There were "old" features in your gua (hexagram). It means that you have two hexagrams. The first one — is something that the Book tells you at the moment, the second is something it warns you about.

→

29. Gorge (kǎn). The Abysmal Water

Advise

Once in the trap of looking out, do not leave attempts to escape, but act wisely, but then rise above the circumstances.

The Judgement

The Abysmal repeated. If you are sincere, you have success in your heart, and whatever you do succeeds.

The Image

Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal:
The image of the Abysmal repeated. Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue and carries on the business of teaching.

1. Repetition of the Abysmal. In the abyss one falls into a pit. Misfortune.
2. The abyss is dangerous. One should strive to attain small things only.
3. Forward and backward, abyss on abyss. In danger like this, pause at first and wait, otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss. Do not act in this way.
4. A jug of wine, a bowl of rice with it; Earthen vessels simply handed in through the window. There is certainly no blame in this.
5. The abyss is not filled to overflowing, it is filled only to the rim. No blame.
6. Bound with cords and ropes, shut in between thorn-hedged prison walls: For three years one does not find the way. Misfortune.

Time of rest is over, time of truth search begins. Self-discipline, persistence, dedication and presence of mind are necessary. They will help to overcome the inertia, the inertia of views, and pressure of external circumstances. With the inner truth, you will overcome obstacles. Active action is inside; outside - only accept the circumstances.

This hexagram consists of a doubling of the trigram K'an. It is one of the eight hexagrams in which doubling occurs. The trigram K'an means a plunging in. A yang line has plunged in between two yin lines and is closed in by them like water in a ravine. The trigram K'an is also the middle son. The Receptive has obtained the middle line of the Creative, and thus K'an develops. As an image it represents water, the water that comes from above and is in motion on earth in streams and rivers, giving rise to all life on earth.

In man's world K'an represents the heart, the soul locked up within the body, the principle of light inclosed in the dark--that is, reason. The name of the hexagram, because the trigram is doubled, has the additional meaning, "repetition of danger." Thus the hexagram is intended to designate an objective situation to which one must become accustomed, not a subjective attitude. For danger due to a subjective attitude means either foolhardiness or guile. Hence too a ravine is used to symbolize danger; it is a situation in which a man is in the same pass as the water in a ravine, and, like the water, he can escape if he behaves correctly.

THE JUDGMENT

Through repetition of danger we grow accustomed to it. Water sets the example for the right conduct under such circumstances. It flows on and on, and merely fills up all the places through which it flows; it does not shrink from any dangerous spot nor from any plunge, and nothing can make it lose its own essential nature. It remains true to itself under all conditions. Thus likewise, if one is sincere when confronted with difficulties, the heart can penetrate the meaning of the situation. And once we have gained inner mastery of a problem, it will come about naturally that the action we take will succeed. In danger all that counts is really carrying out all that has to be done- -thoroughness--and going forward, in order not to perish through tarrying in the danger.

Properly used, danger can have an important meaning as a protective measure. Thus heaven has its perilous height protecting it against every attempt at invasion, and earth has its mountains and bodies of water, separating countries by their dangers. Thus also rulers make use of danger to protect themselves against attacks from without and against turmoil within.

THE IMAGE

Water reaches its goal by flowing continually. It fills up every depression before it flows on. The superior man follows its example; he is concerned that goodness should be an established attribute of character rather than an accidental and isolated occurrence. So likewise in teaching others everything depends on consistency, for it is only through repetition that the pupil makes the material his own.

1

By growing used to what is dangerous, a man can easily allow it to become part of him. He is familiar with it and grows used to evil. With this he has lost the right way, and misfortune is the natural result.

2

When we are in danger we ought not to attempt to get out of it immediately, regardless of circumstances; at first we must content ourselves with not being overcome by it. We must calmly weigh the conditions of the time and by satisfied with small gains, because for the time being a great success cannot be attained. A spring flows only sparingly at first, and tarries for some time before it makes its way in to the open.

3

Here every step, forward or backward, leads into danger. Escape is out of the question. Therefore we must not be misled into action, as a result of which we should only bog down deeper in the danger; disagreeable as it may be to remain in such a situation, we must wait until a way out shows itself.

4

In times of danger ceremonious forms are dropped. What matters most is sincerity. Although as a rule it is customary for an official to present certain introductory gifts and recommendations before he is appointed, here everything is simplified to the utmost. The gifts are insignificant, there is no one to sponsor him, he introduces himself; yet all this need not be humiliating if only there is the honest intention of mutual help in danger. Still another idea is suggested. The window is the place through which light enters the room. If in difficult times we want to enlighten someone, we must begin with that which is in itself lucid and proceed quite simply from that point on.

5

Danger comes because one is too ambitious. In order to flow out of a ravine, water does not rise higher than the lowest point of the rim. So likewise a man when in danger has only to proceed along the line of least resistance; thus he reaches the goal. Great labors cannot be accomplished in such times; it is enough to get out of the danger.

6

A man who in the extremity of danger has lost the right way and is irremediably entangled in his sins has no prospect of escape. He is like a criminal who sits shackled behind thorn hedged prison walls.

Do not lose courage, but it is one of four worst combinations. In your life there has come time of losses and defeats. The only thing that it is possible to make,-it to reduce up to a probable minimum number of strokes of bad luck. Have patience and wait, while the goddess of happiness again will award you of the sight. Through two, the greatest - in five months position will start to change for the better. For now you have enough time to occupy in scientific researches, reading, simply homework, which usually enough. Be not nervous, and keep calmness. It is the period when introspection and a sober estimation of position is much more important, than desperate struggle against destiny.

48. Welling (jǐng). The Well

Advise

The main pit for a person is in the soul.

The Judgement

The Well. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.

The Image

Water over wood:
The image of the Well. Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work, and exhorts them to help one another.

1. One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
2. At the wellhole one shoots fishes. The jug is broken and leaks.
3. The well is cleaned, but no one drinks from it. This is my heart's sorrow, for one might draw from it. If the king were clear-minded, good fortune might be enjoyed in common.
4. The well is being lined. No blame.
5. In the well there is a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.
6. One draws from the well without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.

External immovability is along with internal mobility. External sources of power are exhausted, they should looked for inside. There is a temporary respite, but it is not stagnant, but only the suspension. Help can be obtained from the outside, but do not rely on it. Act with caution; consider action in advance, making mistakes is dangerous: getting water is not simple to do even if pit is full. Choose the right tools to achieve the goals and be capable to use them. If you do not miss the opportunity, you will be successful.

Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water. The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers.

The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.

THE JUDGMENT

In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same-this cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less not more; it exists for one and for all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance.

However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life. For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness-by which the jug is broken-is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug.

This hexagram applies also to the individual. However men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. And every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man's nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention-a partial education of this sort is as bad as none- or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development.

THE IMAGE

The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K'an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.

1

If a man wanders around in swampy lowlands, his life is submerged in mud. Such a man loses all significance for mankind. He who throws himself away is no longer sought out by others. In the end no one troubles about him any more.

2

The water itself is clear, but it is not being used. Thus the well is a place where only fish will stay, and whoever comes to it, comes only to catch fish. But the jug is broken, so that the fish cannot be kept in it.

This describes the situation of a person who possesses good qualities but neglects them. No one bothers about him. As a result he deteriorates in mind. He associates with inferior men and can no longer accomplish anything worth while.

3

An able man is available. He is like a purified well whose water is drinkable. But no use is made of him. This is the sorrow of those who know him. One wishes that the prince might learn about it; this would be good fortune for all concerned.

4

True, if a well is being lined with sone, it cannot be used while the work is going on. But the work is not in vain; the result is that the water stays clear. In life also there are times when a man must put himself in order. During such a time he can do nothing for others, but his work is nonetheless valuable, because by enhancing his powers and abilities through inner development, he can accomplish all the more later on.

5

A well that is fed by a spring of living water is a good well. A man who has virtues like a well of this sort is born to be a leader and savior of men, for he has the water of life. Nevertheless, the character for "good fortune" is left out here. The all-important thing about a well is that its water be drawn. The best water is only a potentiality for refreshment as long as it is not brought up. So too with leaders of mankind: it is all-important that one should drink from the spring of their words and translate them into life.

6

The well is there fore all. No one is forbidden to take water from it. No matter how many come, all find what they need, for the well is dependable. It has a spring and never runs dry. Therefore it is a great blessing to the whole land. The same is true of the really great man, whose inner wealth is inexhaustible; the more that people draw from him, the greater his wealth becomes.

Probably, that your business go not absolutely smoothly. But even if it so, do not deny assistance to another. You are convinced subsequently, that it - is unique a correct image of actions. Be not afflicted, but now, probably, hardly it is possible to count that your abilities on advantage will be estimated and recognized by your heads. Certainly, you very much would like, that circumstances have changed, but hardly it is possible now. It concerns only your "global" desires and aspirations, less significant can will be executed and now. Despite of everything, your monetary business are not bad enough.