Wiki I Ching

Following 17.1.6 → 12 Divorcement

From
17
Following
To
12
Divorcement

Losing a potential ally
One is amused to see the others leave when one should be welcoming them.
 taoscopy.com


Following 17
Flow with changes, adapt to circumstances, and align with others for mutual support.

↓
Line 1
Adaptability and willingness to follow the right path lead to success.
Collaboration brings results.

↓
Line 6
Strong alliances and loyalty lead to recognition and honor.

↓
Divorcement 12
Progress stalls as negative influences prevail.
Patience and self-reflection are key to overcoming obstacles.



Original Readings

17
Following


Other titles: According With, Acquiring Followers, Adapting, Adjusting, To Accord With, To Accompany, Concordance, Conformance to The Work, "Learn to serve in order to rule. Quit the old ways." -- D.F. Hook

 

Judgment

Legge: Following indicates successful progress and no error through firm correctness.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Following has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. No blame.

Blofeld:Following. Sublime success! Righteous persistence brings reward -- no error! [This sublime success comes, of course, only to those who follow what is right, namely the will of heaven or of those whose own will embodies it.]

Liu:Following. Great success. It is of benefit to continue. No blame.

Ritsema/Karcher: Following. Spring Growing Harvesting Trial.

Without fault. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being impelled or drawn into moving forward. It emphasizes that yielding to the impulse by accepting guidance is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: follow!]

Shaughnessy:Following: Prime receipt; beneficial to determine; there is no trouble.

Cleary (1):Following is greatly developmental: it is beneficial if correct; then there is no fault.

Cleary (2): Following is very successful, etc.

Wu: Following is primordial, pervasive, prosperous, and persevering. There will be no blame.

 

The Image

Legge: Thunder in the marsh: the image of Following. The superior man, in accordance with this, at nightfall enters his house and rests.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder in the middle of the lake: the image of Following. Thus the superior man at nightfall goes indoors for rest and recuperation.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder rumbling within a swamp! When darkness falls, the Superior Man goes within and rests peacefully. [The component trigrams can be read as thunder and marsh, but also as movement and joy. In the Book of Change, joy is frequently associated with willing obedience to and glad acceptance of what is right.]

Liu: Thunder in the lake symbolizesFollowing. In the evening, the superior man rests and relaxes in his home.

Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh center possessing thunder. Following. A chun tzu uses turning-to darkening to enter a reposing pause.

Cleary (1): There is thunder in the lake, Following. Thus do superior people go inside and rest when the sun goes down.

Cleary (2): … Leaders go in and rest at sundown.

Wu: Thunder in the marsh is the symbol of Following. Thus the jun zi retires toward the twilight of the day.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: In Followingthe dynamic trigram places itself under the magnetic. We see in them the attributes of Movement and Pleasure. Through firm correctness all under heaven will be found following at such a time.

Legge: Following comes after Enthusiasm, the symbol of harmony and satisfaction. When these conditions prevail men are sure to follow. The hexagram includes the ideas of both following others and being followed by others.(Emphasis mine, Ed.) The good auspice is due to this flexibility, but in either instance the following must be guided by a reference to what is correct. The lower trigram of Movement represents the eldest son, and the upper trigram of Pleasure represents the youngest daughter. The strong places itself under the weak -- esteeming others higher than himself, and giving the idea of following. The union of Movement with Pleasure suggests the same idea.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: Following means advancement through willpower.

The Superior Man rests on his inner virtue.

In Following, the trigram of Movement "follows" the trigram of Cheerfulness: independent action subordinates itself and allows itself to be led by cheerful obedience. In terms of the Work, this symbolizes our willingness to "follow" or adhere to its principles. Psychologically interpreted, Followingmeans the compliant subordination of ego-autonomy to the Great Work of psychic integration.

Blofeld points out that the trigram of Joy, or Cheerfulness is often associated with "willing obedience to and glad acceptance of what is right." Hence the cheerful following of the intent of the Self. He explains the role of the superior man in the Image as: "It is not hard to see the connection between following and resting peacefully; for, once we have given our allegiance to others [the Self], we no longer have to worry about what should be done."

At seventy ... Confucius allowed his mind to follow whatever it desired, yet everything he did was naturally right of itself. His actions no longer needed a conscious guide. He was acting without effort. This represents the last stage in the development of the sage.
Fung Yu-Lan -- A Short History of Chinese Philosophy

When received without changing lines this hexagram often takes the meaning of: "To accord with" -- in such instances the answer is an affirmation to your query.


Line 1

Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows us one changing the object of his pursuit; if he is firmly correct there will be good fortune. Going beyond his own gate to find associates, he will achieve merit.

Wilhelm/Baynes: The standard is changing. Perseverance brings good fortune. To go out of the door in company produces deeds.

Blofeld: Those in power undergo a change -- righteous determination brings good fortune! Going forth from home and mingling with those outside will produce tangible results.

Liu: One's position is changing. To continue brings good fortune. Both friends and business are gained by going out. Success.

Ritsema/Karcher: An office: possessing denial. Trial: significant. Issuing-forth from the gate, mingling possesses achievement.

Shaughnessy: The office perhaps notifies; determination is auspicious; going out of the gate to interact has results.

Cleary (1): Standards change; it is good to be correct. Going outside and mixing is effective.

Cleary (2): … Interaction outside the gate is successful.

Wu: The way of conducting public affairs is subject to change. Perseverance will bring good fortune. Success can be had by communicating with people from without.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legg e: He will not fail in the method he pursues. Wilhelm/

Baynes: To follow what is correct brings good fortune. One does not lose oneself. Blofeld: The first sentence presages the good fortune derived from officials undergoing a change of heart and following what is right. The tangible results mentioned at the end of the passage imply that we shall not fail. Ritsema/Karcher: Adhering-to correcting significant indeed. Not letting-go indeed. Cleary (2): It is good to follow what is right …In the sense of not losing. Wu: Because following what is correct is auspicious … Because his position is not compromised.

Legge: The dynamic first line is the lord of the lower trigram. The magnetic lines ought to follow him, but he is beneath them in the lowest place in the figure. This suggests that he should change his pursuit. Because of his strength and correct position, he will be fortunate in this. Going beyond his gate for associates shows public spirit and an absence of selfish motivation.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: At the outset, the man changes his objectives. He will succeed if he remains firm in principle and goes beyond selfish considerations to mingle freely with those who do not share his feelings, as well as those who do.

Wing: A change is occurring, whether in your own objectives or in the situation around you. In order to accomplish something you should now communicate with persons of all persuasions and opinions. Yet remain internally principled and discerning.

Editor: Psychologically, an inner transformation is taking place. If this is the only moving line, hexagram number forty-five, Contraction, is created, so a (possibly unconscious) re-arrangement of attitudes and perceptions is suggested. To "go beyond one's own gate" implies a need to expand your horizons during a shift in the balance of forces.

When I reached thirty I looked back on my past. The previous victories were not due to my having mastered strategy. Perhaps it was natural ability, or the order of heaven, or that other schools' strategy was inferior. After that I studied morning and evening searching for the principle, and came to realize the Way of Strategy when I was fifty.
Miyamoto Musashi -- A Book of Five Rings

A. Change your focus, marshal your forces, and seek wider horizons.

Line 6

Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows us that sincerity held and clung to, yea, and bound fast. We see the king with it presenting his offerings on the Western Mountain.

Wilhelm/Baynes: He meets with firm allegiance and is still further bound. The king introduces him to the Western Mountain.

Blofeld: He obtained people's allegiance and his followers clung to him. During the time he spent on the Western Mountain, the King made sacrifice.

Liu: Deeply involved with one's fellows, one tries to continue. The King offers the Western Mountain.

Ritsema/Karcher: Grappling, tying-to it. Thereupon adhering holding-fast-to it. The king availing-of Growing tending- towards the Western mountain.

Shaughnessy: Grabbing and tying him, and thereafter binding him; the king uses aromatic grass on the western mountain.

Cleary (1): Binding and tying up; the king sacrifices on west mountain.

Cleary (2): In a binding involvement, the king sacrifices on the western mountain.

Wu: He is constrained and bound in order to follow. May a king make offerings to the gods of the western mountain.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The idea of the hexagram has reached its extreme development. Wilhelm/Baynes: At the top it ends. Blofeld: Those above us have exhausted their merit. Ritsema/Karcher: Exhausting the above indeed.

Cleary (2): This is the upper impasse of involvement. Wu: Because he has reached the upper limit.

Legge: The concept of Followingreaches its highest representation in the topmost line. The action, directed by the most sincere devotion to what is right, influences both men and spiritual beings. The Western Mountain is Mt. Khi, at the foot of which was the original settlement of the house of Kau in 1325 B.C.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The sage, who is retired, is recalled by the king because of his unique qualifications. The faithful and effective subject is rewarded.

Wing: You are called upon, by virtue of your wisdom and expertise, to lead another. You will unquestionably become involved, but you will be rewarded for your unselfish commitment.

Editor: Psychologically, Legge's commentary suggests the idea of devotion and sacrifice uniting forces in both conscious and unconscious realms of the psyche. The Confucian commentary suggests that the principle of Followingcomes to an end when ego and Self merge. To offer a sacrifice on the peak of the Western mountain: a high spiritual place where the sun sets (an image of the completed Work), implies this. Getting this line doesn't mean the Work is literally completed (it never is in this space-time dimension), but that you have probably integrated some significant inner complexes. Compare this line with 46:4.

The surrender of the limited purposes of the ego to the much larger goals of the Self -- goals within which the lesser egoic purposes are in fact meaningfully encompassed -- does not do away with the sense of freedom. On the contrary, only by subordinating the limitations of the ego to the Self do we truly justify our freedom and do we meaningfully validate our responsibility for our actions and decisions.
S.A. Hoeller -- The Gnostic Jung

A. Devotion to the Work brings unity to the psyche.

12
Divorcement


Other titles: Standstill, The Symbol of Closing, Stagnation, Obstruction, The Wife, Obstructed, Decadence, Disjunction, Impasse, "Yin supporting yang which is wrong, they part company. Bad prospects for marriage or partnership. " -- D.F. Hook

 

Judgment:

Legge: Divorcement means there is a lack of communication between the different classes of men. This is unfavorable to the superior man. The great has departed and the inferior has arrived.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Standstill . Evil people do not further the perseverance of the superior man. The great departs; the small approaches.

Blofeld: Stagnation (obstruction) caused by evil doers. Although the omen portends ill for the Superior Man, he must not slacken his righteous persistence. The great and the good decline; the mean approach. [When heaven and earth cease to co-operate, no growth is possible and stagnation results. The trigram (earth), when in intercourse with heaven, has the auspicious meaning of glad acceptance; but, when separated from heaven, it represents weakness and darkness, etc.]

Liu: Stagnation. Stagnation is of no benefit, although not of man's doing. The superior man carries on (according to his principles). The great is departing. The small is arriving.

Ritsema/Karcher: Obstructing it , in-no-way people. Not Harvesting: chun tzu, Trial. the great going, the small coming. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being blocked or interfered with. It emphasizes that accepting the hindrances that temporarily interrupt the flow of life and thwart communication is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: accept obstruction!]

Shaughnessy: The wife's non-persons; not beneficial for the gentleman to determine; the great go, the little come.

Cleary (1): Obstruction’s denial of humanity does not make the superior person’s rectitude beneficial. The great goes and the small comes.

Cleary (2): … Does not make the leader’s correctness beneficial, etc.

Wu:Stagnation is destined to cause obstruction of normal course of action. It is not beneficial to the jun zi who takes a persevering stand. The great goes out and the small comes in.

 

The Image:

Legge: Heaven and earth are estranged -- the image of Divorcement. The superior man preserves his virtue by withdrawing from evil, and refuses both honor and wealth.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven and earth do not unite: the image of Standstill. Thus the superior man falls back upon his inner worth in order to escape the difficulties. He does not permit himself to be honored with revenue.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes heaven and earth cut off from each other. To conserve his stock of virtue, the Superior Man withdraws into himself and thus escapes from the evil influences around him. He declines all temptations of honor and riches. [To understand why the trigrams for heaven and earth arranged in what seems to be their natural positions have this inauspicious significance, see notes on the preceding hexagram, (Harmony).]

Liu: Heaven and earth are not united, symbolizing stagnation. The superior man restrains himself to avoid danger. He seeks neither honor nor wealth.

Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven, earth, not mingling. Obstruction. A chun tzu uses parsimonious actualizing-tao to cast-out heaviness. A chun tzu uses not permitting splendor to use benefits. [Actualize-tao: Ability to follow the course traced by the ongoing process of the cosmos ... Linked with acquire, TE: acquiring that which makes a being become what it is meant to be.]

Cleary (1): When heaven and earth do not commune, there is obstruction. The superior person therefore is parsimonious with power and avoids trouble, not susceptible to elevation by emolument.

Cleary (2): … Leaders … should not prosper on wages.

Wu: … The jun zi practices the virtue of frugality to alleviate difficulties, but does not allow himself to be honored with official salary.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The unfavorable auspice of Divorcement is because heaven and earth are not in communication, and all things consequently fail to unite. High and low, superior and inferior, do not meet in union, and there are no well- regulated states in the kingdom. The lower trigram consists of magnetic lines, and the upper of dynamic lines: darkness is within, clarity without; weakness within, strength without. The lower trigram represents the advancing inferior men, the upper trigram represents the retreating superior men.

Legge: The form of Divorcementis the exact opposite of Harmony, and much of what has been said on the interpretation of that will apply to this. Divorcement is the hexagram of the seventh month when the process of growth has ended and increasing decay may be expected. The trigram of Earth is below and that of Heaven is above, and since it is always proper for the lower trigram to take the initiative, how can Earth take the place of Heaven? As in nature, it is Heaven that originates, not Earth, and in a state the upper classes must take the initiative, and not the lower.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: The time is out of joint -- decadence waxes and virtue is mocked.

The Superior Man refuses to participate in the prevailing disorder.

If the preceding hexagram images the fruitful union of heaven and earth in a holy marriage, this figure shows their Divorcement.

Divorcement: The act, process, or an instance of separating things closely joined -- the state of being separated.

To receive this figure without changing lines suggests that you are separated from truth or virtue, or that for the moment at least, the situation at hand affords no possibility of reconciliation. During such conditions it would be the height of folly to "wed oneself" to the prevailing disorder.

Note however that every line but the third shows some kind of effort to reunite that which has been separated. The first shows an alliance of closely related elements bent on serving the Work; line two depicts a kind of holding action which is necessary to allow a superior element to prevail. The third line identifies recalcitrant forces which prevent union, and four depicts another alliance -- a higher octave of its first line correlate. Line five images nearly complete re-unification and six shows the end of Divorcement. These images suggest that although disunion prevails, the energy in the situation is promoting connection.

As regards the Judgment:

Plato seems to have expressed Confucius' idea perfectly. In The Republic he makes Socrates say that the true philosopher, finding himself in an evil environment, "will not join in the wickedness of his fellows, but neither is he able singly to resist all their fierce natures, and therefore seeing that he would be of no use to the State or to his friends, and reflecting that he would have to throw away his life without doing any good either to himself or others, he holds his peace, and goes his own way ... he is content, if only he can live his own life and be pure from evil or unrighteousness, and depart in peace and good-will, with bright hopes."
H.G. Creel -- Confucius and the Chinese Way