's path" is rendered by Wilhelm as: "It furthers one to have somewhere to go." The idea is that when you are consciously on a path, the cycles begin to work in your favor. Instead of a monotonous round of inconclusive and random events, one's life takes on structure and purpose and inner progress becomes discernable.
Conforming to the rhythm of the universe is the prerequisite of wisdom in all Chinese thinking. But the Taoist mystic has greater ambitions than his ordinary compatriots: the question for him is not merely of adapting his ritual and hygienic observances to the alternation of the seasons; he intends to escape from the determinism of life and death by transcending it. This is what enables him to attain inner emptiness: he does not merely witness the return of all creatures to their origin, he precedes them to that origin. Max Kaltenmark -- Lao Tzu and Taoism
Every line of this hexagram refers to returning to the proper path, so the hexagram can imply that perhaps you have strayed from the Work to one degree or another. Without changing lines, it can mean to rest at the beginning of a cycle, or to get back on course: re-attune yourself with the current phase of the Work.
You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. Black Elk