Preparing carefully
One makes experiments when one doesn't want to be surprised. taoscopy.com
Treading 10
Careful progress ensures safety; walk with awareness and integrity.
↓ Line 1
At the beginning, simplicity and straightforwardness lead to progress without fault.
↓ Line 3
Acting beyond one's capabilities leads to danger and misfortune. Caution is advised.
↓ Temptation44
A fleeting encounter with a powerful influence. Be mindful and cautious. Keep your integrity intact.
10 Treading
Other titles: Treading, Conduct, The Symbol of Stepping Carefully, Proper Conduct, Cautious Treading, Proceeding Cautiously, Watch Your Step, Proceed at Your Own Risk, Advancing With Care "Illustrates the difference between courage and foolhardiness." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Cautious Advance suggests the idea of one treading on the tail of a tiger, which does not bite him. There will be progress and success.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Treading . Treading upon the tail of the tiger. It does not bite the man. Success. [For the weak to take a stand against the strong is not dangerous here, because it happens in good humor and without presumption, so that the strong man is not irritated but takes it all in good part. Such simplicity and unpretentiousness is faith derived from reality -- neither from love of happiness nor fear of unhappiness, but free of fear and hope. The concern here is with the art of action by means of proper conduct, and presupposes being childlike in its highest sense.]
Blofeld: Though he treads upon the tiger's tail, it does not bite him. Success! [The general idea of this hexagram is that success can be won, but that the situation is dangerous enough to require extreme caution. The `tiger' MAY not bite, but on the other hand, as lines three and five demonstrate, we cannot be certain of this. To consort with rulers and people in high places may be most beneficial; but, should we fail to please, they may make us regret our temerity.]
Liu: Treading: Stepping on the tail of a tiger, but it does not bite one. Success. [You should act only after you have planned carefully, and then with resolution.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Treading a tiger tail. Not snapping-at people. Growing.
[This hexagram describes your situation in terms of finding and making your way. It emphasizes that doing this step by step is the adequate way to handle it.]
Shaughnessy: Treading on a tiger's tail; not a real man; receipt.
Cleary (1): Even when they tread on a tiger’s tail, it doesn’t bite people. This is developmental.
Cleary (2): Someone treads on a tiger’s tail without being bitten, thus getting through.
Wu:Treading after a tiger without being bitten indicates pervasion.
The Image
Legge: The image of the sky above, and below it the waters of a marsh, formCautious Advance. The superior man, in accordance with this, discriminates between high and low, and gives settlement to the aims of the people.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven above, the lake below: the image of Treading. Thus the superior man discriminates between high and low, and thereby fortifies the thinking of the people. (Thus the superior man creates in society the differences in rank that correspond with differences in natural endowment, and in this way fortifies the thinking of the people, who are reassured when these differences accord with nature ... We see a universe moved from within, without external manipulation. Since the universe is also within the human being, internal universal order leads to order without by the force of necessary differentiation.) [Cf. the ideal society in Plato’s Republic.]
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a body of water lying open to the sky. The Superior Man consults both high and low and thereby steadies the people's will.
Liu: The heaven above and the lake below symbolize Treading. The superior man differentiates between high and low, and thus fixes the minds of the people.
Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven above, marsh below. Treading. A chun tzu uses differentiating Above and Below. A chun tzu uses setting-right the commoners, the purpose.
Cleary (1): Above is the sky, below is a lake: Treading. Thus do superior people distinguish above and below, and settle the will of the people.
Cleary (2): … Leaders stabilize the wills of the people by distinguishing positions.
Wu: Heaven above and marshes below, this is Treading. Thus the jun zi discriminates various levels of governmental services and sets the goals of the people.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Cautious Advance we have the symbol of Weakness treading on that of Strength. The lower trigram indicates Pleasure and Satisfaction, and responds to the upper indicating Strength. Hence it is said, "He treads on the tail of a tiger." The fifth line is dynamic, in the center, and in his correct place. He occupies the God-given position, and falls into no distress or failure -- his action will be brilliant.
Legge: Cautious Advance is made up of the lower trigram of Pleased Satisfaction or "Naiveté," and the upper trigram of Heaven, or Primal Power. Being situated below the great symbol of Strength, Naiveté is seen to be stepping on a tiger's tail. To emerge unscathed from such a danger depends entirely upon propriety and a strict observance of all the rules of correct behavior. On these, as so many stepping stones, one may tread safely amid scenes of disorder and peril.
The symbol of weakness, according to Wang Shen-tzu is the third line which is urged on by the two lines below it to encounter the three strong lines above. Other commentators say that the whole lower trigram, partaking of the yin nature, is the symbol of weakness, and the entire upper trigram is symbolic of strength. The Chen-Chung editors say that to get the full meaning, we must hold both views.
Ch'eng-tzu says of the Image: "The sky above and a marsh lying
below it is true in nature and reason, and so should be the rules of propriety
on which men tread."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: A cautious advance in the face of potentially volatile conditions will lead to safety.
The Superior Man orders his priorities realistically and gets a grip on himself.
Cautious Advance depicts the lower trigram of the joyful Youngest Daughter stepping on the heels of the upper trigram of Heaven -- the stern Pater Familias: Yahweh Saboath, or Zeus with his thunderbolt. In her innocence she doesn't realize the danger of her action. This is "treading on the tail of the tiger," and the hexagram teaches us how to do this without being bitten. The original Judgment suggests that superior powers realize the innocent intent of the action, and may be inclined to be lenient.
You should not resist fate,
nor need you escape it;
if you go to meet it,
it will guide you pleasantly.
Goethe
Wilhelm's notes on The Image illustrate the undemocratic truth that although all men are created equal in the eyes of God, every human being possesses clearly differentiated strengths, weaknesses, talents and incapacities. In Lectures on the I Ching, he says:
The secret of proper conduct is in inequality. Uniformity alone cannot give rise to proper conduct. To be sure, uniformity might produce rule and regulation or law and force. But tedious force and brutal law never led people to convictions that legitimately resulted in proper conduct (the term includes that which produces proper conduct and proper conduct achieved). Instead, as Confucius said: "Force produces only alienation and people transgress secretly that which is public regulation."
Cautious Advance often images a test situation, or it can be a warning that you are walking on the edge of a precipice. The image of The Fool in the tarot deck has similar associations. Without changing lines, this hexagram implies a need for extreme caution, or that your actions are tempting fate.
The passions, instead of having to be painfully exterminated, are yoked like snarling tigers to the adept’s carriage. The dangers of such a course are obvious. As one of my Lama teachers put it: "While you were traveling in that cart, a tumble would have done you little harm. Now I have given you an airplane. Don't crash in flames!" J. Blofeld -- The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows its subject treading his accustomed path. If he go forward, there will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Simple conduct. Progress without blame.
Blofeld: Simple in his conduct, he goes forth -- no error!
Liu: Simplicity of conduct. Continue. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Sheer Treading going. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Counter treading; in going there is no trouble.
Cleary(1): Treading plainly, going without fault.
Cleary(2): Plain treading; to go is blameless.
Wu: Treading ahead in a blind manner will be blameless.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Singly and exclusively he carries out his long cherished wishes. Wilhelm/Baynes: The progress of simple conduct follows in solitude its own bent. Blofeld: Conducting ourselves with simplicity while advancing suggests the ability to realize our desires without aid from others. Ritsema/ Karcher: Solitarily moving desire indeed. Cleary (2): To go treading plainly means to carry out your vows alone. Wu: He is willing to go alone.
Legge: Line one is a dynamic line in a dynamic place, giving us the idea of activity, firmness and correctness. One so characterized will act rightly.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man is in a subordinate position without social obligation. Progress will be attained without blame if he remains content with his simple accustomed path, making no demands upon others.
Wing: Use your most basic values of Conduct in advancing toward your aim. Do not try to use others beyond maintaining friendly relations. Do not become obligated to others in your endeavors. Your position is low. Simplicity in your behavior will prevent mistakes and allow you to progress.
Editor: Wilhelm's rendition of the Confucian commentary uses the word "solitude," and Blofeld emphasizes the idea of progress "without aid from others." The idea is that of walking one's path alone, heedless of the external opinions of others or of the autonomous clamor of our own inner complexes. It can sometimes take the meaning of: "Mind your own business."
Let your eyes be fixed ahead,
your gaze be straight before you.
Let the path you tread be level
and all your ways made firm.
Turn neither to right nor to left,
keep your feet clear of evil.
Proverbs 4:25
A. Stay on your accustomed path.
B. The situation is tricky, but if you proceed with business as usual, you can avoid trouble.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows a one-eyed man who thinks he can see; a lame man who thinks he can walk well; one who treads on the tail of the tiger and is bitten. All this indicates ill fortune. We have a mere bravo acting the part of a great ruler.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A one-eyed man is able to see, a lame man is able to tread. He treads on the tail of the tiger. The tiger bites the man. Misfortune. Thus does a warrior act on behalf of his great prince.
Blofeld: Though a man have but one eye he can still see; though he be lame, he can still walk; but he who treads upon the tiger's tail will get bitten -- disaster! [Here the significance of the line runs counter to the benign significance of the hexagram; in all such cases, it is the line which provides the main indication of what is going to happen with regard to the matter forming the subject of the enquiry.] The warrior undertakes things for his lord. [This is no time to stand up to our superiors (tread on the tiger’s tail); it is a time for obedience.]
Liu: A one-eyed man can see; a lame man can walk. But when they step on the tail of a tiger, the tiger will bite. Misfortune. The warrior conducts himself like a great prince.
Ritsema/Karcher: Squinting enabling observing. Halting enabling Treading. Treading a tiger's tail. Snapping-at people: pitfall. Martial people activating: tending-towards a Great Chief.
Shaughnessy: The blind are able to see, the lame are able to tread. Treading on a tiger's tail; for a real man inauspicious. A military man is united with the great lord.
Cleary(1): Able to see with a squint, able to walk with a limp. When they tread on the tiger’s tail, it bites people. Inauspicious. A soldier becomes a ruler.
Cleary(2): The squint-eyed can see, the lame can walk. Treading on a tiger’s tail, they get bitten, unfortunately. A military man becomes a civil leader.
Wu: A person can look with one injured eye. A person can tread with one lame leg. He will get bitten by treading behind a tiger. It will be foreboding. He is like a warrior trying to be a ruler.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: "A one-eyed man who thinks he can see" : he is not fit to see clearly. "A lame man who thinks that he can tread well": one cannot walk along with him. "The ill fortune of being bitten" arises from the place not being the proper one for him. "A mere bravo acting the part of a great ruler": this is owing to his aims being too violent.
Confucius/Wilhelm/Baynes:"A one-eyed man is able to see," but not enough for clarity. "A lame man is able to tread," but not enough to tread with others. The misfortune in the biting of the man is due to the fact that the place is not appropriate. "Thus does a warrior act on behalf of his great prince," because his will is firm.
Confucius/Blofeld: The one-eyed man does see, but not clearly; the lame man can walk, but not keep up with the others. The disaster suffered by the man who gets bitten is indicated by this line's unsuitable position. The warrior undertakes his lord's affairs because the latter is strong of will.
Confucius/Ritsema/Karcher:"Squinting enabling observing." Not the stand to use possessing brightness indeed. "Halting enabling Treading." Not the stand to use associating-with moving indeed. "Snapping-at people's pitfall." Situation not appropriate indeed. "Martial people activating: tending-towards a Great Chief." Purpose solid indeed.
Confucius/Cleary(2): The squint-eyed can see, but not clearly; the lame can walk, but not well enough to be companions on a journey. The misfortune of being bitten is that of being in an inappropriate place. When a military man becomes a civil leader, his determination is adamant.
Confucius/Wu:“A person can look with one injured eye,” but he cannot see clearly. “A person can tread with one lame leg,” but he cannot walk with firm steps. He will have the misfortune of being bitten, because his position is improper. “A warrior wants to be a ruler,” because his idea is adamant.
Legge: Line three is neither central nor in a magnetic place, which would be proper to it. But with the strength of will which the occupant of a dynamic place should possess, he goes forward with the evil results cited. The editors of the imperial edition, in illustration of the closing sentence, refer to Analects VII, x.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man recklessly exposes himself to danger, which exceeds his powers of handling. He invites disaster thereby.
Wing: You are not suited for the ambitiousness of your goals. Your powers are not adequate. Willfulness on your part could end in disaster. Such Conduct is only for someone willing to throw himself away for a superior.
Editor: The content here does not lend itself to the usual gender symbolism for a magnetic line. Legge and Wu’s interpretation of the line and Confucian commentary differ conceptually from the other translators. For purposes of comparison I have rendered all versions of the Confucian commentary more thoroughly than usual. As the only magnetic line in the hexagram, three is outclassed and overwhelmed, yet still serves the ruler. If this is the only changing line, The Dynamicemerges, with a corresponding line of: "We see its subject as the superior man active and vigilant all the day, and in the evening still careful and apprehensive. The position is dangerous, but there will be no mistake." The image suggests a warrior who has only partial comprehension of a dangerous situation; his ability to serve his ruler is also impeded. Despite these handicaps, his devotion is such that he will expose himself to great danger in the service of his Lord, and suffer because of it.
If one were to say in a word what the condition of being a Samurai is, its basis lies first in seriously devoting one's body and soul to his master . Yamamoto Tsunetomo -- The Book of the Samurai
A. The image is one of inadequate strength or resources to deal with a superior force. Regardless, the confrontation seems to be mandated: thus does the ego serve the Self.
B. Serve the Work with a warrior's spirit: "Yours is not to reason why, yours is but to do or die."
C. Even when one's heart is in the right place, partial comprehension and insufficient ability can be expected to create distress.
Alternate: This line can also suggest foolhardy arrogance rather than blind obedience to a superior. In such instances, the familiar Lady from Liger limerick seems more appropriate:
There was an old lady of Liger
Who went riding on the back of a tiger.
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside
And a smile on the face of the tiger.
D. Incompetence plus arrogance equals disaster.
44 Temptation
Other titles: Coming to Meet, The Symbol of Meeting, Contact, Sexual Intercourse, Encountering, Coupling, Infiltration by Inferior Men, Adultery "Contains a definite warning about a person or situation which may appear harmless but will prove dangerous." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Temptation shows a female who is bold and strong. It will not be good to marry such a female.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Coming to Meet. The maiden is powerful. One should not marry such a maiden.
Blofeld: Contact. Women wield the power. Do not marry. [At this time marriage would be unfortunate; the husband would almost surely be henpecked.]
Liu: Encountering. The female is forceful. One should not marry her.
Ritsema/Karcher:Coupling, womanhood invigorating. No availing-of grasping womanhood. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the encounter of primal energies. It emphasizes that seeing-through your personal situation as the connection of objective forces is the adequate way to handle it...]
Couple , KOU: intense, driven encounter, at once transitory and enduring, that is the reflection of primal yin and yang; meet, encounter, copulate; mating animals; magnetism, gravity; to be gripped by impersonal forces. Primal forces couple in the inner world, seeding enduring new forms.
Shaughnessy: The maiden matures ; do not herewith take a maiden.
Cleary (1):Meeting, the woman is strong. Don’t get married.
Cleary (2): In meeting, the woman is strong. Do not marry the woman.
Wu:Rendezvous indicates that the woman is strong. It is not advisable to marry that woman.
The Image
Legge: The image of wind with the sky above it forms Temptation. The sovereign, in accordance with this, delivers his charges, and promulgates his announcements throughout the four quarters of the kingdom.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Under heaven, wind: the image of Coming to Meet. Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands and proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the face of the earth. When the ruler issues commands, he has them proclaimed in every corner of the world.
Liu: The wind under the sky symbolizes Encountering. The ruler issues his directives, announcing them to the four corners (throughout his country).
Ritsema/Karcher: Below heaven possessing wind. Coupling. The crown-prince uses spreading-out fate to command the four sides.
[Fate, MING: individual destiny; birth and death as limits of life; issue orders with authority; consult the gods. The ideogram: mouth and order, words with heavenly authority.]
Cleary (1): There is wind under heaven, meeting. Thus do rulers announce their directives to the four quarters.
Wu: There is wind under heaven; this is Rendezvous. Thus, the sovereign announces the royal mandate to the whole nation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Temptationhas the significance of unexpectedly coming on. We see in it the magnetic line coming unexpectedly on the dynamic ones. Marriage is improper, because one so symbolized should not be long associated with. When heaven and earth meet together as here represented, all the variety of natural things becomes displayed. When a dynamic line finds itself in the central and correct position, good government will nourish all under the sky. Great indeed is the significance of what has to be done at the time indicated byTemptation.
Legge: A single, magnetic line enters at the bottom of the hexagram. This is the figure used to represent the time of year when light and heat begin to wane. In the divided line we see the symbol of the inferior man, beginning to insinuate himself into the government of the country. His influence, if unchecked, would go on to grow and fill the vacant seats with others like himself. The objective of the Judgment is to arouse resistance to this evil influence.
Temptation is defined here as a sudden and casual meeting with something inferior -- the divided line is seen as appearing all at once in the figure. The first line, magnetic in a dynamic place, becomes the symbol of a bold woman of more than questionable virtue who appears unexpectedly on the scene with the object of seducing all five of the dynamic (male) lines to herself. No one would contract a marriage with such a female, and every good servant of his country will repel the entrance into government of every officer who can be so symbolized.
On the first two sentences of the Confucian commentary, the K'ang-hsi editors say: "The magnetic line meets with (or comes unexpectedly on) the dynamic ones. The magnetic line, that is, plays the principal part. The case is like that of the minister who assumes the power of decision in place of the ruler, or of a hen crowing at sunrise -- is not the name of shameless boldness rightly applied to it?"
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Do not unite with an inferior element in your situation. ("Lead us not into temptation.")
The Superior Man formulates his code of conduct and abides by it.
Wilhelm translates the forty-fourth hexagram as Coming to Meet, and Blofeld gives it the rather startling subtitle of Sexual Intercourse. There is no doubt at all that the figure has an aura of illicit excitement associated with it which I feel is best conveyed by R. L. Wing's title of Temptation, though Adultery might also be suitable. One sometimes receives this hexagram under dramatic circumstances, and it serves to dump cold water on a potentially volatile series of choices and their equally volatile consequences.
When we consider the importance of the proper correlation of male and female lines in the I Ching, we see that the Judgment in this hexagram can psychologically depict the temptation to an adulterous union of thought and feeling. Adultery is a very useful metaphor for understanding the principles of the Work -- it means union with anything which, inI Ching terms, is not a "proper correlate.” To adulterate something is to degrade a pure substance by the addition of an inferior ingredient. The image of a temptation to adulterate the Work in this hexagram is therefore a warning in the strongest possible terms that you are vulnerable to some inferior choices.
Consequently by marriages not only the earths but also the heavens are filled with inhabitants ... The earth indeed may be filled with inhabitants by fornications and adulteries as well as by marriages; but not heaven. The reason is that hell is from adulteries, and heaven from marriages ... When the procreations of the human race are effected through marriages in which the holy love of good and truth from the Lord reigns, then it is done on earth as in the heavens, and the kingdom of the Lord on earth corresponds to the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens. Swedenborg -- Apocalypse Explained
The concept of the hieros gamos, or holy marriage, is a ubiquitous archetype found in every tradition rooted in the Perennial Philosophy. If this "marriage” symbolizes a proper union or reunion of previously separated elements, then it follows that the opposite situation: a union of mismatched entities would be symbolized by adultery. To recreate a primordial gestalt of perfection out of an exploded multiverse of mixed forces demands that all of the original pairs of opposites become properly matched correlates. Although any two opposite genders might feel a mutual attraction, there is really only one opposite which is an appropriate spouse. In the realm of human relationships this is evoked in the concept of the Soul Mate. Esoterically speaking, every polarized force in the multiverse has its proper correlate; it follows that the Work (in its largest conception) cannot be completed until each is reunited with each.
Indeed every act of sexual intercourse which has occurred between those unlike one another is adultery... Members of a race usually have associated with those of like race. So spirit mingles with spirit, and thought consorts with thought and light shares with light. If you are born a human being, it is the human being who will love you. If you become a spirit, it is the spirit which will be joined to you. If you become thought, it is thought which will mingle with you. If you become light, it is the light which will share with you. The Gnostic Gospel of Philip
The point is important enough to bear repeating: psycho-spiritually interpreted, sexual intercourse and marriage symbolize the possibility of a unification of forces. Conversely, union with an improper correlate means adulteration of the Work. This is the esoteric meaning underlying the Hindu caste system:
When (unrighteousness) overwhelms the family, O Krishna The women of the family become corrupt; and when, O Krishna, the women are corrupt, there arises a mixing of castes. Bhagavad-Gita 1: 41
The "mixing of castes” is, in the symbolism of theI Ching, the union of improper correlate forces. ("Women,” as we have seen, usually symbolize the emotional and feeling aspects of the psyche.) We readily recognize that the above quotation from the Bhagavad-Gita accurately reflects the symbolism of the forty-fourth hexagram, reiterating the great truth that when emotions make the choices, the unity of the psyche is compromised.
Added notes, 9/7/10: Sometimes this hexagram is received in answer to queries related more to a fated (karmic) situation than anything normally regarded as “temptation.” In these cases Ritsema/Karcher’s expanded notes on the ideograms are useful guides: “… gripped by impersonal forces. Primal forces couple in the inner world, seeding enduring new forms… This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the encounter of primal energies. It emphasizes that seeing-through your personal situation as the connection of objective forces is the adequate way to handle it...”