Other titles: Work On What Has Been Spoiled, The Symbol of Destruction, Decay, Arresting of Decay, Work after Spoiling, Fixing, Rectifying, Corrupting, Branch, Degeneration, Misdeeds "Can refer to heredity and psychological traits.” -- D. F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Successful progress is indicated for those who properly repair what has been spoiled. It is advantageous to cross the great stream. One should consider carefully the events three days before the turning point and the tasks remaining for three days afterward.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Work On What Has Been Spoiled has supreme success. It furthers one to cross the great water. Before the starting point, three days. After the starting point, three days.
Blofeld:Decay augurs sublime success and the advantage of crossing the great river (or sea). [I.e. of going on a journey or of going forward with one's plans.] What has happened once will surely happen again (literally, "three days before the commencement; three days after the commencement"). [It would have been hard to make sense of these words, were it not that the Confucian Commentary on the Text clearly explains them; hence the liberty I have taken with the Text.]
Liu: Work after spoiling. Great success. It is of benefit to cross the great water. Before starting, three days. After starting, three days. [This hexagram implies that, although conditions are bad now, improvement can be expected.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Corrupting, Spring Growing. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Before seedburst three days, after seedburst three days. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of disorder, perversion and putrefaction. It emphasizes that letting things rot away so they become obsolete is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Branch: Prime auspiciousness; receipt. Beneficial to ford the great river; preceding jia by three days, following jia by three days.
Cleary (1): Correcting degeneration is greatly developmental. It is beneficial to cross great rivers. Three days before the start, three days after the start. [The way to correct degeneracy is not in empty tranquility without action; it is necessary to work in the midst of great danger and difficulty, to act in the dragon’s pool and the tiger’s lair. Only then can one restore one’s original being, cultivating it into something indestructible.]
Cleary (2): From degeneration comes great development, etc.
Wu: Misdeeds is great and pervasive. It will be advantageous to cross the big river. It would be advisable to begin an undertaking three days before Jia and examine the ongoing progress three days thereafter.
The Image
Legge: The image of wind below the mountain forms Repair. The superior man, in accordance with this, stimulates the virtue of the people.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind blows low on the mountain: the image of Decay. Thus the superior man stirs up the people and strengthens their spirit.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing at the foot of a mountain. The Superior Man, by stimulating people's hearts, nourishes their virtue.
Liu: Wind blowing around the foot of the mountain symbolizes Work after Spoiling. The superior man encourages people to cultivate virtue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below mountain possessing wind. Corrupting. A chun tzu uses rousing the commoners to nurture actualizing-tao. [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): There is wind in the mountains; degeneration. Thus superior people rouse the people and nurture virtue.
Cleary (2): … Leaders thus arouse the people to nurture virtue.
Wu: There is wind at the foot of the mountain; this is Misdeeds. Thus the jun zi arouses the people and nurtures his own virtue.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The dynamic trigram is above, and the magnetic trigram is below. Pliancy is below, and Stopping above: these suggest troubled conditions verging on ruin. But Repair brings order to all under heaven, and he who advances will encounter the business to be done. The end of confusion is the beginning of order; such is the procedure of heaven.
Legge: Repair means the performance of painful but necessary duties. It shows a situation in which things are going to ruin, as if through poison or venomous worms. In order to justify the auspice of progress and success, the duty of the figure is to rectify this and restore conditions to health. This will require a major effort, such as crossing the great stream, and the careful differentiation of the causes of the problem, as well as the measures taken to fix it. The attribute of the lower trigram is Pliancy, and the upper represents Stoppage or Arrest. Hence, the feeble pliancy of decadence is stopped cold by the immovable mountain. The three days before and after the turning point symbolize the careful attention and differentiation necessary for any rectification to succeed.
On the Image, Ch'eng-tzu says: "When the wind encounters the mountain, it is driven back, and the things about are all scattered in disorder; such is the emblem of the state denoted by Repair." The nourishing of virtue appears especially in line six -- all the other lines belong to the helping of the people.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment:Repair means to set your house in order. Analyze your choices before the renovation and evaluate their consequences afterward.
The Superior Man orders his thoughts and feelings, reforms old attitudes, and strengthens his will. (Psychologically, to "stimulate the virtue of the people" (Legge) is to rectify the components of a complex.)
To imagine any truly objective state of perception we must include all that exists: the entire cosmos. Each differentiation of this, from atom to galaxy, is one slice out of an infinite whole. As a portion of the entirety, we are always linked with our ancestors in an infinite web of relationships which includes our family history, our racial-cultural-historical heritage and Homo sapiens as a species. Though seldom aware of them, it is useful to remember these links. Emanating from an unfathomable complexity, their karmically-charged morphogenetic fields are constantly shaping our lives. It follows that, although we perceive ourselves as separate from our ancestors, the separation is a subjective experience which is true only in a temporally limited sense.
Every line of Repair, except two and six, shows a son dealing with the troubles caused by his father. This reminds us of the biblical curse:
For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. Exodus 20: 5
The father archetype has a wide range of meanings: this extends from the Primal Spirit ("God the Father"), to a prior cause or intent in the psyche which has engendered a present condition. Psychologically interpreted, it is this latter reading which usually applies. If a "father" symbolizes the cause, then a "son" is the effect. If the effect is imperfect, then to rectify it is also to rectify the original intent.
To a large extent our lives consist of well-intentioned but misguided choices which create less than perfect consequences. To modify our attitude or behavior so that it corrects errors in our original intent is to "deal with the troubles caused by the father."
For example: In a misconceived expression of affection, a parent allows his child unrestricted access to candy. As a consequence of this choice, the kid's teeth become rotten, and the only logical way to correct the original error is to now curtail his intake of sugar. The fact that this new choice will create stress in the relationship between parent and child is just a consequence of the original choice and has no bearing at all on what is correct in the situation.
In some situations this hexagram may be interpreted as a response to a karmic chain of cause and effect:
To harmonize with the Wisdom Teachings, the scripture should read that the karma of the "father" is visited upon the "child" unto the fourth incarnation, not generation. The mistakes you made in the last four incarnations may be visited upon you in the form of karma flowing out of the heart seed atom in the present incarnation. Thus what you "fathered," or created, in your last incarnation may be the source ("parent") of your karma today. You are a child of that parent today. You have inherited from that parent -- the you of the past, not your physical parents -- all of your characteristics, weaknesses and strengths. Earlyne Chaney -- The Mystery of Death and Dying
The interpretation of any oracle response can only be as profound as our minds are prepared to accept. As moderns we find it difficult to empathize with "ancestor worship," yet properly understood, it can provide useful insights into the Work. In the unconscious realm all time is immediate, not sequential, and the Objective Psyche consists of a non- temporal web of forces shading from personal to universal. This means that if we have a complex engendered in us by our father, for example, we can reasonably assume that he was passing on what he received from his own parents. In this way, the unresolved complexes of the ancestors shape our own personalities: they live in and through us right now, even if they had their birth in forefathers long forgotten. This is a kind of near-immortality: individuals may die, but beliefs, attitudes, complexes live as long as they have receptive vessels to inhabit. (This is probably the engine of karma.) To the extent that an ancestral chain of causality still motivates our choices, we are totally responsible for "setting right what has been spoiled by the father."
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Most people have some level of unfinished business with their parents: psychologists would have little to do if this weren't true. It can be a healing ritual to set up an altar to a deceased parent and meditate there on the stresses that still remain between you. To approach the situation without judgment, to realize (non-logically) that forces pre-existing you provoked the condition as much as your parent did, will elicit much insight. Be especially aware of the presence of the past and the illusion of linear time. (Is it possible somehow to be your own great-grandfather?) Ancestor “worship” of this sort can be profoundly therapeutic.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows a son dealing with the troubles caused by his mother. He should not carry his firm correctness to the utmost.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Setting right what has been spoiled by the mother. One must not be too persevering.
Blofeld: Assuming responsibility for the mistakes of our mothers cannot be too serious.
Liu: In correcting the mistakes of the mother, one must not be too persistent.
Ritsema/Karcher: Managing the mother's Corrupting. Not permitting Trial.
Shaughnessy: The stem mother's branch; one may not determine.
Cleary (1): Correcting the degeneracy of the mother, it is improper to be righteous.
Wu: He attends to the affairs of his mother. He should not be insistent.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In dealing with the troubles caused by his mother he holds to the course of the due mean. Wilhelm/Baynes: He finds the middle way. Blofeld: At best a middle course is advisable. Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring centering tao indeed. Cleary (2): attaining balance. Wu: He proceeds with moderation.
Legge: The fifth line ruler is magnetic, while line two is dynamic. Thus the symbolism takes the form of a son dealing with the prevailing decay induced by his mother. But a son must be very gentle in all his dealings with his mother, and especially so when constrained by a sense of duty to oppose her course.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is gentle in dealing with his mother, even when duty bound to oppose her. When restoring what has been spoiled by weakness, gradualness is required.
Wing: You have become aware of past mistakes that must be rectified. Here you must proceed with great sensitivity, since the changes in your life could hurt those dear to you.
Editor: In psychological symbolism, a female represents emotional or feeling components within the psyche. A "mother" then, would be the source of an emotional attitude which, in the context of this hexagram, needs to be modified or changed. In correcting outmoded or inappropriate feelings one must proceed with care because emotional/instinctual forces cannot be altered as quickly as we can change our minds. (It is a commonplace in psychology that mental insights mean nothing if the emotions involved refuse to conform.) Often the line can refer to the proper way of responding to another's sensitive mood or attitude.
As in childhood development, which recapitulates human historical development in consciousness, the psychic detachment from the mother towards the father is intimately bound up with the growth of individuality. Consciousness strives to become separate from the maternal involvement, and aspires toward the outside world represented by the father. Gareth Knight -- A History of White Magic
A. Rectify an emotional response. Control your feelings, but don't crush them.
B. Be sensitive in the way you handle an emotional situation.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows a son dealing with the troubles caused by his father. He obtains the praise of using the fit instrument for his work.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. One meets with praise.
Blofeld: Assuming responsibility for the mistakes of our fathers will win us praise.
Liu: Correcting the mistakes of the father leads to recognition.
Ritsema/Karcher: Managing the father's Corrupting. Availing- of praise.
Shaughnessy: The stem father's branch; use a cart.
Cleary (1): Correcting the degeneracy of the father, using praise.
Cleary (2): Dealing with the degeneration of the father, the action is praised.
Wu: He attends to the affairs of his father. He has reputation at his disposal.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He is responded to by the second line with all of his virtue. Wilhelm/Baynes: He receives him in virtue. Blofeld: Because to take them upon ourselves is a virtue. Ritsema/Karcher: Receiving uses actualizing-tao indeed. [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 (2): Because one takes up after him with virtue. Wu: He succeeds with virtue.
Legge: The magnetic fifth line is the seat of the ruler, but its proper correlate is the dynamic second line -- the strong minister to whom the work of the hexagram is delegated.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: With the assistance of able helpers, the man reverses the process of decay of former times. He is praised for it.
Wing: You are in a position to assume the responsibility for a long-needed reform. Do it. Those around you will be supportive of your efforts and you will be honored with praise and recognition.
Editor: Line five does not lend itself to the usual gender symbolism. The dynamic second line deals with feelings (the mother), and the magnetic fifth line deals with thoughts or conscious attitudes (the father). The Confucian commentary describes these correlate lines as uniting to attain symmetry. Ritsema/Karcher translate this as facilitating the unfolding of essence (tao). This suggests an overall rectification of thoughts and feelings to attain balance. The other translations emphasize that one obtains recognition and praise for this, suggesting a major accomplishment in the development of the Work.
Inasmuch as ordering activity and emotional receptivity are felt as belonging to the masculine and feminine principles respectively, the first life contacts with father and mother set the basic patterns for the development of our assertiveness and our feeling. When there are problems in these areas they must be confronted and consciously re-examined in terms of these original encounters before a further development can become possible. E. C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. Put some thought into your feelings, or: bring compassion into your thinking.
B. Rectify your thoughts and feelings: revise a limiting belief.
Autres titres : Développement, Le Symbole de l'Avancée Progressive, Développement Graduel, Infiltration, Avancement, Croissance, Développement, Gradualité, Progression Dialectique, Pas à Pas, "Plus c'est lent, plus c'est fort." -- D.F. Hook
Jugement
Legge :Progression Graduel montre la bonne fortune accompagnant le mariage d'une jeune fille. La fermeté correcte apporte un avantage.
Wilhelm/Baynes : Développement. La jeune fille est donnée en mariage. Bonne fortune. La persévérance est bénéfique.
Blofeld : Progression Graduel. Le mariage d'une jeune fille apporte la bonne fortune. La persistance dans une voie juste apporte une récompense.
Liu : Développement Graduel. Le mariage d'une fille -- Bonne Fortune. Il est bénéfique de continuer.
Ritsema/Karcher :Infiltration, la féminité se convertit de manière significative. Récolter l'épreuve. [Ce hexagramme décrit votre situation en termes de réalisation progressive d'un objectif. Il souligne que progresser par une pénétration diffuse mais constante est la manière adéquate de le gérer. Pour être en accord avec le temps, on vous dit : infiltrez-vous !]
Shaughnessy :Avancement : Pour la jeune fille de revenir est de bon augure ; bénéfique de déterminer.
Cleary (2) :Progression Graduel dans le mariage d'une femme est de bon augure. Il est bénéfique d'être chaste.
Wu : Gradualité indique qu'il est de bon augure pour une femme de se marier et il est avantageux pour elle d'être persévérante.
L'Image
Legge : Un arbre sur la montagne -- l'image de Progression Graduel. L'homme supérieur atteint et nourrit sa vertu extraordinaire pour améliorer les manières du peuple.
Wilhelm/Baynes : Sur la montagne, un arbre : l'image du Développement. Ainsi l'homme supérieur demeure dans la dignité et la vertu, afin d'améliorer les mœurs.
Blofeld : Ce hexagramme symbolise un arbre sur une montagne. L'Homme Supérieur, demeurant dans la sainteté et la vertu, incline le peuple vers la bonté.
Liu : Un arbre sur la montagne symbolise Développement Graduel. L'homme supérieur, en maintenant sa vertu, améliore les coutumes de la société.
Ritsema/Karcher : Au-dessus de la montagne possédant du bois. Infiltration. Un chun tzu utilise la résidence dans l'actualisation éminente du tao pour améliorer le vulgaire. [Actualiser le tao : Capacité à suivre le cours tracé par le processus continu du cosmos ... Lié à l'acquisition, TE : acquérir ce qui fait qu'un être devient ce qu'il est censé être.]
Cleary (1) : Il y a des arbres sur la montagne, croissant progressivement. Ainsi les personnes supérieures demeurent dans la sagacité et améliorent les coutumes.
Cleary (2) : …Les personnes développées améliorent les coutumes en vivant sagement et vertueusement.
Wu : Il y a des arbres sur la montagne ; c'est Gradualité. Le jun zi choisit de vivre dans le quartier connu pour ses normes morales élevées et ses coutumes exemplaires.
COMMENTAIRE
Confucius/Legge : L'ascension de Progression Graduel ressemble au mariage heureux d'une jeune fille. Les lignes montent à leurs places appropriées, indiquant la réussite. Parce que l'ascension est faite correctement, le sujet du hexagramme est habilité à rectifier son pays. Il est montré comme le dirigeant dynamique à la ligne cinq, central et correct. L'alternance de la Stabilité et de la Pénétration Flexible assure que l'avance est continue.
Legge : Le caractère écrit pour Progression Graduel est ordinairement utilisé dans le sens de progressivement, mais il y a aussi l'idée d'avancer. L'ensemble dénote une avancée progressive comme l'imprégnation de l'eau. Les deux autres hexagrammes qui contiennent l'idée d'avancer sont le numéro trente-cinq, Avancée de la Conscience et le numéro quarante-six,Montée-- chacun exprime sa propre nuance de sens, et ici la nuance est la manière progressive dont l'avance a lieu.
Le thème du hexagramme est l'avancement des hommes aux fonctions de l'État -- comment cela doit se faire progressivement et par étapes successives. Les lignes 2, 3, 4 et 5 sont toutes à leurs places appropriées en tant que dynamiques ou magnétiques, et nous les montons comme par étapes régulières jusqu'au sommet du hexagramme.
Le mariage d'une jeune fille illustre un événement important qui se déroule selon diverses étapes préliminaires qui doivent être correctement effectuées dans un ordre séquentiel. Il en va de même pour l'avancement d'un homme au service de l'État.
Les éditeurs de K'ang-hsi disent : "Un arbre surgissant du sol est un arbre qui commence à pousser. Un arbre sur une colline est haut et grand. Chaque arbre, lorsqu'il commence à pousser, montre ses branches et ses brindilles s'allongeant progressivement. Chaque matin et chaque soir montrent une certaine différence ; et lorsque l'arbre est haut et grand, qu'il soit de taille ordinaire ou extraordinaire, il a fallu des années pour atteindre ses dimensions."
Commentaire Ajouté : Blofeld ajoute la note suivante à chaque ligne de ce hexagramme : il est plus facile de la lire ici comme son commentaire général. [Les commentaires chinois supplémentaires expliquent que l'oie sauvage est un oiseau qui se déplace vers le soleil. Or, un terme chinois couramment utilisé pour le soleil est YANG, à savoir le principe masculin. Ainsi, l'oiseau symbolise évidemment (sic) une jeune fille cherchant un mari. Son mouvement de la rive du fleuve au rocher, à la terre ferme, à un arbre, à une colline et au continent (qui est dit dans un commentaire signifier péninsule) signifie un mouvement progressif dans une direction inchangée. Du point de vue de la divination, c'est le meilleur cours pour nous, même si le mariage n'est pas notre objectif. Concernant le mariage : la première ligne signifie des commérages, bien que le mariage ne soit pas inapproprié ; la deuxième, un mariage matériellement réussi ; la troisième, un mariage malheureux ; la quatrième, un mariage avec quelqu'un d'extrêmement gentil et attentionné ; la cinquième, un mariage heureux ; la sixième, un mariage avec une figure publique qui a une certaine responsabilité pour le bon ordre dans le royaume et qui réussit dans sa tâche.]
NOTES ET PARAPHRASES
Jugement : L'union correcte des forces au sein de la psyché est une question de maturation lente.
L'Homme Supérieur maintient sa volonté et transforme la psyché. "L'exemple est l'école de l'humanité, et ils n'apprendront d'aucune autre manière." -- Burke
C'est l'un des hexagrammes les plus hiérarchiques -- chaque ligne représente une avancée claire par rapport à la position de la ligne précédente, donnant ainsi une image de Progression Graduel. Le véhicule de cette progression est l'oie sauvage, qui apparaît également dans chaque ligne. Une oie est un oiseau -- principalement une créature de l'air, ou du domaine de la pensée ; mais parce qu'elle prospère également sur l'eau ou la terre, l'oie symbolise la pensée qui imprègne les deux catégories inférieures de la conscience -- l'émotion (eau) et la sensation (terre).
Une autre interprétation traditionnelle du motif de l'oie est celle de l'aspect universel de l'âme. L'oie sauvage est capable de se déplacer partout, sur la terre ferme, dans l'eau et dans l'air. C'est l'oiseau d'Hermès, qui est le guide des âmes. E.C. Whitmont -- La Quête Symbolique
Le progrès de l'oie est graduel, de la rive, ou seuil de la conscience à la ligne un, aux hauteurs de la montagne, ou domaine de l'Esprit à la ligne six. Le fait que ce progrès soit lié à l'idée de mariage dans le Jugement est un indice clair que nous traitons ici de l'idée de l'union des opposés au sein de la psyché. (Voir le commentaire sur le hexagramme numéro onze.) Le message est sans ambiguïté : le processus de croissance psycho-spirituelle est une maturation lente. Il n'y a pas de raccourcis vers l'illumination.
Les maux et les faussetés doivent être éliminés, afin qu'une nouvelle vie qui est la vie du ciel puisse être implantée. Cela ne peut en aucun cas être fait hâtivement ; car chaque mal enraciné avec ses faussetés a une connexion avec tous les maux et leurs faussetés ; et ces maux et faussetés sont innombrables, et leur connexion est si multiple qu'elle ne peut être comprise ... De cela, il est clair que la vie de l'enfer chez l'homme ne peut être soudainement détruite, car si cela était fait soudainement, il expirerait immédiatement ; et que la vie du ciel ne peut être soudainement implantée, car si cela était fait soudainement, il expirerait également. Swedenborg -- Arcana Coelestia