Other titles: Development, The Symbol of Progressive Advance, Gradual Development, Infiltrating, Advancing, Growth, Developing, Gradualness, Dialectical Progression, Step by Step, "The slower the stronger." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Gradual Progressshows the good fortune attending the marriage of a young lady. Firm correctness brings advantage.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Development. The maiden is given in marriage. Good fortune. Perseverance furthers.
Blofeld: Gradual Progress. The marriage of a maiden brings good fortune. Persistence in a righteous course brings reward.
Liu: Gradual Development. The marriage of a girl -- Good Fortune. It benefits to continue.
Ritsema/Karcher:Infiltrating, womanhood converting significant. Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of gradually achieving a goal. It emphasizes that advancing through diffuse but steady penetration is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: infiltrate!]
Shaughnessy:Advancing: For the maiden to return is auspicious; beneficial to determine.
Cleary (2):Gradual Progress in a woman’s marriage is auspicious. It is beneficial to be chaste.
Wu: Gradualness indicates that it is auspicious for a woman to get married and it is advantageous for her to be persevering.
The Image
Legge: A tree on the mountain -- the image of Gradual Progress. The superior man attains and nourishes his extraordinary virtue to improve the manners of the people.
Wilhelm/Baynes: On the mountain, a tree: the image of Development. Thus the superior man abides in dignity and virtue, in order to improve the mores.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a tree upon a mountain. The Superior Man, abiding in holiness and virtue, inclines the people towards goodness.
Liu: A tree on the mountain symbolizes Gradual Development. The superior man, in maintaining his virtue, improves society's customs.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above mountain possessing wood. Infiltrating. A chun tzu uses residing-in eminent actualizing-tao to improve the vulgar. [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 are trees on the mountain, growing gradually. Thus do superior people abide in sagacity and improve customs.
Cleary (2): …Developed people improve customs by living wisely and virtuously.
Wu: There are trees on the mountain; this is Gradualness. The jun zi chooses to live in the neighborhood known for its high moral standards and exemplary custom.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The ascent of Gradual Progress resembles the fortunate marriage of a young lady. The lines ascend to their proper places, indicating achievement. Because the ascent is made correctly the subject of the hexagram is empowered to rectify his country. He is shown as the dynamic ruler in line five, central and correct. The alternation of Keeping Still and Flexible Penetration ensure that the advance is continuous.
Legge: The written character for Gradual Progress is ordinarily used in the sense of gradually, but there is connected with it also the idea of advance. The whole of it denotes a gradual advance like the soaking in of water. The other two hexagrams that contain the idea of advance are number thirty-five, Advance of Consciousness and number forty-six,Pushing Upward-- each expresses its own nuance of meaning, and here the nuance is the gradual manner in which the advance takes place.
The theme of the hexagram is the advance of men to offices in the state -- how it should take place gradually and by successive steps. Lines 2, 3, 4 and 5 are all in their proper places as dynamic or magnetic, and we ascend them as by regular steps to the top of the hexagram.
The marriage of a young lady illustrates an important event which takes place according to various preliminary steps which must be correctly done in an orderly sequence. So must it be with the advance of a man in the service of the state.
The K'ang-hsi editors say: "A tree springing up on the ground is a tree as it begins to grow. A tree on a hill is high and large. Every tree when it begins to grow shows its branches and twigs gradually becoming long. Every morning and every evening show some difference; and when the tree is high and great, whether it be of an ordinary or extraordinary size, it has taken years to reach its dimensions."
Added Commentary: Blofeld appends the following footnote to each line in this hexagram: it is easier to read it here as his general commentary. [The additional Chinese commentaries explain that the wild goose is a bird which moves toward the sun. Now, a commonly used Chinese term for the sun is YANG, namely the male principle. So the bird obviously (sic) betokens a maiden seeking a husband. Its movement from river bank to rock, dry land, a tree, a hillock and the mainland (which is said in one commentary to mean peninsula) signifies gradual movement in an unchanging direction. From the point of view of divination, this is the best course for us, even if marriage is not our objective. Regarding marriage: the first line betokens gossip, although the marriage is not unsuitable; the second, a materially successful marriage; the third, an unfortunate marriage; the fourth, marriage to someone exceedingly kind and thoughtful; the fifth, a blissful marriage; the sixth, marriage to a public figure who has some responsibility for good order within the realm and who succeeds in his task.]
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The proper union of forces within the psyche is a matter of slow maturation.
The Superior Man maintains his will and transforms the psyche. "Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other." -- Burke
This is one of the most hierarchical of the hexagrams -- each line represents a clear advance from the position of the preceding line, thus giving an image of Gradual Progress. The vehicle of this progression is the wild goose, which also appears in every line. A goose is a bird -- primarily a creature of the air, or realm of thought; but because it also thrives on either water or land, the goose symbolizes thought which permeates the lower two categories of consciousness -- emotion (water), and sensation (earth).
Another traditional interpretation of the goose motif is that of the universal aspect of the soul. The wild goose is able to move about everywhere, on firm land, in water and in the air. It is the bird of Hermes, who is the leader of souls. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
The progress of the goose is a gradual one, from the shore, or threshold of awareness in line one, to the mountain heights, or realm of the Spirit in line six. The fact that this progress is linked with the idea of marriage in the Judgment is a clear hint that we are dealing here with the idea of the union of opposites within the psyche. (See commentary on hexagram number eleven.) The message is unambiguous: the process of psycho-spiritual growth is one of slow maturation. There are no short-cuts to enlightenment.
Evils and falsities must be removed, to the intent that a new life which is the life of heaven may be implanted. This can in nowise be done hastily; for every evil enrooted with its falsities has connection with all evils and their falsities; and such evils and falsities are innumerable, and their connection is so manifold that it cannot be comprehended ... From this it is plain that the life of hell in man cannot be suddenly destroyed, for if it were suddenly done he would straightway expire; and that the life of heaven cannot be suddenly implanted, for if this were done suddenly he would also expire. Swedenborg -- Arcana Coelestia
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows the geese gradually approaching the large rocks, where they eat and drink joyfully and at ease. There will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wild goose gradually draws near the cliff. Eating and drinking in peace and concord. Good fortune.
Blofeld: The wild goose moves gradually towards the rock. Eating and drinking happily -- good fortune.
Liu: The wild goose gradually approaches a big rock. It eats and drinks joyfully. Good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: The wild-swan Infiltrating tending-towards the stone. Drinking and taking-in: feasting, feasting. Significant.
Shaughnessy: The wild goose advances to the slope: wine and food so overflowing; auspicious.
Cleary (1): Geese gradually proceed on boulders; they eat and drink happily. Good fortune.
Cleary (2): Geese gradually proceed onto a boulder; etc. This is auspicious.
Wu: The wild goose flies in gradually to rest on a big rock. There is joy in eating and drinking. Auspicious.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: They eat and drink joyfully, but not without having earned their food. Wilhelm/Baynes: He does not merely eat his fill. Blofeld: Good fortune in the form of delicate and plentiful food. Ritsema/Karcher: Not sheer satiation indeed. Cleary (2): They don’t just stuff themselves idly. Wu: Not for the sake of gluttony.
Legge: The geese have advanced in line two, and so has the officer, though she is not mentioned. Line two is magnetic, humble and central, and has a proper correlate in the fifth line. Hence the good auspice.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man soon overcomes his initial insecurity. He acquires a good position, earns a reasonable livelihood, and enjoys the company of his comrades.
Wing: You are in a secure position. The activities that lie on the road ahead will further consolidate your development. You may feel free to share your good fortune and security with others.
Editor: The first line describes confusion as a new situation begins to develop; line two suggests that this new force has established a beachhead and now consolidates (nourishes) itself for further advancement.
Without the development of the ego and its discipline, the growth of modern thought, modern science, modern technology would have been impossible. Man’s intelligence has apparently not increased -- at all events, not during historical times -- but his ability to govern and direct it has expanded enormously. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. The image depicts the consolidation of a position.
B. Nurture your new-won advantages.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows the geese gradually advanced to the trees. They may light on the flat branches. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wild goose gradually draws near the tree. Perhaps it will find a flat branch. No blame.
Blofeld: The wild goose moves gradually towards a tree and may find a suitable branch on which to perch -- no error!
Liu: The wild goose gradually approaches the tree, seeking a safe branch. No blame. [This is a time of contentment in your personal life, without fear or sadness.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The wild-swan Infiltrating tending-towards the trees. Maybe acquiring one's rafter. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: The wild goose advances to the tree: perhaps getting what the robbers rejected; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Geese gradually proceed in the trees, and may reach a level roost. No fault.
Wu: The wild goose flies in gradually to rest in the wood. It may find a flat branch. No error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: There is docility in the line going on to flexible penetration.
Wilhelm/Baynes: It is devoted and gentle. Blofeld: Its finding a suitable branch augurs willing acceptance and gentleness. Ritsema/Karcher: Yielding using Ground indeed. Cleary (2): Following docilely. Wu: It may find a flat branch if the approach is favorable.
Legge: The web-footed goose is not suited for taking hold on the branches, but on flat branches it can rest. Line four is the first line in the upper trigram of Humility, and it is concluded that she will not fall into error. Ch'eng-tzu says that humility and right-doing will find rest and peace in all places and circumstances.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man attains a safe position through docility and pliancy.
Wing: You must remain flexible now. It may be necessary to sidestep difficulties, yield to obstacles, or retreat from danger. These, of course, are only temporary measures. The important thing is to maintain your safety now so that you can develop the conditions for later successes.
Editor: The image suggests a temporary compromise.
But between the starting point in the lowlands of our ordinary consciousness and the shining peak of Self- realization there are intermediate phases, plateaus at various altitudes on which a man may rest or even make his abode, if his lack of strength precludes or his will does not choose a further ascent. Roberto Assagioli -- Psychosynthesis
A. Adapt to circumstances.
B. A temporary position provides support through a transition.
C. "Any port in a storm."
D. "On hold."
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows the geese gradually advanced to the high mound. It suggests the idea of a wife who for three years does not become pregnant: but in the end the natural issue cannot be prevented. There will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wild goose gradually draws near the summit. For three years the woman has no child. In the end nothing can hinder her. Good fortune.
Blofeld: The wild goose moves gradually towards the hillock. In the end, the results will be incomparable -- good fortune!
Liu: The wild goose gradually approaches the top of the hill. The woman is not pregnant for three years. In the end, nothing can overcome her. Good fortune. [There will be confusion in the beginning, but understanding later; after overcoming obstacles, things will go smoothly in your life.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The wild-swan Infiltrating tending-towards the mound. The wife, three year's-time not pregnant. Completing: absolutely-nothing has mastering. Significant.
Shaughnessy: The wild goose advances to the mound: the wife for three years does not get pregnant; in the end nothing overcomes it; auspicious.
Cleary (1): Geese gradually proceed onto a mountain top. The wife does not conceive for three years, but in the end nothing defeats her. Good fortune.
Cleary (2): … After all, no one could overcome her. This is auspicious.
Wu: The wild goose flies in gradually to rest on a hill. The woman has not been pregnant for three years, but she finally overcomes her disadvantages. Auspicious.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The subject of the line will get what she desires. Wilhelm/
Baynes: In the end nothing can hinder good fortune. One attains one's wish. Blofeld: Good fortune in the form of complete fulfillment of our desires. Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring the place desired indeed. Cleary (2): Getting what was wished for. Wu: She gets what she wishes.
Legge: Line five is a dynamic line in the ruler's seat, and yet appears here as the symbol of a wife. Somehow she has been at variance with, and kept in disgrace by, calumniating enemies such as the plunderers of line three; but things come right in the end. The wife, childless for three years, becomes at last a mother, and there is good fortune. The wife will have a child; minister and ruler will meet happily.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Because of the calumny of deceitful people, the man is misjudged while advancing into a high position. Although reconciliation and progress result eventually, nothing is achieved in the interim.
Wing: As you gain an ever greater position of influence, you become more and more a target for attack. Deceitful people may slander you, or you may even be misjudged by those closest to you. Because you are isolated, nothing meaningful can be accomplished. Eventually communications will be established and good fortune will follow.
Editor: The image is of a peak or goal which is somewhat subordinate to the extreme heights of line six. The rewards of this attainment require more time to become consolidated.
On the biological plane the irreconcilable elements of father and mother, of male and female, are reconciled on a new level in the child, who carries in his own person physical characteristics and psychological components derived from both parents. It is not surprising, therefore, that in the images of the unconscious a child frequently appears as the symbol of reconciliation on the psychological plane within the individual. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. A delayed issue comes in due time.
B. Protracted labor brings forth an eventual synthesis.
Other titles: The Cauldron, The Vessel, Rejuvenation, Cosmic Order, The Alchemical Vessel, "A complete transformation of a person or circumstance." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: The Sacrificial Vessel means great progress and success.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Cauldron. Supreme good fortune. Success.
Blofeld: A Sacrificial Vessel -- supreme success!
Liu:The Cauldron. Great good fortune. Success.
Ritsema/Karcher:The Vessel, Spring significant. Growing. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the imaginative capacity of a sacred vessel. It emphasizes that securing and imaginatively transforming the material at hand is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: hold and transform things in the vessel!]
Shaughnessy:The Cauldron: Prime auspiciousness; receipt.
Cleary (1): The cauldron is basically good; it is developmental.
Cleary (2): The Cauldron is very auspiciously developmental.
Wu: The Cauldron indicates great auspiciousness and pervasiveness.
The Image
Legge: Wood under a fire -- the image of a Sacrificial Vessel. The superior man maintains his correctness in every situation to secure the appointment of heaven.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fire over wood: the image of The Cauldron. Thus the superior man consolidates his fate by making his position correct.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire upon wood. The Superior Man, taking his stance as righteousness requires, adheres firmly to heaven's decrees.
Liu: Fire above wood symbolizes the Caldron. The superior man makes his destiny firm with a correct position.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above wood possessing fire. The Vessel. A chun tzu uses correcting the situation to solidify fate.
Cleary (1): There is fire on top of wood; a cauldron. Thus do superior people stabilize life in the proper position.
Cleary (2): Fire over wood -- The Cauldron . Leaders stabilize their mandate by correcting their position.
Wu: There is fire on wood; this is The Cauldron . Thus the jun zi rectifies his position and consecrates the mandate.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The image of the Sacrificial Vessel shows us wood entering a fire, which suggests the idea of cooking. The sages cooked their sacrifices to God and nourished their able ministers with feasts. We have the trigrams of Flexible Obedience and Quick Intelligence, with the magnetic line advanced to the ruler's place and responded to by her dynamic correlate below. All these things give the auspice of successful progress.
Legge: The written Chinese character for Sacrificial Vessel represents a cauldron with three feet and two "ears" used for cooking and preparing food for both the table and the altar. The hexagram pictures this vessel -- the divided first line represents the feet, the three undivided lines above represent the body, the divided fifth line shows the ears (or carrying rings), and the top line is the handle by which the container is carried or suspended from a hook.
The lesson of the hexagram is that the nourishing of men of talent and virtue intimates great progress and success. The K'ang-hsi editors point out that the distinction between hexagram number forty-eight, The Well, and this one is the difference between the nourishment of the people in general and the specific nourishing of worthy men. They add that the reality of sacrifice is nourishing in this regard.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: You are the Sacrificial Vessel.
The Superior Man holds to the principles of the Work to attain transcendence.
The usual name for this hexagram is The Cauldron -- specifically, a type of food-containing vessel which was used in ancient China for religious sacrifices. I prefer Blofeld’s title of the Sacrificial Vessel as more evocative of the ideas presented in the figure.
When the forty-ninth hexagram of Transformation is turned upside down, it becomes the fiftieth hexagram of the Sacrificial Vessel, thus giving us some valuable insights into the nuances of meaning in each of the figures. The combined ideas of transformation and a cauldron used for sacrifices remind us of the alchemical vessel or retort which "cooked" its contents and transformed them into a higher state of matter -- turned lead into gold in the popular conception. Of course, the true esoteric purpose of the alchemist was psychological, not physical.
The vessel of the alchemists, like the circle of the psyche and the mandala, must be closed if the transformation process is to proceed satisfactorily. For the alchemists, the process took place in the material substances collected in the retort. For us, this is a symbol representing a similar process taking place within the psyche. Thus it is said that a wall must be securely built about the psyche before the reconciliation of the opposites can take place within it, and before the new center of the individual can be created. ... For if anything is lost the process is nullified and the final product will be incomplete, imperfect. So long, for instance, as the individual continues to project his deficiencies, or his values, upon circumstances or upon another, he does not have an impervious vessel ... Thus the contents essentially involved in the transformation are seen to be the irrational, instinctual, not yet human factors of the psyche, the nonego. The human and civilized factors, those subject to the will, make up the wall of the vessel. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
Now an ancient Chinese cauldron used to contain food intended for religious sacrifices is not the same thing as a hermetically sealed alchemical retort made to withstand extreme pressures, but symbolically they are identical images. The ego sacrifices its autonomy for the good of the Work in the same way that the alchemist devotes his entire life to the transformation of base metal into gold -- i.e., to transform his psyche by following the extreme discipline of the Work. Thomas Cleary’s Taoist I-Ching explicitly tells us that this is the meaning intended here:
The work of refinement is the means by which to sublimate earthly energy and stabilize celestial energy, causing the raw to ripen and the old to be renewed, whereby it is possible to illumine the mind and to solidify life. Therefore the cauldron is basically good and it has a developmental path. The basis is the potential of everlasting life of goodness; the cooking of the great medicine in the cauldron is the firing of this living potential to make it incorruptible and permanent. But in this path there is process and procedure; even the slightest deviation and the gold elixir will not form. Therefore people must first thoroughly investigate the true principle. Liu I-ming
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
In his commentary Legge mentions that the Chinese see an analogy between this figure and hexagram number forty-eight, The Well. Compare the two figures, noting the similarities between the first, third, fifth and sixth lines. The component trigrams of the Sacrificial Vessel appear in reverse sequence in hexagram number thirty-seven, Family. What other similarities are there in the two figures? How is the idea of a family analogous to the idea of a sacrificial vessel?