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Retreat33
Step back and reassess. Retreat to gain strength and clarity. Focus on inner resources, conserve energy, and observe quietly. Let go gracefully, avoid confrontation, and prepare for future action.
↓ Line 3
Hesitation in retreat can cause anxiety, but maintaining supportive relationships is beneficial.
↓ Line 5
Retreating in a friendly manner and maintaining perseverance ensures good fortune.
↓ Progress35
Progress and clarity emerge. With effort and clarity, advancement is possible. Keep honesty and integrity at the forefront.
33 Retreat
Other titles: The Symbol of Retirement, Yielding, Withdrawal, Retiring, Wielding, Strategic Withdrawal, Inaccessibility, Disassociation from Inferior Forces, “When an opportunity for something better comes along, do not quarrel with an impossible situation.” -- D. F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Retreatmeans successful progress. Advantage comes from firm correctness and attention to details.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Retreat . Success. In what is small, perseverance furthers.
Blofeld: Yielding. Success! Persistence in small things wins advantage. [Much of the teaching of the Book of Change is concerned with the wisdom of restraint or withdrawal as the best way of achieving our goal under certain circumstances; so this hexagram is not necessarily unfavorable to the wise. This is not a time when we can hope to achieve much; but attention to small matters will stand us in good stead later.]
Liu: Retreat. Success. To persist in small matters is of benefit.
Ritsema/Karcher:Retiring, Growing. The small: Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of conflict and consequent seclusion. It emphasizes that withdrawing from the affairs at hand to conceal yourself in obscurity is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: retire!]
Shaughnessy: Wielding: Receipt; little beneficial to determine.
Cleary (1): Withdrawal is developmental. The small is beneficial and correct.
Cleary (2): Withdrawal is successful. Small benefit is correct.
Wu: Retreat indicates pervasion. It will be advantageous for the little men to be persevering.
The Image
Legge: A mountain beneath the sky -- the image of Retreat. The superior man keeps inferior men at a distance by his dignified bearing rather than hostility.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Mountain under heaven: the image of Retreat. Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance, not angrily but with reserve. [He does not hate him, for hatred is a form of subjective involvement by which we are bound to the hated object.]
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes mountains beneath the sky. The Superior Man, by keeping his distance from men of inferior character, avoids having to display wrath and preserves his dignity. [The component trigrams, symbolizing mountain and sky, indicate withdrawal to a solitary place when circumstances are unfavorable.]
Liu: The mountain beneath the sky symbolizes Retreat. The superior man keeps his distance from the inferior, not with anger, but with dignity.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below heaven possessing mountain. Retiring. A chun tzu uses distancing Small People. A chun tzu uses not hating and-also intimidating.
Cleary (1): There are mountains under heaven, which is inaccessible. Thus do superior people keep petty people at a distance, being stern without ill will.
Cleary (2): … Being strict without ill will.[Petty people can be useful, so there is no ill-will, but their pettiness cannot wield authority, so be strict. In terms of learning to be a sage, the celestial ruler is the master, and the physical body takes orders from it, so that the desires of the various parts of the body cannot cause disturbance.]
Wu: There is a mountain under heaven; this is Retreat. Thus the jun zi distances himself from the little men, not because of despising them, but because of maintaining his own esteem. [The difference between the jun zi and the little men is one of education and not of birth. Confucius was a teacher first and a philosopher second, for he said: “Education is classless.” Every one of us has the potential of becoming a sage.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: There is progress in Retreat. The dynamic ruler in the fifth place receives a proper response from his correlate in line two. The action is in accordance with the requirements of the time because what is inferior is gradually increasing and advancing. The actions required during a Retreat are of great significance.
Legge: Retreat is the hexagram of the sixth month when the yin influence, represented by the two magnetic lines, has established a foothold. This suggests the growth of inferior and unprincipled men in the state, before whose advance superior men are obliged to retire. Yet the auspice of Retreat is not all bad. By firm correctness the threatened evil may be arrested to some extent. Ch'eng-tzu says: “Below the sky is the mountain. The mountain rises up below the sky, and its height is arrested, while the sky goes up higher and higher, till they come to be apart from each other. In this we have an emblem of retiring and avoiding.”
Anthony: The correct time for retreat comes when others are not receptive to us, when delicacy of feeling is lost, when we begin to be attacked by doubt, or when our actions no longer yield progress. The person who can hold his ego in check has many creative moments open to him.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: When carried out with shrewd discernment, Retreat is a strategy for success.
The Superior Man removes himself from disintegrating forces without calling attention to himself. He controls his weaknesses by maintaining his serious purpose.
With the possible exception of line two, there is very little ambiguity in the hexagram of Retreat. Without changing lines it is a clear injunction to remove yourself from an inferior situation, influence, emotion or way of thinking. The figure has certain affinities with hexagram number forty- four: Temptation which also depicts an inferior element encroaching from below.
To yield is to be preserved whole. Lao-tse
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare hexagrams number forty-four, Temptation; number thirty-three, Retreat; and number twelve, Divorcement; in that order. What are the next three logical hexagrams in the sequence, and what are the implications of the series as a whole?
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows one retiring but bound -- to his distress and peril. If he were to deal with his binders as in nourishing a servant or concubine, it would be fortunate for him.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A halted retreat is nerve-wracking and dangerous. To retain people as men-and maidservants brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Yielding under constraint results in ills and trouble, but there is good fortune in store for those who are supporting servants and concubines.
Liu: Retreat with entanglements is dangerous and leads to illness. Take care of women and subordinates. Good fortune.
Shaughnessy: Do the wielding; there is sickness; danger; keeping servants and consorts is auspicious.
Cleary (1): Entangled withdrawal has affliction, but it is lucky in terms of feeding servants and concubines.
Cleary (2): Entangled in withdrawal, there is affliction and danger, but feeding servants and concubines leads to good results.
Wu: The retreat is tied to a string. It will be ominous to have illness, but auspicious to have maids and servants.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The peril is due to distress and exhaustion. A great affair cannot be dealt with in this way. Wilhelm/Baynes: The danger of a halted retreat is nerve- wracking; this brings fatigue. "To retain people as men-and maidservants brings good fortune." True enough, but one cannot use them in great things. Blofeld: The evils referred to here are those attendant on extreme fatigue. Though supporting servants and concubines brings good fortune, it does not lead to achieving anything of consequence. [Seemingly, Confucius, always inclined to be austere, does not altogether approve of this type of good fortune.]Ritsema/Karcher: Possessing afflicting weariness indeed. Not permitting Great Affairs indeed. Cleary (2): Affliction and exhaustion. Not suitable for great works. Wu: Illness can be wasting. No big business is achievable.
Legge: Line three has no proper correlate in line six, and he allows himself to be entangled and impeded by the first and second lines. Because he is too familiar with them they are presumptuous and fetter his movements. He should keep them at a distance.
Wu: The subject of this yang position feels that he is attached to the occupant of the second (line), a yin position. This sentimental attachment, symbolized here as the string attachment, hinders his freedom to retreat. Under these circumstances it is all right for him to handle small matters, such as hiring domestic help, but no big business.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man loses his freedom of action during retreat. The hangers-on impede and fetter his movements. The expedient course of action is to employ them in such a way as to retain the initiative. But he must maintain an appropriate distance from them and not rely on expedient actions of this kind in dealing with important matters.
Wing: You've been held back from Retreat and consequently are in the center of a difficult situation. Inferior persons or ideals may surround you. They can be used to insulate you from further difficulties, but you can accomplish nothing significant while fettered by inferior elements.
Editor: The image suggests being held back by inferior or subordinate forces within the situation. Ritsema/Karcher explain that "Possessing afflicting adversity" can connote "a spirit that seeks revenge by inflicting suffering on the living. Pacifying or exorcizing such a spirit can have a healing effect." (I have received this line when exactly that meaning was implied in the query.) Psychologically, sublimation is indicated. This is the art of making negative energy "sublime," i.e.: positive. "Servants and concubines" sometimes symbolize subconscious complexes: their libido can be either positive or negative, depending upon how it is treated. Remember that the proper nourishment of libido is not the same as indulging it.
For the body is a source of endless trouble to us by reason of the mere requirement of food; and is liable also to diseases which overtake and impede us in the search after true being; it fills us full of loves, and lusts, and fears, and fancies of all kinds, and endless foolery, and in fact, as men say, takes away from us the power of thinking at all. Whence come wars, and fightings, and factions? Whence but from the body and the lusts of the body? Plato -- Phaedo
A. Encumbered and exhausted -- make the most of whatever advantages you have to harmonize the situation.
B. Sublimate, placate or otherwise transform inferior forces to serve your higher purposes.
C. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows its subject retiring in an admirable way. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld: An admirably carried out withdrawal. Persistence in a righteous course brings good fortune.
Liu: Appropriate retreat. To continue brings good fortune.
Shaughnessy: Enjoyable wielding; determination is auspicious.
Cleary (1): Excellent withdrawal; correctness is auspicious.
Wu: The commendable retreat is auspicious if persevering.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is due to the rectitude of his purpose. Wilhelm/ Baynes: Because the will thereby reaches a correct decision. Blofeld: This results from a withdrawal carried out as a result of rectifying our aims. [I.e. revising them in the light of unfavorable circumstances.]Ritsema/Karcher: Using correcting the purpose indeed.) Cleary (2): Because of right aspiration. Wu: He needs to put his aims in the right perspective.
Legge: The K'ang-hsi editors refer to the words of I Yin as an illustration of what is said in line five: "The superior man will not for favor or gain continue in an office whose work is done." He advances or withdraws according to the character of the time. The strength and correct position of the fifth line show that he is able to maintain himself, and as he is responded to by the magnetic second line, no opposition would come from any of the others. Therefore, he is free to keep his place, but since he recognizes the advance of inferior men in lines one and two, he deems it better to withdraw from the field for a time. Thus there is successful progress even in his retreat.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man recognizes the proper time for an admirable retirement with necessary amenities and without disagreeableness. Firmness in the rectitude of his purpose is necessary to guard against being misled by irrelevant issues.
Wing: Make your Retreat friendly but firm. Do not be drawn into irrelevant discussions or considerations concerning your decisions. A persevering withdrawal brings good fortune.
Editor: Both Legge and Blofeld use the concept of rectification in their translations of the Confucian commentary. [Rectify: 1.a: to make or set right: remedy. 2.a: to restore to a healthy state.] The idea is that one must pleasantly but firmly disassociate oneself from an inferior alliance -- the only hope of improvement lies in withdrawal from the scene.
A faultless person is one who withdraws from affairs. This must be done with strength. Yamamoto Tsunetomo -- The Book of the Samurai
A. Withdraw to make correct – don’t make a big deal of it.
B. The integrity of the Work demands a withdrawal from an inferior alliance.
35 Progress
Other titles: Progress, Prospering, The Symbol of Forwardness, To Advance, Advancement, Making Headway, Getting the Idea, “Comes the Dawn”
Judgment
Legge: In Advance of Consciousness we see a prince who secures the tranquility of the people presented on that account with numerous horses by the king, and three times in a day received at interviews.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Progress . The powerful prince is honored with horses in large numbers. In a single day he is granted audience three times.
Blofeld: Progress. The richly endowed prince receives royal favors in the form of numerous steeds and is granted audience three times in a single day. [This passage indicates great merit richly rewarded.]
Liu: The Marquis K'ang (rich, powerful, healthy) is bestowed with many horses by the king, who receives him three times in a single day.
Ritsema/Karcher: Prospering , the calm feudatory avails-of bestowing horses to multiply the multitudes. Day-time sun three-times reflected. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of thriving in the full light of the sun. It emphasizes that contributing to this increase by helping things to flourish is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: The Lord of Kang is herewith awarded horses in luxuriant number, during daylight thrice connecting.
Cleary (1):Advancing, a securely established lord presents many horses, and grants audience three times a day.
Cleary (2): Advancing , a securely established lord is presented with, etc.
Wu: Advancement indicates that the prince who has secured peace and prosperity of the state is conferred with many fine horses. The king grants him an audience three times in one day.
The Image
Legge: The image of the earth and that of the bright sun coming forth above it form Advance of Consciousness. The superior man, in accordance with this, gives himself to make more brilliant his bright virtue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The sun rises over the earth: the image of Progress. Thus the superior man himself brightens his bright virtue.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire blazing from the earth. The Superior Man reflects in his person the glory of heaven's virtue.
Liu: The sun rising above the earth is the symbol of Progress. Thus the superior man brightens his character.
Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness issuing-forth above earth. Prospering. A chun tzu uses originating enlightening to brighten actualizing-tao. [Actualize-tao: ...ability to follow the course traced by the ongoing process of the cosmos... Linked with acquire, TE: acquiring that which makes a being become what it is meant to be.]
Cleary (1): Light emerges over the earth, advancing. Thus do superior people by themselves illumine the quality of enlightenment.
Cleary (2): Light emerges over the ground, advancing. Developed people illumine the quality of enlightenment by themselves.
Wu: Brightness rises above the earth; this is Advancement. Thus the jun zi keeps his bright virtue shining.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Advance of Consciousnesswe have the bright sun appearing above the earth; the symbol of Docile Submission cleaving to that of the Great Brightness; and the magnetic line advanced and moving above: all these things give us the idea of a prince who secures the tranquility of the people.
Legge: The subject of the Judgment is a feudal prince whose services to his country have made him acceptable to his king. The King's favor has been shown to him by gifts and personal attentions. The symbolism of the lines indicates the situations encountered by the prince. The written character for this hexagram means "to advance," a quality it shares with hexagrams number forty-six, Pushing Upward, and number fifty-three, Gradual Progress. In the present case the sun ascending from the earth to the meridian readily suggests the idea of advancing.
Hu Ping-wen (Yuan dynasty) says: "Of the strong things there is none so strong as Heaven, and hence the superior man patterns himself on its strength. Of bright things there is none so bright as the sun, and he patterns himself on its brightness."
Anthony: This hexagram concerns self-development which yields progress in our external life situation. If we are not making progress, we should review our attitude. Some widely accepted ideas may be decadent from the viewpoint of the Sage, hence obstruct progress. [Anthony’s “Sage” is conceptually identical to the “Self. -- Ed.]
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: When the autonomous manifestations of our inner drives are channeled, their energy becomes the ego's own. (Psychologically interpreted: Ego and Self are in accord.)
The Superior Man focuses his awareness on perfecting the Work. (Sometimes this can take the meaning of: "Wise up!")
The trigram of Clarity in progression over that of Docility gives the formula for an Advance of Consciousness. The submission of the ego to the restrictions of the Work, and the consequent tranquil subjugation of one's restless drives, appetites and impulses, eventually results in a focused flow of energy from within. (After years of effort, this is sometimes felt physically as a radiating sensation emanating from the chest, or heart region.) To receive this figure without changing lines does not necessarily mean that one has reached this phase of the Work, but it suggests progress in that direction. The traditional name for this hexagram is, in fact: Progress.
The king presenting horses to the prince in reward for pacifying the kingdom is analogous to the Self rewarding the ego for controlling the autonomous forces within the psyche. This is a quintessentially shamanic discipline: the "horses" symbolize tamed drives and emotions. Such circumstances indicate an Advance of Consciousness or progression toward the goal of "en-light-enment" or psychic integration, symbolized by the sun traversing the earth.
That state of life dynamism in which consciousness realizes itself as a split and separated personality that yearns and strives toward union with its unknown and unknowable partner, the Self, Jung has called the individuation process. It is a conscious striving for becoming what one "is" or rather "is meant to be." E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
The last sentence of the above quotation is exactly analogous to the Ritsema/Karcher translation of the Image of this hexagram, wherein the superior man (chun tzu) "uses originating enlightening to brighten actualizing-tao."
"Actualizing-tao" is the "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."
Psychologically interpreted then, this hexagram addresses various themes encountered during the progress of the individuation process, which is nothing if not an Advance of Consciousness.
The key phrase in Legge's Judgment is "tranquility of the people." It is relatively easy to sublimate one's drives, yet still feel resentful about it -- indeed, that is the form that the process normally takes at the beginning of the Work. Our inner forces are like children or animals who must learn to accept the restrictions of discipline. Once they have accepted it and have ceased to resent it (i.e. once they have become "tranquil"), they are ready to be useful to the Self's intentions.
For example: an untrained dog will instinctively chase and kill sheep if it gets the chance to do so; on the other hand, a properly trained dog will herd and control a flock of sheep even in its master's absence. Anyone who has observed a trained sheep dog in action knows what amazing feats they accomplish with great joy in the performance. They are "tranquil" in their role, and will even protect the sheep from untrained dogs that would kill them. When our instincts have learned how to tranquilly accept discipline they are ready to assist us in the higher levels of the Work. Until that time, the Work consists largely of "dog training." The analogy is apt, because just as an untrained dog is never as happy in its willfulness as a well-trained dog is in its purposefulness, so undisciplined permissiveness cannot compare with the joys of controlled power and focused intent.