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
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows its subject ashamed of the purpose folded in her breast.
Wilhelm/Baynes: They bear shame.
Blofeld: He conceals his shame.
Liu: They bear with humiliation.
Ritsema/Karcher: Enwrapping embarrassing.
Shaughnessy: Wrapping: Enfolding sadness.
Cleary (1): Hiding shame.
Cleary (2): Embracing disgrace.
Wu: It indicates a cover-up of shame. [The little man wishes to undermine progress. Since he is able to keep shame under wrap, there is no apparent foreboding or regret.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is due to the inappropriateness of the position. Wilhelm/Baynes: They bear shame because the place is not the right one. Blofeld: This is indicated by the unsuitable position of the line. Ritsema/ Karcher: Situation not appropriate indeed. Cleary (2): The position is not appropriate. Wu: The position is improper.
Legge: The third line is magnetic in a dynamic place. She would vent her evil purpose, but hasn't the strength to do so. Therefore she is left to the shame which she ought to feel without a word of warning.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man feels inwardly ashamed for having acquired his position illegitimately. But he does not have the strength to carry out his evil purpose.
Wing: Because of questionable methods and motives used to attain your position, your plans will not come to fruition. There is some shame in this, but therefore improvement.
Editor: Wilhelm and Liu both use the plural here: "They bear shame," and "They bear with humiliation." I have received this line when it referred to autonomous elements (inner complexes or other people) influencing the situation; I have also received it directed at a consciously held attitude, as well as describing another person’s hidden agenda. Part of the idea here is that for one to mend one's ways one must first recognize one's errors and "feel shame" about them. The prognosis is then favorable -- i.e.: "Go thy way and sin no more." Sometimes this line can be a reprimand for asking the oracle a question you can figure out for yourself.
We are still as possessed by our autonomous psychic contents as if they were gods. Today they are called phobias, compulsions, and so forth, or in a word, neurotic symptoms. The gods have become diseases; Zeus no longer rules Olympus but the solar plexus, and creates specimens for the physician's consulting room, or disturbs the brains of the politicians and journalists who then unwittingly unleash mental epidemics. Jung --The Secret of the Golden Flower
A. Shame on you.
B. Shame on him, her, them or it.
C. Shame is “concealed” within brazen, unapologetic behavior.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject acting in accordance with the ordination of Heaven, and committing no error. His companions will come and share in his happiness.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He who acts at the command of the highest remains without blame. Those of like mind partake of the blessing.
Blofeld: Whatever is done in response to a command from on high cannot be a wrong. His companions are also made illustrious and blessed. [Yet, according to Confucius, if a ruler is wholly evil, he may be regarded as a bandit and removed. Short of that, however, obedience to authority had to be unquestioning.]
Liu: He whose actions are in accord with the orders of the highest receives no blame. His fellows share in his blessing.
Ritsema/Karcher: Possessing fate, without fault. Cultivating radiant satisfaction.
Shaughnessy: There is a command; there is no trouble; blessings fastened to the split-log.
Cleary (1): If there is an order, there is no fault. The companions attain felicity.
Cleary (2): If there is order, there is no blame. The companions cleave to blessings.
Wu: Having received the command from the above is without blame. Those of a like kind will share the blessing.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The purpose of his mind can be carried into effect. Wilhelm/Baynes: What is willed is done. Blofeld: Those carrying out commands are obeying the ruler's will. Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose moving indeed. Cleary (2): Because the will is carried out. Wu: His aspirations will prevail.
Legge: The action of the subject of the line, whose activity is tempered by his magnetic position, will be good and correct, and issue in success and happiness. The fourth line is just below the ruler's place, and yielding to the will of Heaven, or the ruler, he gets his purpose carried out.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: A turn for the better occurs. To succeed in creating order and making progress, however, the man must be given the requisite authority to do the task. He will fail if he proceeds on his own initiative and judgment.
Wing: It is possible to change the entire situation to one of progress and order. If you sincerely hear a calling to the task and are in harmony with the cosmos, you and your associates will benefit. If you simply appoint yourself to the position of leader, confusion could result.
Editor: Psychologically, the idea here is that when the ego follows the principles of the Work, or the will of the Self (which amounts to the same thing), other elements within the psyche ("his companions") are thereby induced to fall into line.
[Once unity has been achieved] the work of destiny can be commenced, which is the functioning as a part of God’s evolving Universe which [the individual], as a spirit, undertook to carry out in the first place... And how does he work out his destiny? By being himself -- literally. By acting from within the center of his being, his essential self. Not by acting according to the dictates of his mind, his emotions or his instincts, but by using them according to his and their needs. G. Knight -- The Work of a Modern Occult Fraternity
A. Obey the principles of the Work, and disparate elements will follow your lead.
B. You are in harmony with your duty/destiny/Work.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows the overthrow and removal of the condition of distress and obstruction. Before this there was that condition. Hereafter there will be joy.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune.
Blofeld: Stagnation (obstruction) has now been overcome and is followed by great joy.
Liu: Stagnation ends. First there is stagnation, later good fortune.
Shaughnessy: Momentary wife; at first negative, later happy.
Cleary (1): Overturning obstruction: first there is obstruction, afterward joy.
Wu: Stagnation is ousted, etc.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: How could it be prolonged? Wilhelm/Baynes: When standstill comes to an end, it reverses. One should not wish to make it permanent. Blofeld: In the end it must be overcome. How could it endure forever? [The process of change is continuous. This is the last line, which is held to have emerged from the evil symbolized by the hexagram as a whole.]Ritsema/Karcher: Wherefore permitting long-living indeed? Cleary (2): What can last? Wu: How could it last?
Legge: There is an end to the condition of distress. It was necessary that that condition should give place to its opposite; and the dynamic line in the topmost place fitly represents the consequent joy.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Stagnation and disintegration give way to happiness and progress. But they may not last long.
Wing: The opportunity to change a situation from Stagnation to progress is at hand. It will not happen of its own accord. A strong and continuing sense of purpose is necessary to achieve and maintain the greatest possible heights of success.
Editor: When this line changes the hexagram becomes number forty-five: Contraction. This suggests that when an impasse is finally broken, the energy released begins to accumulate for a new cycle of growth.
When one has learned to live with the manifestations of the "not-I" in an attitude of concrete acceptance, bearing one's seemingly inferior personal characteristics as a burden rather than identifying with them and at the same time humbly remaining open to the demands of hitherto unrealized transpersonal powers, a new phase of psychological transformation is initiated. The instinctual drives themselves may change character and consequently the needs for suppressive discipline or sublimation can be lessened. Much of what formerly seemed evil, or at least compulsively disturbing, reveals itself as merely primitive and therefore capable of constructive growth. The instinctual drives thus transformed and matured cease to be sources of moral danger, temptation or sin; instead they become the originators of new creative impulses and possibilities of expression which eventually widen the scope of the personality and with it the whole life. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. The situation is about to improve. Once the lessons of an impasse are integrated, one moves on to other things.
Other titles: Obstruction, The Symbol of Difficulty, Arresting Movement, Trouble, Obstacles, Barrier, Halt, Halting, Limping, Afoot, “Sit Tight—Don’t move” "One is surrounded by an underwater reef and should wait for assistance." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: During an Impasse advantage is found in the southwest, disadvantage in the northeast. See the great man. Firm correctness brings good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Obstruction. The southwest furthers. The northeast does not further. It furthers one to see the great man. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Trouble. The west and the south are favorable, but not the east and north. [That is to say, if we try to forward our plans by proceeding in either of those directions, we shall get bogged down or lost. It could also mean that we should be driven to unvirtuous conduct.] It is advisable to see a great man. [We should seek advice from someone of lofty moral stature and profound wisdom.] Persistence in a righteous course brings good fortune.
Liu: Obstruction. The southwest is of benefit. The northeast -- no benefit. It benefits one to visit a great man. To continue brings good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Limping, Harvesting: Western South. Not Harvesting: Eastern North. Harvesting: visualizing Great People. Trial: significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being weak, afflicted or hampered. It emphasizes that going ahead even though haltingly is the adequate way to handle it. (Sic) To be in accord with the time, you are told to: limp!]
Shaughnessy: Afoot: Beneficial to the southwest, not beneficial to the northeast; beneficial to see the great man; determination is auspicious.
Cleary (1): When halted, the southwest is beneficial, not the northeast. It is profitable to see a great person; innocence is auspicious.
Cleary (2): When in trouble, it is beneficial to go southwest; it is not beneficial to go northeast. It is beneficial to see a great person. Correctness leads to good results.
Wu:Difficulty indicates that it will be advantageous in the southwest, but not so in the northeast. There will be advantage to meet with the great man. Auspiciousness will come with perseverance.
Hua-Ching Ni: The good direction is where there is no abyss or high mountains, like the Southwest, but not the Northeast. One should go to the great leader who can work with people in breaking through obstructions.
The Image
Legge: Water on the mountain -- the image of Impasse. The superior man turns around to examine himself and cultivate his virtue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water on the mountain: the image of Obstruction. Thus the superior man turns his attention to himself and molds his character.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water upon a mountain. The Superior Man cultivates virtue by bringing about a revolution within himself.
Liu: Water on the mountain symbolizes Obstruction. The superior man reexamines himself and improves his character.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above mountain possessing stream. Limping. A chun tzu uses reversing individuality to renovate 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 water atop a mountain, halting. Thus do superior people examine themselves and cultivate virtue.
Cleary (2): Water on a mountain – trouble. Developed people examine themselves to cultivate virtue.
Wu: There is water on the mountain; this is Difficulty. Thus, the jun zi examines his own person to polish his virtue.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Impasse means difficulty, with the trigram of Peril up ahead. It is a wise man who can stop his advance at the first sign of danger. Advantage in the southwest means that the dynamic line has advanced to the central position. In the northeast, however, progress is halted. Seeing the great man insures progress and success. All of the lines except the first are in their appropriate places, suggesting the firm correctness in which the regions of the kingdom are brought to their natural order. Great indeed is the work to be done during an Impasse.
Legge: Impasse is the symbol of incompetency in the feet and legs involving difficulty in walking. Hence it represents a state of the kingdom which makes government an arduous task. The figure teaches how to perform this task under the prevailing circumstances.
The Judgment requires three things: the attention to place, the presence of the great man, and the observance of firm correctness. According to King Wen's arrangement of the trigrams, the southwest is occupied by the trigram of the Earth, and the northeast by the trigram of the Mountain. The former is the fertile lowland, the latter the mountain peaks; the former is easily traversed and held, while the latter presents obstacles. Thus the attention to place becomes a calculation of circumstances -- differentiating those that are promising from those that are likely to fail.
The great man is the correctly dynamic ruler in the fifth place, with the proper magnetic correlate in line two. However, favorable position and circumstances, and the presence of the great man do not relieve us from the observance of firm correctness -- this principle is consistent throughout the I Ching.
Ch'eng-tzu says: "We see here a steep and difficult mountain, on the top of which is water. Each trigram represents perilousness -- there is peril above and below. Hence it shows the difficulties of the state." The application of the symbolism is illustrated by the words of Mencius: "When our actions do not realize our desires, we must turn inwards and examine ourselves in every point."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Dissolve the polarities of an Impasseby seeking its most fertile integration. Use your will in harmony with the principles of the Work.
The Superior Man seeks his center and refines his commitment.
Lines two and five of this difficult hexagram show those who struggle with hardship; all of the other lines show images of an improper advance followed by a proper return to a former position. Ritsema/Karcher's characterization of the hexagram's overall meaning as an injunction to "(go) ahead even though haltingly is the adequate way to handle (the situation)" is anomalous and at variance with the general import of this figure. Legge's Confucian commentary is more in keeping with its meaning: "It is a wise man who can stop his advance at the first sign of danger."
Legge also chooses an excellent paraphrase of the role of the superior man in the Image with his quotation from Mencius: "When our actions do not realize our desires, we must turn inwards and examine ourselves in every point." In other words, the chances are good that the Impassemay be self-created, and when the ego introspects with care the reasons usually become apparent.
It is not unknown at a certain stage of development for the ego, overwhelmed with the enormity of the Work, to evade its responsibilities and vainly try to return to the bliss of its former ignorance. At such times it soon becomes clear that no matter what you attempt, success will be blocked: where others succeed with ease, it will take you five times as much effort just to break even. ThisImpasse is permanent until you reassume responsibility for the Work. The following quotation is an allegory of this condition:
Yahweh Saboath says this: Reflect carefully how things have gone for you. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but never have enough, drink but never have your fill, put on clothes but do not feel warm. The wage earner gets his wages only to put them in a purse riddled with holes ... The abundance you expected proved to be little. When you brought the harvest in, my breath spoiled it. And why? It is Yahweh Saboath who speaks. Because while my house lies in ruins you are busy with your own, each one of you. Haggai 1: 6-10
In one way or another, the Self will attain its intent. To ignore this hard truth is to experience Impasse.