Other titles: Exhaustion, The Symbol of Repression and Confinement, Adversity, Weariness, Confining, Entangled, Hardship, Depression, Tiresome Restriction, Dried Up, "Actions speak louder than words." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Oppression means that successful progress is still possible. The perseverance of the truly great man brings good fortune without error; but if he relies on words, no one will believe them.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Oppression . Success. Perseverance. The great man brings about good fortune. No blame. When one has something to say, it is not believed.
Blofeld:Adversity leading to success thanks to persistence in a righteous course; good fortune for the truly great and freedom from error! Though words be spoken, they will not inspire confidence. [`Great' refers to high moral qualities. This hexagram is of evil omen for most people, but success can be won through tremendous persistence in doing what is right.]
Liu: Oppression. Success. Persistence. Good fortune for the great man. No blame. If one indicates with words only, no one will believe.
Ritsema/Karcher:Confining, Growing. Trial: Great People significant. Without fault. Possessing words not trustworthy. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of restriction and distress. It emphasizes that turning inward through accepting enclosure is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Entangled: Receipt; determination for the great man is auspicious; there is no trouble. There are words that are not trustworthy.
Cleary (1): Exhaustion develops the righteous. Great people are fortunate and blameless. If one complains, one will not be trusted.
Cleary (2): Exhausted but coming through successfully, upright great people are fortunate and impeccable. Mere words are not believed.
Wu: Hardship indicates pervasion and perseverance. There will be good fortune for the great men. No error. But their words do not make impressions on people.
The Image
Legge: An abyss beneath the marsh that drains its water -- the image ofOppression. Thus the superior man will sacrifice his life to attain his purpose.
Wilhelm/Baynes: There is no water in the lake: the image of Exhaustion. Thus the superior man stakes his life on following his will.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a marsh in which no water (appears). The Superior Man risks his life to carry out his will.
Liu: The lake with no water symbolizesOppression.The superior man would give up his life to achieve his purpose.
Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh without stream. Confining. A chun tzu uses involving fate to release purpose.
Cleary (1): A lake with no water is exhausted. Therefore superior people use life to the full and achieve their aim. [When people lack purpose their path is at an end. Therefore they use life to the full to achieve their aim… Using life to the full means to get to the end of conditioned life; achieving one’s aim means to achieve the primordial life… Using the temporal to restore the primordial, ending false life and establishing real life, producing being in the midst of nothingness, seeking life within death, getting through an exhausting impasse, is like a lake without water again being filled with water.]
Cleary (2): …Developed people accomplish their will by living out their destiny. [Developed people only live out their destiny; they do not willingly try to avoid following and accepting it. Being strong and balanced, they are able to be joyful even in danger; this is the will that is up to oneself. Developed people intend to accomplish their will and do not vacillate just because they run into problems.]
Wu: The marsh has no water; this is Hardship. Thus the jun zi is prepared to dedicate his life to fulfill his commitments. [A marsh devoid of water is like a man deprived of his intellectual pursuits. This is unacceptable to a jun zi. He would rather fight to the end than surrender to idiocy.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Oppressionwe see the dynamic lines covered and obscured by the magnetic. We see the attribute of Perilousness in the lower trigram going on to Cheerfulness in the upper. Who but the superior man is still able to advance although straitened by circumstances? The central position of the dynamic lines explains the good fortune of the great man who is firm and correct. As regards speech making, to be fond of argument or persuasion is the way to be reduced to extremity.
Legge: The written Chinese character of Oppression presents us with the picture of a tree within an enclosure. "A plant," according to Williams, "fading for want of room." "A tree," according to T'ai Tung, "not allowed to spread its branches." The image conveys the idea of being straitened and distressed, and the hexagram indicates how skilful management may relieve it.
The two central places in the figure are occupied by dynamic lines, but line two is confined between one and three, which are magnetic; and line five (the ruler), as well as four (his minister), are covered by the magnetic sixth line. These conditions indicate the repression of good men by adversity. The K'ang-hsi editors imply that "actions and not words" are what are required in the case.
Perilousness is the attribute of the lower trigram, and Cheerfulness that of the upper. The superior man, no matter how straitened, remains master of himself, and pursues his principled intent. The idea of speech making is found in the upper trigram, one of the attributes of which is the mouth, or speech, as well as Pleased Satisfaction. The pleading of the oppressed party still tries to make others pleased with him.
Literally translated, the first sentence of the Image reads: "A marsh with no water is Oppression." Chu Hsi says: "The water descending and leaking away, the marsh above will become dry."
Anthony: Our belief in the ruling power as beneficial is shaken by doubt. This lack of steadfastness is a problem because it obstructs acceptance and its corrective power. We often receive this hexagram when we feel tired. The oppressiveness of doubt exhausts our inner resources.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: With enough will, success can be won. "Actions speak louder than words.” (i.e., The answer lies beyond the realm of reason and logic -- intuition furthers.)
The Superior Man stakes everything he's got on his will to succeed.
In Oppressionwe have the image of a dry lake bed. Anyone who has ever seen alkali flats in the desert can easily understand this metaphor for Oppression -- almost nothing can live in such an environment. The following hexagram, The Well, is an upside-down image of Oppression depicting the opposite case of an unending source of nourishment flowing from deep beneath the surface of the earth. (A comparison of these two figures will reveal a great deal about the meaning of each.)
To be under Oppression then, is to be cut off from all sustenance -- although there is water down below, it is presently inaccessible, and there is no nourishing flow of inner forces to the surface. This is a common, inevitable and potentially defeating experience for anyone doing serious inner work:
People who try to practice the Tao can all keep steadfast when they are in easy circumstances, but many of them waver in determination when they are in difficult or perilous situations. They may change their minds because of the pressures of making a living, or they may slack in determination due to illness; their spirits may flag because of old age, or they may stop work because of obstruction by some obsession. All these are cases in which people do not exert the mind of Tao and are hindered by exhaustion, so they ultimately do not attain the Tao. T. Cleary – The Taoist I Ching
Obviously, this is a dangerous situation, and we are told how to cope with it in the Confucian commentary, where it is observed that the lower trigram of Peril goes on to the upper trigram of Cheerfulness. These two trigrams are found in reversed sequence in hexagram number sixty, Restrictive Regulations, where a cheerful attitude is described as absolutely essential for the furtherance of the Work. The observations made there also apply here, and we see the superior man thereby enabled to advance under conditions that would utterly defeat lesser individuals.
This Cheerfulness cannot be underestimated. When it comes naturally and isn't forced, it is a gift of grace. Suddenly one is enabled to face the most incredible hardships with a light heart. It isn't that you no longer care -- you still do the best you can to further the Work, but you do it with bemused detachment.
The one thing the Jewish mystics never lost sight of was the suffering experienced in the arena of the profane. They did not retreat from this suffering, but sought instead to find meaning in it by living it. This is the core of mysticism. The temple in which the sacred marriage takes place is the world. C. Ponce -- Kabbalah
Lines 2 and 5 specifically mention sacrifice: an important concept in theI Ching. Sacrifice is mentioned in lines 17:6, 45:2, 46:2, 46:4, 47:2, 47:5, 63:5, and in the Judgment of hexagram 20. Note that in each case sincerity is specifically cited as essential to success.
Sincere 1: marked by genuineness: as a: free of dissimulation: not hypocritical: REAL, TRUE, HONEST...
Very often, the “sincerity” of our sacrifices involves following the dictates of the Work whether we fully understand them or not. Much that takes place in the Work is incomprehensible to ego consciousness; for example, changes often occur within the psyche which we only experience as strange dreams. Yet somehow, perhaps months later, we suddenly realize that we no longer act in a certain way or have lost interest in something that used to be of compelling importance. Our sacrifices are necessary for these changes to take place, even if they don't immediately make sense to us.
"With sacrifice shall you nourish the gods; and may the gods nourish you. Thus nourishing one another, you will obtain the Highest Good. "The gods, nourished by sacrifice, will bestow on you the enjoyments you desire." He is verily a thief who enjoys the things that they give without offering to them anything in return. The Bhagavad-Gita
Each of Cleary’s Taoist (1) and Buddhist (2) commentaries provides valuable insights into how much courage is required to follow the dictates of the Work at its more advanced levels. Take comfort that others before you have persevered and survived: “Developed people accomplish their will by living out their destiny.”
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows its subject with bare buttocks straitened under the stump of a tree. She enters a dark valley, and for three years has no prospect of deliverance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: One sits oppressed under a bare tree and strays into a gloomy valley. For three years one sees nothing.
Blofeld: With dried branches entangling the lower part of his body, he enters a gloomy valley. For three years he encounters no one. [Whoever receives this line must resign himself to failure.]
Liu: His bottom is oppressed by the bare tree. He enters a dark valley. For three years, he sees no one. [This line indicates fear, sadness or mourning.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The sacrum Confined, tending-towards stump wood. Entering tending-towards a shady gully. Three year's- time not encountering.
Shaughnessy: The lips are entangled in a columnar tree: Entering into a dark valley, for three years he is not drawn out; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): Sitting exhausted on a tree stump, gone into a dark ravine, not to be seen for three years.
Wu: He sits on tree roots. He enters a lonely valley. He does not see the outside world for three years. [It is all in his mind. (He) is preoccupied with the thoughts of hardship before it actually happens.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: So benighted is she, and without clear vision. Wilhelm/Baynes: One is gloomy and not clear. Blofeld: What is said about entering a gloomy valley indicates darkness that will not be dispelled. Ritsema/Karcher: Shady, not bright indeed. Cleary (2): It is obscure and unclear. Wu: His mind is not open.
Legge: The poor subject of line one sitting on a mere stump, which affords her no shelter, is indeed badly off. The line is at the bottom of the trigram of Peril, and her correlate fourth line is unable to render help. So stupid is line one that by her own action she increases her distress. "Three years" is used for a long time.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man lacks clear vision and is badly off. He is overwhelmed and has no immediate prospects of deliverance.
Wing: You are in danger of falling into a trap created by an adverse situation. The trap is of your own making and comes about because of discouragement. Discouragement creates a pattern for failure that will continue if not halted now.
Anthony: As long as we are influenced by doubt, we are blocked from seeing the solution. We must firmly resist doubt and hopelessness to restore open-mindedness. The way out will show itself at the right time.
Editor: Despite Blofeld's note on this line, it does not necessarily always intimate complete failure. In the most neutral sense, it's an image of stalemate, though there is a definite suggestion that this is due to one's own failing in something. Self-pity is hinted at, as well as lack of clarity. Some kind of illusion prevails. There is a possibility that things aren't as bad as they seem, or your attitude is making them worse than they need to be. The line can sometimes indicate that you have misunderstood a previous hexagram.
There are two wrongs the soul commits. The first is its descent; the second, the evil done after arrival here below. The first is punished by the very conditions of its descent. Punishment for the second is passage once more into other bodies, there to remain at greater or less length according to the judgment of its deserts.
(The word "judgment" indicates that this takes place as a result of divine law.) If, however, its perversity goes beyond all measure, the soul incurs an even more severe penalty administered by avenging daimons. Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. You are oppressed and confined by ignorance; perhaps the aridity of "reason."
B. A self-created impasse.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject proceeding very slowly to help the subject of the first line, who is straitened by the carriage adorned with metal in front of him. There will be occasion for regret, but the end will be good.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage. Humiliation, but the end is reached.
Blofeld: A slow arrival. Trouble in a golden carriage. Shame, but not for long. [Trouble in a golden carriage coupled with shame suggests that we get into difficulty through our presumption, or through placing too much confidence in someone of much higher station than ourselves.]
Liu: He comes slowly, oppressed in a golden carriage. Embarrassment, but good results in the end.
Shaughnessy: Coming slowly, entangled in the metal chariot; distress; there is an end.
Cleary (1): Coming gradually, exhausted in a golden cart; shame has an end.
Cleary (2): Coming slowly, exhausted in a gold car, there is shame, but there is a conclusion.
Wu: Walking slowly and leisurely, he is distressed in seeing a golden carriage and feels humiliated, but he will complete his assignments.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His aim is directed to help the lower line. Although he is not in his appropriate place, he and his correlate will in the end be together. Wilhelm/ Baynes: His will is directed downward. Though the place is not appropriate, he nevertheless has companions. Blofeld: The tardy arrival implies that our will-power is at a low ebb. However, though the line is not suitably placed, it does not stand alone. [At least we may hope for a little aid from others.]Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose located below indeed. Although not an appropriate situation, possessing associating indeed. Cleary (2): The mind is on something lower. There is a partner. Wu: He wishes to be with the one below. He is responsive to the other.
Legge: Lines four and one are proper correlates, but four is dynamic in a magnetic place and therefore slow to give assistance. Then line one is run over by line two, which is represented as a chariot of metal. It is difficult for one and four to come together and effect much, but four is near the ruler, also dynamic, and through this common sympathy a measure of success is attained.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man in a high position proceeds hesitantly to help the lower class. He encounters difficulty in breaking loose from the circle of the wealthy and the powerful. The original intention of his good resolution eventually brings favorable results.
Wing: Your progress is slowed by your position in the situation. Although your intentions are good, you are diverted from your path by temptations. There is some humiliation, but you will accomplish your aim.
Editor: Most translations render this line as a golden carriage (a luxurious vehicle), slowly transporting the subject of the fourth line to his destination. The implication is that our unhurried progress may be due to self-indulgence, but the position is not totally improper and a delayed relief of oppression is assured.
In each of us there is another whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves. When, therefore, we find ourselves in a difficult situation to which there is no solution, he can sometimes kindle a light that radically alters our attitude -- the very attitude that led us into the difficult situation. Jung -- Civilization in Transition
A. Resolution of the situation is slow in coming: "Better late than never."
B. Illusions of ease and pleasure retard your progress. Nevertheless, mediocre performance does not necessarily portend failure.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows its subject with his nose and feet cut off. He is straitened by his ministers in their scarlet knee covers. He is leisurely in his movements however, and is satisfied. It will be well for him to be as sincere as in sacrificing to spiritual beings.
Wilhelm/Baynes: His nose and feet are cut off. Oppression at the hands of the man with the purple knee bands. Joy comes softly. It furthers one to make offerings and libations.
Blofeld: His nose and feet are chopped off owing to difficulties with a vermillion sash-wearer (man of high rank), but joy may come in time. It is advisable to offer sacrifice. [It is very sure that we shall have to suffer bitterly. The joy to come is less certain, but may be assured by our making a suitable sacrifice.]
Liu: His nose and feet suffer punishment, oppressed by the man in the red ceremonial robe. Joy comes gradually. It is beneficial to sacrifice.
Shaughnessy: Doubled rafters; entangled in crimson kneepads, then slowly having extrication; beneficial to use an aromatic grass sacrifice.
Cleary (1): Nose and feet cut off, at an impasse in minister’s garb, gradually there will be joy; it is beneficial to make ceremonial offerings.
Cleary (2): Nose and feet cut off, exhausted in a regal robe, etc.
Wu: He feels as if his nose and feet had been cut off, as he is distressed in seeing the red vestment. He will come out of hardship slowly and be happy. It will be good to make offerings.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His aim has not yet been gained. Satisfied leisure means his position is central and his virtue is correct. Sincere sacrifice means he thereby receives blessing. Wilhelm/Baynes: He does not yet attain his will. The line is straight and central. Thus one attains good fortune. Blofeld: What we will now will not come to pass. The correct position of the line. Sacrifice in order to ensure good fortune. Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose not yet acquired indeed. Using centering straightening indeed. Acquiescing-in blessing indeed. Cleary (2): The aim is not yet attained. Taking a balanced course. One receives blessings. Wu: His wishes have not been fulfilled. He is straightforward. He will receive blessings.
Legge: The fifth line is repressed by the sixth, yet urged on by the fourth. He is thus wounded from above and below, especially the minister in the fourth line with his scarlet knee covers. But the upper trigram symbolizes Cheerfulness, and this indicates that he gets by notwithstanding his difficulties. His sincerity helps get him through also.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man's good intentions to help mankind are obstructed from above and below, especially by the bureaucrats. Gradually the situation improves. In the meantime, all he can do is to maintain inner composure, as in offering sacrifices to heaven.
Wing: There exists a frustrating lack of information within your milieu. Bureaucracy stands in the way of progress. Those who need help are stranded. All you can do is maintain your composure until things take a promised turn for the better.
Editor: The situation of line five is "between a rock and a hard place." The nose symbolizes intuition -- to have the nose cut off suggests that we have no insight into our situation; when our feet are cut off, we "don't have a leg to stand on" and our foundation is undermined. Psychologically, the symbolism implies that the stress of the position is caused by a higher power: the Self; if so, the stress is necessary to effect an inner transformation of some sort. We are asked to sacrifice our need to understand the incomprehensible and submit to the requirements of the time. This line changes the hexagram to number forty, Liberation, suggesting that through submission toOppression one eventually attains freedom.
The death of the physical body is one of the supremer forms of the principle of Crucifixion. One which equals it is the "death of initiation." This is the comparatively high initiation where the whole life is dedicated to the service of the Spirit ... and the initiate instead of dying for a principle, lives out his life in accordance with a principle, and this can be a far harder thing ... The Great Work comes first, whatever the cost. Gareth Knight --Qabalistic Symbolism
A. Without intuition you have no power-base -- submit to the lessons that a restricted situation offers you. Sacrifice your ego impulses.
B. You are oppressed by powers outside of your awareness. For the benefit of the Work, sacrifice your autonomy and your need to understand, and attain eventual liberation.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject straitened, as if bound with creepers; or in a high and dangerous position, and saying to herself: "If I move, I shall repent it." If she does repent of former errors, there will be good fortune in her going forward.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He is oppressed by creeping vines. He moves uncertainly and says, "Movement brings remorse." If one feels remorse over this, and makes a start, good fortune comes. [A man is oppressed by bonds that can easily be broken. The distress is drawing to an end. But he is still irresolute; he is still influenced by the previous conditions and fears that he may have cause for regret if he makes a move. But as soon as he grasps the situation, changes his mental attitude, and makes a firm decision, he masters oppression.]
Blofeld: Entangled with creepers and tottering uneasily, he voices regret for his actions. Provided regret is felt, to advance will bring good fortune. [We shall certainly suffer, but sincere regret will stand us in good stead.]
Liu: Oppressed by vines, he moves uneasily and says, "Movement brings regret." If he feels regret, then sets forth -- good fortune.
Shaughnessy: Entangled in the creeping vines in the doubled rafters. Say "regretting the level;" there is regret; determination is auspicious.
Cleary (1): Exhausted at an impasse, in distress, is called regret over action; there is regret. It is auspicious to go on an expedition.
Cleary (2): Exhausted in difficulty, in distress, thinking there will be regret if one acts, one does regret. Going forth leads to good fortune. [At the extreme of Exhaustion, one should go on actively. If one is negative, weak, and feeble in ability, one doubts whether one’s ideas are right; this is like being tangled up and ill at ease. Fearing that if one acts one will regret it, one always shrinks back, regrettably. Therefore sages go directly forth to good fortune, resolving this.]
Wu: He is surrounded by tangling vines and besieged with weariness. He says to himself: “If I would be regretful for doing nothing or doing something, I might as well do something to take my chances of getting out of hardship.”
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Her spirit and action are unsuitable, but she repents of her former errors and goes on to good fortune. Wilhelm/Baynes: He is not yet suitable. If there is remorse, this is an auspicious change. Blofeld: The entangling creepers are indicated by the unsuitable position of this line. Feeling regret is a means to obtain good fortune. Ritsema/Karcher: Not yet appropriate indeed. Significance moving indeed. Cleary (2): One has not hit the mark. There is regret because of regretting action; good fortune is to go. Wu: He is not responsive. This would be a good move.
Legge: Line six is at the top of the figure, where the distress may be supposed to reach its height. She appears bound and on a perilous summit, but her extremity is also her opportunity. She is moved to think of repenting, and if she does so and goes forward, all will be fortunate.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man appears to be in the depths of distress. His fears and irresolute concerns over previous failures are not conducive to progress. But the oppressive bonds can be broken if he repents of his error and grasps the situation firmly.
Wing: Do not allow difficulties in the recent past to create in you attitudes about the future. If you have become cynical or opinionated, you are lost. Improve your attitude, and the situation will follow. Good fortune.
Editor: The dominant idea is that the subject of the sixth line ("at the top") is fettered only by vegetation which presumably could be cast off with little trouble. (This might suggest a long-standing dilemma or limiting belief: vines and creepers only entangle those who are not active enough get out of their way.) It follows that only the illusion that they can't be cast off prevents liberation.
Our common reaction to painful difficulty, consciously or unconsciously, is "what have I done to deserve this?" "How can I get out of this?" "How can there be a God if this is allowed to happen?" Rarely do we ask, "What new dimension of experiencing does this try to teach me?" "Wherein am I being challenged?" E. C. Whitmont -- Return of the Goddess
A. Conquer your illusions and proceed with the Work.
Other titles: Decrease, The Symbol of Lessening, Loss, Diminishing, Reduction, Diminution of Excesses, Decline, Bringing into Balance, Dynamic Balance, Sacrifice, "Not necessarily material loss. Can mean decreasing the lower self to increase the higher." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Compensating Sacrifice means that sincerely maintained rectitude brings great success. Action is appropriate if one's sacrifice is sincere -- even two baskets of grain, though there be nothing else, may be offered.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Decrease combined with sincerity brings about supreme good fortune without blame. One may be persevering in this. It furthers one to undertake something. How is this to be carried out? One may use two small bowls for the sacrifice.
Blofeld: Loss accompanied by confidence -- sublime good fortune and no error! It is favorable to have in view some goal (or destination). If there is doubt as to what to use for the sacrifice, two small bowls will suffice.
Liu:Decrease with sincerity: great good fortune, no blame. One may continue. It is beneficial to go somewhere. How can this (decrease with sincerity) be done? One may use two bamboo containers of grain for a sacrifice.
Ritsema/Karcher: Diminishing, possessing conformity. Spring significant. Without fault, permitting Trial. Harvesting: possessing directed going. Asking-why: having availing of. Two platters permit availing-of presenting. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of sacrifice and loss. It emphasizes that lessening yourself and decreasing your involvements is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: There is a return; prime auspiciousness; there is no trouble. It can be determined. Beneficial to have someplace to go. Why use two tureens; you can use aromatic grass.
Cleary (1): Reduction with sincerity is very auspicious, impeccable. It should be correct. It is beneficial to go somewhere. What is the use of the two bowls? They can be used to receive.
Cleary (2): … It is beneficial to have somewhere to go, etc … They can be used for presentation.
Wu: Loss indicates that with confidence there will be great fortune, no error, perseverance, and advantage to have undertakings. What to use in offerings? Two boxes of grain are adequate.
The Image
Legge: The image of a mountain and beneath it the waters of a marsh form Compensating Sacrifice. The superior man, in accordance with this, restrains his wrath and represses his desires.
Wilhelm/Baynes: At the foot of the mountain, the lake: the image of Decrease. Thus the superior man controls his anger and restrains his instincts.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a marshy lake at the foot of a mountain. The Superior Man keeps his anger under control and is moderate in his desires.
Liu: The lake beside the mountain symbolizes Decrease. The superior man curbs his indignation and restricts his desires.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below mountain possessing marsh. Diminishing. A chun tzu uses curbing anger to block the appetites.
Cleary (1): There is a lake under a mountain, reducing it. Thus does the superior person eliminate wrath and cupidity.
Cleary (2): Lake below a mountain – Reducing. Thus do developed people eliminate anger and greed.
Wu: There is a marsh below the mountain; this is Loss. Thus the jun zi mitigates his anger and restrains his desires.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Compensating Sacrificethe lower trigram is diminished to increase the upper, and the flow is upward. The two baskets of grain accord with the time. There is a time when the strong should be diminished and the weak strengthened. Decrease and increase, overflowing and emptiness, take place in harmony with the demands of the time.
Legge: Ch'eng-tzu says: "Every diminution and repression of what we have in excess to bring it into accordance with right and reason is comprehended under Compensating Sacrifice. If there is sincerity in doing this it will lead to success and happiness, and even if the offering is small, yet it will be accepted."
The K'ang-hsi editors say: "What is meant by diminishing in this hexagram is the regulation of expenditure or contribution according to the time. This would vary in a family according to its poverty or wealth, and in a state according to the abundance or scantiness of its resources. If one supplements the insufficiency of his offering with the abundance of his sincerity, the insignificance of his two baskets will not be despised."
The waters of a marsh are continually rising up in vapor to bedew the hill above it, and thus increase its verdure. What is taken from the marsh gives increase to the hill.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: A sacrifice creates equilibrium.
The Superior Man sacrifices his appetites to a higher principle.
The traditional name for this hexagram is Decrease, but the lines and commentary all describe a compensating exchange of forces to attain equilibrium. The idea of "sacrifice" is mentioned in the Judgment, and that also might make a good title, though the image of two baskets of grain suggests a balancing scale: a "compensating" device. In this hexagram, the flow of energy moves from below upwards -- the waters of the lake or marsh are dispersed to enrich the mountain. In psychological terms we think of the ego sacrificing or decreasing its autonomy to achieve psychic equilibrium with the Self: we forfeit something valuable to obtain something even more valuable. Without this quid pro quo, the concept of sacrifice is meaningless and irrational.
A sacrifice is meant to be a loss, so that one may be sure that the egoistic claim no longer exists. Therefore the gift should be given as if it were being destroyed. But since the gift represents myself, I have in that case destroyed myself, given myself away without expectation of return. Yet, looked at in another way, this intentional loss is also a gain, for if you can give yourself it proves that you possess yourself. Nobody can give what he has not got. Jung -- Transformation Symbolism in the Mass
Compare the Image message from hexagram number 15, Temperance with the notion of a compensating balance: "The superior man, in accordance with this, diminishes his excesses to augment his insufficiencies, thus creating a just balance." We are reminded of another "Temperance" -- the 14th Arcanum of the Tarot, which depicts an angel pouring water from one vessel into another: "compensating." A comparison of its symbolism with that of hexagram number 41 yields many insights:
The Path of ... TEMPERANCE, leads from ... the Personality [ego] to the Higher Self ... The whole experience is one of preparation of the Personality [ego], and the body in which it is operating, to deal with an influx of Light which would be devastating to a system unready to handle such energy. Most important here is the monitoring of progress, the continual testing from above. It is the angel here which is at once the Higher Self and the initiatory forces of Nature, which pours the elixir from vase to vase. This is an ongoing process of testing; measuring to see how much the physical vehicle can bear. R. Wang --The Qabalistic Tarot
Without belaboring the point, we can see that all sacrifice is a kind of remuneration: it couldn't be otherwise in an interconnected universe. The Image instruction for the superior man to “control his anger” is also echoed in the Temperance card. This relates to:
...an aspect of the Mysteries only rarely discussed, and certainly germane to the Twenty-Fifth Path [the Kabbalistic equivalent of the relationship between lines one and four in this hexagram]: this is the very real hostility often felt by the student toward the Path itself, as he works day after day and seems to be getting nowhere. Such hostility and frustration is in itself a major test; it is part and parcel of the work prior to the emergence of inner proofs. -- Ibid
"Decrease with sincerity" (Liu) refers to one's continuous sacrifice for the goals of the Work, and "curbing anger" (Ritsema/Karcher) is how one handles the archetypal forces evoked when the decrease seems endless and you've yet to receive anything in return. Like any other hexagram, Compensating Sacrifice can symbolize an infinity of possible situations, but psychologically speaking we can first regard it as an image of sacrifice for the purpose of attaining a balance of power within the psyche. Without the sacrificial devotion of the ego, the Self cannot attain its will; and if the Self can't make it, the ego is doomed by default.