One does not shows more to others so they can take the time to ponder. taoscopy.com
The Receptive2
Receptive, nurturing energy; embody patience, openness, and gentle support. Embrace the path of yielding and adapt to circumstances.
↓ Line 1
This line suggests the beginning of a situation that will develop further. It is a warning to be aware of the initial signs of change.
↓ Line 3
This line advises maintaining inner strength and sincerity. By doing so, one can achieve success even if it is not immediately visible.
↓ Line 4
This line suggests a state of containment or restraint. It indicates a time to hold back and not seek recognition or blame.
↓ Line 5
This line symbolizes humility and modesty. It suggests that by maintaining a humble attitude, one can achieve great fortune.
↓ Line 6
This line warns of conflict and struggle. It suggests that opposing forces may clash, leading to potential harm or loss.
↓ Fellowship13
Unity through shared purpose and community effort.
2 The Receptive
Other titles: The Receptive, The Symbol of Earth, Submission, The Passive Principle, Field, The Flow, Responsive Service, Yin, Natural Response, The Bearer
Judgment
Legge:The Magnetic means success through the docility of a mare. If the superior man takes the initiative, he goes astray, but if he follows, he finds his proper lord. It is advantageous to find one's friends in the southwest, and to lose them in the northeast. Through a passively firm correctness, there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Receptive brings about sublime success, furthering through the perseverance of a mare. If the superior man undertakes something and tries to lead, he goes astray; but if he follows, he finds guidance. It is favorable to find friends in the west and south, to forgo friends in the east and north. Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld:The Passive Principle. Sublime success! Its omen is a mare, symbolizing advantage. The Superior Man has an objective and sets forth to gain it. At first he goes astray, but later finds his bearings. It is advantageous to gain friends in the west and the south, but friends in the east and the north will be lost to us. Peaceful and righteous persistence brings good fortune
Liu: The Receptive : great success. Benefiting from the quality of a mare -- perseverance. The superior man has an undertaking; in the beginning he will go astray, but later will receive guidance. He can find a friend in the southwest and lose friends in the northeast. Peacefulness and continuance. Good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Field: Spring Growing Harvesting, female horse's Trial.
A chun tzu possesses directed going. Beforehand delusion, afterwards
acquiring. A lord Harvesting. Western South: acquiring partnering. Eastern North: losing partnering. Quiet Trial significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the primal structuring power confronted with many forces and obstacles. It emphasizes that giving way in order to serve and yield results, the action of Field, is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to yield!]
Shaughnessy:The Flow: Prime receipt; beneficial for the determination of a mare; the gentleman has someplace to go, is first lost but later gains his ruler; beneficial to the southwest to gain a friend, to the northeast to lose a friend; contented determination is auspicious.
Cleary(1): With earth, creativity and development are achieved in the faithfulness of the female horse. The superior person has somewhere to go. Taking the lead, one goes astray; following, one finds the master. It is beneficial to gain companionship in the southwest and lose companionship in the northeast. Stability in rectitude is good.
Cleary(2): The creative is successful. It is beneficial to be correct like a mare. People with developmental potential have a goal; if they go ahead before this, they will get lost. If they follow, they get the benefit of the director. Companionship is found in the southwest; companionship is lost in the northeast. Stability and correctness bode well.
Wu:The Bearer is primordial, pervasive, prosperous, and has the perseverance of a mare. When the jun zi is going to undertake a task, he will lose his direction if he leads, and he will find guidance if he follows. This will be advantageous. If he goes south or west, he will win friends; if he goes north or east, he will lose them. If he can be content and single-hearted, he will have good fortune.
The Image
Legge: The capacity and sustaining power of the Earth is shown in The Magnetic. The superior man supports men and things with his large virtue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The earth's condition is receptive devotion. Thus the superior man who has breadth of character carries the outer world.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes the passivity of the terrestrial forces. The Superior Man displays the highest virtue by embracing all things.
Liu: The earth's condition is that of the Receptive. The superior man has the greatness of character to bear with everything in the world.
Ritsema/Karcher: Earth potency: Field. A chun tzu uses munificent actualizing-tao to carry the beings. [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): The configuration of earth is receptive; superior people support
others with warmth.
Cleary(2): The attitude of earth is receptivity. Thus do leaders support people with rich virtue.
Wu:The Bearer symbolizes the physical features and resources of the earth. Thus the jun zi uses his immense virtue to bear his responsibilities.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: All things owe their birth to the great originating capacity of The Magnetic -- it obediently receives the influences of Heaven. Its largeness contains and supports all things, and its capacity matches the unlimited power of The Dynamic. Its comprehension is wide, its brilliance great, and through it all things are fully developed. The mare is a creature of the earth, with a limitless power to traverse the land. She is mild and docile, with stamina and capacity for work. Such is the path of the superior man. If he takes the initiative, he loses his way; if he follows, he finds it again. In the southwest he will walk with his own kind. To lose friends in the northeast means he is well rid of them. The passively firm correctness of the superior man imitates the unlimited capacity of the earth.
Legge: The same attributes are ascribed to The Magnetic as in the former hexagram to The Dynamic -- but with a difference: The Dynamic originates, The Magnetic produces, or gives birth to what has been originated. This figure, made of six divided lines, symbolizes the idea of subordination and docility. The superior man described here must not take the initiative, and by following he will find his lord – the subject ofThe Dynamic. The firm correctness is analogous to a mare -- docile and strong, but a creature for the service of man. That it is not the sex of the animal which is paramount is plain from the mention of the superior man and his lord.
The superior man will bring his friends with him to serve the ruler. The southwest is the direction proper forThe Magnetic.The northeast is the direction proper for the trigram of the Mountain -- hence a direction of obstruction and impasse, the opposite of magnetic receptivity. Thus the injunction to seek friends who are receptive, and shun those who are recalcitrant.
Concerning The Image, Lin Hsi-yuan says: "The superior man, in his single person sustains the burden of all under the sky. The common people depend on him for their rest and enjoyment. Birds and beasts and creeping things, and the tribes of the vegetable kingdom, depend on him for the fulfillment of their destined being. If he be of a narrow mind and cold virtue, how can he help them? Their hope in him would be in vain."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The ego bears the burden of the Work. Success is found in compliance with the will of the Self.
The Superior Man supports the Work through its many transformations.
In terms of the symbolism of the Work, the second hexagram clearly shows the proper role of the ego as one of receptivity to the will of the Self. The sexual, male-female metaphor must be interpreted as one of polarity. The ego, inhabiting a physical body, is the psychological link which connects the material dimension of spacetime with the world of thought where the Self resides. To be receptive to the influence of the Self is to allow its energy to work through the ego-body to attain its purpose. This earth-like receptivity is seen as a feminine quality, as the Heavenly dynamic force emanating from the Self is seen as masculine. Earth means the body in spacetime, and Heaven means the realm of thought transcending spacetime -- the Pleroma of the gnostics which Jung referred to as the Collective Unconscious. The concept is also found in the Kabbalah:
I am the Door of Life, The passage from the world of ideas Into the world of form... Now, as Daleth [the Door], I present myself as the Portal Through which life, Eternal and Unbounded, Entereth the realm of temporal and limited creation... I am the fruitful womb Whence all creatures have their birth.
P.F. Case -- The Book of Tokens
The message in the Judgment clearly indicates the ego's proper role –
"If the superior man takes the initiative, he goes astray." This is supplemented by the image of a docile mare which uncomplainingly bears its load. Indeed, during certain phases of the Work it becomes painfully obvious that the ego really is just a beast of burden. The Self is beyond our full comprehension, and at times it uses us as if we were an expendable tool -- which, to a certain extent, we are. Only by realizing that our existence in spacetime consists mostly of illusions and that the Self is the only real thing in our lives, can we come to accept the Work as the duty we were created to perform.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare the ego-Self relationship in hexagrams one and two with that in hexagrams seven and eight.
Line 1
Legge: In the first line, magnetic, we see its subject treading on hoar-frost. The strong ice will come by and by.
Wilhelm/Baynes: When there is hoarfrost underfoot, solid ice is not far off.
Blofeld: Hoarfrost underfoot betokens the coming of solid ice.
Liu: When hoarfrost is underfoot, solid ice will soon come.
Shaughnessy: Treading on frost: the firm ice will arrive.
Cleary(1): Walking on frost: Hard ice arrives.
Cleary(2): As you walk on frost, hard ice shows up.
Wu: Treading on hoarfrost signals the arrival of solid ice.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The cold air has begun to take form. Allow it to go on quietly according to its nature, and the hoar- frost will turn to strong ice. Wilhelm/Baynes: When the dark power begins to grow rigid and continues in this way, things reach the point of solid ice. Blofeld: This line indicates the approach of winter's dark power; following nature's sequence, the season of solid ice is at hand. Ritsema/Karcher: Yin begins solidifying indeed. Docilely involving one's tao: culminating hardening the ice indeed. Cleary(2): The first congealing of yin. Mastering that path is coming to hard ice. Wu: Vapor from the yin has begun to coalesce. As it takes its normal course, solid ice will come soon.
Miscellaneous notes: The family that accumulates goodness is sure to have superabundant happiness, and the family that accumulates evil is sure to have superabundant misery. The murder of a ruler by his minister, or of his father by a son, is not the result of events of one morning or one evening. The causes of it have gradually accumulated through the absence of early discrimination. Hence, "She treads on the hoar-frost; the strong ice will come by and by," shows the natural issue and growth of things.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man is careful not to overlook the first signs of evil and decay. The threatening dangers are checked before their natural issue and growth.
Wing: If you look carefully, you can see the very beginnings of decay entering the situation. Total deterioration is not far off. Make preparations now for the coming change.
Editor: Water relates to the emotions and to the unconscious. Water
becoming ice suggests frigid emotions or unconscious energy which is frozen and unusable. To tread is to advance, and to tread on hoar-frost is to advance toward an ever more unyielding situation. If our attitudes are thus leading us into an impasse, it only makes sense to "return to virtue," one of the names of the hexagram which is created if this is the only changing line.
This is the condition of avidya, not-knowing, which Buddha described as the supreme obstacle in the way of enlightenment. For primal sloth, the inertia of matter, of the body, can be overcome only when it is impregnated with the spark of the divine spirit, of consciousness. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. The image suggests the beginning of an impasse.
B. A negative tendency.
C. Stay alert -- dark forces are waxing. (You may be creating the situation.)
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows its subject keeping her excellence under restraint, but firmly maintaining it. If she should have occasion to engage in the king's service, though she will not claim the success for herself, she will bring affairs to a good issue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Hidden lines. One is able to remain persevering. If by chance you are in the service of a king, seek not works, but bring to completion.
Blofeld: Concealment of talent (or beauty) constitutes the right course. As to the undertaking of public affairs, though immediate success may not be achieved, their ultimate fruition is assured.
Liu: Hide your ability and you can continue in your position. If in public office, do not show yourself, but complete the work.
Shaughnessy: Enclosing a pattern; it is permissible to determine. Someone follows the king's service; there is no completion, there is an end.
Cleary(1): Hiding one’s excellence, one can be correct: if one works in government, there is completion without fabrication.
Cleary(2): Hiding embellishments, affirming rectitude, if one works for the government, there will be no accomplishment, but there will be a conclusion.
Wu: Being able to contain splendors is worthy of persevering. If he chooses to enter into public service, he may be successful in his work, but does not expect recognition for his success.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Great is the glory of her wisdom -- though she keeps her excellence under restraint, at the proper time she will manifest it. Wilhelm/Baynes: One must let them [i.e., her hidden qualities] shine forth at the right time... The light of wisdom is great. Blofeld: Talent (beauty) now concealed will be unfolded when the time is ripe; once it is engaged in public affairs, this talent will become great and glorious. Ritsema/Karcher: Using the season: shooting-forth indeed. Knowing the shining great indeed. Cleary(2): Hiding embellishments and affirming rectitude mean timely activation. Working for the government means that the light of knowledge is great. Wu: Biding one’s time. Indicates vision.
Miscellaneous notes: Although the subject of this magnetic line has excellent qualities, she does not display them, but keeps them under restraint. This is the way of the earth, of a wife, of a minister. The way of the earth is not to claim the merit of achievement, but on behalf of Heaven to bring things to their proper issue.
Legge: To keep her excellence under restraint is the part of an officer seeking not her own glory, but that of the ruler.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man wisely keeps his potentialities hidden so that they can mature without interference. When serving as an assistant, he remains in the background and lets glory go to the chief. He manifests himself at the proper time.
Wing: Leave the pursuit of fame to others. Concentrate, instead, upon doing the best job possible. If you conceal your talents now, you will develop naturally, without interference. The time will come later for you to reveal yourself and your good works.
Editor: This line presents the image of a faithful servant, who may not always understand what is going on, but who has enough faith and discipline to allow the Work to unfold from within -- to act when bidden, but otherwise to refrain from interfering with what is a pre-eminently incomprehensible transformation. Thus does the ego serve the Self.
The Work of Creation for mankind is conscious participation in the realization of the Divine intention. In this the Kabbalist not only makes himself more and more aware of the events in the greater and unseen worlds above but actually helps to bring in the influxes descending from the upper into the lower worlds. He does this by being skilful in practical life, psychologically sound and spiritually clear. Z.B.S. Halevi --Kabbalah
A. Subdue your ego and let the Self attain its purpose.
B. The image suggests that you may be trying too hard -- stay in the background and let the Work unfold naturally.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows the symbol of a sack tied up. There will be no ground for blame or praise.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A tied-up sack. No blame, no praise.
Blofeld: Taciturnity -- no blame, no praise.
Liu: The sack is tied up. No recognition, no blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Bundled in the bag. Without fault, without praise.
Shaughnessy: Tying the sack; there is no trouble, there is no praise.
Cleary(1): Closing the bag – no blame, no praise.
Wu: Tying up a pouch is without blame or praise.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: A sack tied up -- there will be no error. This shows how through carefulness, no injury will be received. Wilhelm/Baynes: Through caution one remains free of harm. Blofeld: The passage means that, with proper caution, we shall escape trouble. [Note: From the point of view of divination, it is this sentence which best serves as a guide to action.]Ritsema/Karcher: Consideration not harmful indeed. Cleary(2): Being prudent so as to avoid harm. Wu: Prudence prevents accidents.
Miscellaneous notes: The interaction between Heaven and Earth creates the transformation of organic life. When their interaction is restricted, men of virtue and ability withdraw into obscurity. The line is a lesson of caution.
Legge: Line four shows its subject exercising a still greater restraint than in line three.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man observes the strictest self-restraint and reserve in dangerous times. In this way he incurs neither injury from antagonists with designs on pre-eminence nor obligations to others.
Wing: It is a difficult time, requiring caution. Develop an inner reserve and maintain a low profile. This can be done within the mainstream of society or in the strictest of solitude. Confrontations now will lead to antagonism or undesirable obligations.
Editor: A tied-up sack is a very womb-like image -- who can tell what is going on inside of it? Gestation is a slow and hidden process, and we cannot know the outcome until its time is complete. The line often depicts a stalemate. At such times it is best to take no action at all.
The creative process has a feminine quality, and the creative work arises from unconscious depths -- we might truly say from the realm of the Mothers. Whenever the creative force predominates, life is ruled and shaped by the unconscious rather than by the conscious will. Jung -- The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature
A. The situation is inconclusive. Wait it out.
B. An answer is not forthcoming at this time.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows the yellow lower garment. There will be great good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A yellow lower garment brings supreme good fortune.
Blofeld: A yellow jacket -- sublime good fortune. [Yellow has always been an exalted color in China, where its use for garments was long restricted to the Imperial Family. Here it clearly symbolizes virtue.]
Liu: A yellow lower garment means sublime good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: A yellow apron. Spring significant.
Shaughnessy: Yellow skirts; prime auspiciousness.
Cleary(1): A yellow garment is very auspicious.
Cleary(2): Yellow lower garment, great good outlook.
Wu: The yellow lower garment will bring great fortune.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This follows from that ornamental color being in the right and central place. Wilhelm/Baynes: Beauty is within. Blofeld: This passage refers to inner (spiritual or moral) beauty. Ritsema/Karcher: Pattern located-in the center indeed. Cleary(2): The culture is in the center. Wu: The elegance lies within.
Miscellaneous notes: The superior man, arrayed in yellow, possesses discretion and understanding, and occupies the ruler's place. His virtue comes from within, and tempers his actions. This is the perfection of excellence.
Legge: Yellow is one of the five correct colors, and the color of the earth. The lower garment is a symbol of humility. The fifth place is the seat of honor. If its occupant possesses these qualities, good fortune is indicated.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man does not display his excellence directly. It is diffused throughout his conduct of affairs.
Wing: Do not display your potentials and virtues directly but allow them to permeate all of your affairs. Modesty and discretion about your inner worth yield the greatest good fortune.
Editor: Among its many symbolic associations, yellow is the color of the sun, and by extension, of clarity, comprehension and understanding. It is also the color of gold, as in "the golden mean," which is nothing if not yellow in color. In dream symbolism, garments often represent attitudes or beliefs with which we clothe ourselves. None of the translations state in so many words that this "lower" garment is "underwear," but the symbolism suggests a concealed attitude or understanding which could be so symbolized. Wilhelm's translation of the Confucian commentary tells us that the "beauty is within," i.e., concealed. A "yellow foundation garment" therefore, would be a fundamental attitude which is balanced and positive in nature.
It is from understanding that power comes; and the power in the ceremony was in understanding what it meant; for nothing can live well except in a manner that is suited to the way the sacred Power of the World lives and moves. -- Black Elk
A. The image suggests a fundamental understanding or balanced viewpoint.
B. "Moderation in all things."
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows dragons fighting in the wild. Their blood is purple and yellow.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Dragons fight in the meadow. Their blood is black and yellow. [While the top line of TheCreative indicates titanic pride and forms a parallel to the Greek legend of Icarus, the top line of The Receptive presents a parallel to the myth of Lucifer's rebellion against God, or to the battle between the powers of darkness and the gods of Valhalla, which ended with the Twilight of the Gods.]
Blofeld: Dragons contending in the wilderness shed black and yellow blood. [That is to say, Yin, the passive dark force, sometimes longs to possess the qualities of the celestial light force, Yang, and struggles to obtain them.]
Liu: Dragons fight in the wilderness. The blood is black and yellow.
Ritsema/Karcher: Dragons struggling tending-towards the countryside. Their blood: indigo, yellow.
Shaughnessy: The dragon fights in the wilds: its blood is black and yellow.
Cleary(1): Dragons battle in the field; the blood is dark yellow.
Wu: Dragons are fighting in the wild; their blood is bluish yellow.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The onward course indicated by The Magnetic is pursued to extremity. Wilhelm/Baynes: The way comes to an end. Blofeld: The dragons contend, for their stock of merit is exhausted. Ritsema/Karcher: Their tao exhausted indeed. Cleary(2): The path reaches an impasse. Wu: Their destiny has come to an end.
Miscellaneous notes: When a magnetic force seeks to usurp a dynamic force, there is sure to be contention. The mention of dragons is to remind us of the dynamic power of Heaven. Because neither the dynamic nor magnetic power can be its opposite, blood is seen. The mixture of colors is the mixture of Heaven and Earth: Heaven is purple, and Earth is yellow.
Legge: What is said about the sixth line in hexagram number one,The Dynamic, was that the dragon there exceeded the proper limits. That idea here takes place in "the wild" as the magnetic line is transformed into a dragon who fights with the true dragon of the Creative Force. They fight and bleed, and their respective blood is the color of Heaven and Earth.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is no longer content with his serving role. A bloody contest ensues. Injury to both parties occurs when serving elements attempt to rule.
Wing: An assertive and ambitious attempt is made to usurp power from an authority. A violent struggle will follow, resulting in injury to both parties.
Editor: When the magnetic principle tries to lead, when the ego tries to direct the Work, a devastating conflict erupts in the psyche. If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number twenty-three, Disintegration. To receive this line is an extremely negative omen: beware!
For the alchemists, a number of dragons fighting with each other illustrated the state of putrefactio (separating out the Elements, or psychic disintegration). J.E. Cirlot -- Dictionary of Symbols
A. A devastating clash of polarities is imaged.
SPECIAL NOTE:
If all of the lines of The Magneticare changing, an extremely momentous situation is indicated. This and hexagram number one, The Dynamic, are the only figures in which such a configuration is commented upon; hence, these are arguably the two strongest images the oracle has to offer.
Legge: If those who are thus represented be perpetually correct and firm, advantage will arise.
Wilhelm/Baynes: When all the lines are [magnetic], it means: Lasting perseverance furthers.
Blofeld: Unfaltering determination will place our affairs on permanent basis.
Ritsema/Karcher: Harvesting: perpetual Trial.
Shaughnessy: Beneficial to determine permanently.
Cleary(1): It is beneficial to always be correct.
Wu: It is advantageous to be ever persevering.
COMMENTARY
I have never received this configuration, so have nothing to add beyond the observation that perseverance is the only way to further the Work -- "The good or ill of man lies within his own will." -- Epictetus
13 Fellowship
Other titles: Fellowship with Men, The Symbol of Companionship, Lovers, Beloved Friends, Like-minded persons, Concording People, Gathering Men, Sameness with People, Universal Brotherhood, Fellowship, Community, United, Human Association, Union of Men, Integration of Forces, Minor Synthesis, Cliques, Concordance, To Be In Accord With, Confirmation
Judgment
Legge: Union of Forces appears in the remote districts of the country, indicating progress and success. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to maintain the firm correctness of the superior man.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Fellowship with Men in the open. Success. It furthers one to cross the great water. The perseverance of the superior man furthers.
Blofeld:Lovers (friends) in the open -- success! It is advantageous to cross the great river (or sea). [To make any kind of journey.] The Superior Man will benefit if he does not slacken his righteous persistence.
Liu: Fellowship of men in the open (countryside). Success. It benefits one to cross the great water. It benefits the superior man to continue his task.
Ritsema/Karcher: Concording People , tending-towards the countryside. Growing. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Harvesting: chun tzu, Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of sharing a goal with others. It emphasizes that finding ways to cooperate with and harmonize people's efforts is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Gathering men in the wilds; receipt; beneficial to ford the great river; beneficial for the gentleman to determine.
Cleary (1):Sameness with people in the wilderness is developmental. It is beneficial to cross great rivers. It is beneficial for a superior person to be upright.
Cleary (1): … Beneficial for a leader to be correct.
Wu: Fellowship in the open is pervasive, etc. … It will be advantageous to the jun zi who perseveres.
The Image
Legge: The images of heaven and fire form Union of Forces. The superior man, in accordance with this, distinguishes things according to their kinds and classes.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven together with fire: the image of Fellowship with Men. Thus the superior man organizes the clans and makes distinctions between things.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes heaven (the sun) and fire representing a pair of lovers. The Superior Man treats everything in a manner proper to his kind. [an analogy (based on the component trigrams) between the sun and fire, which to some extent are of a kind.]
Liu: Fire goes up to heaven, symbolizing Fellowship with Men. The superior man organizes his kinship group (party), and sorts them out.
Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven associating-with fire. Concording People. A chun tzu uses sorting the clans to mark-off the beings.
Cleary (1): Heaven with fire, sameness with others; superior people distinguish things in terms of categories and groups.
Cleary (2): … Leaders distinguish beings in terms of classes and families.
Wu: Heaven above and fire below form Fellowship. The jun zi distinguishes things by their kinds.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Union of Forces the magnetic line has the central place of influence and responds to her correlate line in the upper trigram of Strength. The hexagram takes its name from the upper trigram of Strength lending its power to the lower trigram of Clarity and Intelligence. This represents the correct course of the superior man. It is only the superior man who can comprehend and affect the minds of all under the sky.
Legge: Union of Forces describes a condition which is the opposite of the preceding hexagram of Divorcement. What was there distress and obstruction is here a union of forces. But it must be based entirely on the good of the whole, without any taint of selfishness.
The dynamic line correctly in the fifth place occupies the most important position, and has for his correlate the magnetic second line, also in her correct place. The one female line is naturally sought after by all the male lines. The editors of the K'ang-hsi edition would make the second line respond to all of the lines of the upper trigram, as being more agreeable to the idea of union.
The upper trigram is that of Heaven, the lower is of Fire, whose tendency is to mount upwards. This image suggests the fire ascending, blazing to the sky and uniting with it. All these ideas are in harmony with the notion of union, but it must be free of all factionalism, and this is indicated by its being in the remote districts of the country, where people are unsophisticated and free from the corrupting effects of urban intrigue. Although a union from such motives can cope with the greatest difficulties, yet a word of caution is added.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Connections are being made. If you are able to maintain your will, it is advisable to push for a synthesis .
The Superior Man differentiates and prioritizes; he sorts and evaluates his options.
This is another image of union -- not the supreme union of hexagram number eleven, Harmony, but a subordinate union of forces within the psyche which builds toward an eventual grand alliance. The component trigrams show the union of Strength and Clarity, suggesting that a certain level of mental comprehension is involved. To receive the hexagram without changing lines is often a confirmation of your particular thought -- saying, in effect: "You've made the connection."
Comprehension (synthesis) involves making distinctions (analysis) -- a paradoxical process in which one must divide before one can (re)unite. (This is the solve et coagula of alchemy.) Thus we see the superior man in the Image creating categories to bring about union -- this is discrimination directed toward reclassification or rectification. For example, a heterogeneous mixture of vegetable and flower seeds is made meaningful when one sorts them into their separate categories. The disparate elements then become coherently "united" -- in I Chingterms, each line obtains its proper correlate as in Hexagram number 63.
(Dialectic) alternates between synthesis and analysis until it has gone through the entire domain of the intelligible and has arrived at the principle. Stopping there, for it is only there that it can stop, no longer busying itself with a multitude of objects since it has arrived at unity, it contemplates. Plotinus -- The Enneads
The Chinese name of this hexagram includes the word Jen, which is apparently a difficult concept, since many philosophers have spent a good deal of energy in trying to define it:
Jen has been variously translated as benevolence, perfect virtue, goodness, human-heartedness, love, altruism, etc. None of these expresses all the meanings of the term. It means a particular virtue, benevolence, and also the general virtue, the basis of all goodness. ...Neo-Confucianists interpreted it as impartiality, the character of production and reproduction, consciousness, seeds that generate, the will to grow, one who forms one body with Heaven and Earth, or "the character of love and the principle of mind." In modern times, it has even been equated with ether and electricity... Wing-Tsit Chan -- A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
Chu Hsi defines Jen as the "character of the mind" (psyche) and "the principle of love" (union). Interpreted in this way we are enabled to apprehend the essence of the word "love," which is union -- becoming one with its object. I have chosen the title of Union of Forces to emphasize intra-psychic dynamics which are not immediately obvious in Wilhelm's title of Fellowship with Men. For example in dealing with questions pertaining to the Work, the concept of "ego states" or "subpersonalities" is often relevant to the symbolism of this hexagram:
The human self has been described here as composed of different ego states separated by boundaries. It has been likened to the structure of political principalities. From clinical observation we find that ego states can cooperate for mutual well-being, like allied nations against a common enemy. An ego state may become split, like East and West Germany, or fracture into many segments, like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ego states may become cognitively dissonant and hostile to each other, like Syria and Israel. In fact, the behavior of ego states within an individual is not unlike that between individuals, and between those groups of individuals called countries. Why should the behavior of human "stuff" not be substantially similar at all levels of its organizations? ...The evidence of self division into ego states is significant, and an equally tenable hypothesis might be that the states and boundaries of political entities have been imposed by men on each other because these represent an externalization of the internal divisions in their own selves. J.G. Watkins -- The Therapeutic Self
This hexagram's "shadow side" reveals circumstances preventing the union of entities or forces, more than those conditions promoting fruitful affiliation. Note that only the first and fifth lines of the figure depict a positive synthesis; the first one is minor, and in the case of line 5, union is attained only after much struggle. Line 2 reveals a clique or faction situation opposed to the general welfare, and lines 3 and 4 are images of recalcitrant forces unable to either join or attack the alliance. The sixth line depicts a partial union (probably the most common outcome in general experience), which the Confucian commentary nevertheless minimizes. Out of six lines then, only two describe anything like complete fellowship. I have received this hexagram without changing lines when the context of the question revealed an “incestuous,” clique-type situation, so not all "fellowship" or Union of Forcesis necessarily an ideal configuration.