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. |
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  54. Converting The Maiden (guī mèi). The Marrying MaidenAdvise
Becoming a victim of circumstances, try to save yourself from inside. Everyone has something that nobody else can infringe, regardless of power they possess.
Inital text of I ChingThe Judgement
The Marrying Maiden. Undertakings bring misfortune. Nothing that would further.
The Image
Thunder over the lake: The image of the Marrying Maiden. Thus the superior man understands the transitory in the light of the eternity of the end.
- The marrying maiden as a concubine. A lame man who is able to tread. Undertakings bring good fortune.
- A one-eyed man who is able to see. The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.
- The marrying maiden as a slave. She marries as a concubine.
- The marrying maiden draws out the allotted time. A late marriage comes in due course.
- The sovereign I gave his daughter in marriage. The embroidered garments of the princess were not as gorgeous as those of the servingmaid. The moon that is nearly full brings good fortune.
- The woman holds the basket, but there are no fruits in it. The man stabs the sheep, but no blood flows. Nothing that acts to further. A late marriage comes in due course.
Prediction
It is not the happiest period of your life. Circumstances dictate the terms. There is no freedom of action - no joy and satisfaction. You'll have to sacrifice your desires for the sake of duty, or simply follow someone else's will. To a large extent, the situation is determined by social status. Perhaps the turning point of the situation comes to a full moon. Anyway, do not let trample your soul, otherwise you get in captivity for a long time.
Above we have Chên, the eldest son, and below, Tui, the youngest daughter.
The man leads and the girl follows him in gladness. The picture is that of the
entrance of the girl into her husband's house. In all, there are four
hexagrams depicting the relationship between husband and wife. Hsien,
INFLUENCE, (31), describes the attraction that a young couple have for each
other; Hêng, DURATION (32), portrays the permanent relationships of
marriage; Chien, DEVELOPMENT (53), reflects the protracted, ceremonious
procedures attending THE MARRYING MAIDEN, shows a young girl under
the guidance of an older man who marries her.
THE JUDGMENT
A girl who is taken into the family, but not as the chief wife, must behave
with special caution and reserve. She must not take it upon herself to
supplant the mistress of the house, for that would mean disorder and lead to
untenable relationships.
The same is true of all voluntary relationships between human beings.
While legally regulated relationships based on personal inclination depend in
the long run entirely on tactful reserve.
Affection as the essential principle of relatedness is of the greatest
importance in all relationships in the world. For the union of heaven and
earth is the origin of the whole of nature. Among human beings likewise,
spontaneous affection is the all-inclusive principle of union.
THE IMAGE
Thunder stirs the water of the lake, which follows it in shimmering waves.
This symbolizes the girl who follows the man of her choice. But every
relationship between individuals bears within it the danger that wrong turns
may be taken, leading to endless misunderstandings and disagreements.
Therefore it is necessary constantly to remain mindful of the end. If we
permit ourselves to drift along, we come together and are parted again as the
day may determine. If on the other hand a man fixes his mind on an end that
endures, he will succeed in avoiding the reefs that confront the closer
relationships of people.
1
The princess of ancient China maintained a fixed order of rank among the
court ladies, who were subordinated to the queen as are younger sisters to the
eldest. Frequently they came from the family of the queen, who herself led
them to her husband.
The meaning is that a girl entering a family with the consent of the wife
will not rank outwardly as the equal of the latter but will withdraw modestly
into the background. However, if she understands how to fit herself into the
pattern of things, her position will be entirely satisfactory, and she will feel
sheltered in the love of the husband to whom she bears children.
The same meaning is brought out in the relationships between officials. A
man may enjoy the personal friendship of a prince and be taken into his
confidence. Outwardly this man must keep tactfully in the background
behind the official ministers of state, but, although he is hampered by this
status, as if he were lame, he can nevertheless accomplish something through
the kindliness of his nature.
2
Here the situation is that of a girl married to a man who has disappointed
her. Man and wife ought to work together like a pair of eyes. Here the girl is
left behind in loneliness; the man of her choice either has become unfaithful
or has died. But she does not lost the inner light of loyalty. Thought the
other eye is gone, she maintains her loyalty even in loneliness.
3
A girl who is in a lowly position and finds no husband may, in some
circumstances, still win shelter as a concubine.
This pictures the situation of a person who longs too much for joys that
cannot be obtained in the usual way. He enters upon a situation not
altogether compatible with self-esteem. Neither judgment nor warning is
added to this line; it merely lays bare the actual situation, so that everyone
may draw a lesson from it.
4
The girl is virtuous. She does not wish to throw herself away, and allows the
customary time for marriage to slip by. However, there is no harm in this;
she is rewarded for her purity and, even though belatedly, finds the husband
intended for her.
5
The sovereign I is T'ang the Completer. This ruler decreed that the imperial
princesses should be subordinated to their husbands in the same manner as
other women (cf. Hexagram 11, six in the fifth place). The emperor does not
wait for a suitor to woo his daughter but gives her in marriage when he sees
fit. Therefore it is in accord with custom for the girl's family to take the
initiative here.
We see here a girl of aristocratic birth who marries a man of modest
circumstances and understands how to adapt herself with grace to the new
situation. She is free of all vanity of outer adornment, and forgetting her rank
in her marriage, takes a place below that of her husband, just as the moon,
before it is quite full, does not directly face the sun.
6
At the sacrifice to the ancestors, the woman had to present harvest offerings
in a basket, while the man slaughtered the sacrificial animal with his own
hand. Here the ritual is only superficially fulfilled; the woman takes an
empty basket and the man stabs a sheep slaughtered beforehand-solely to
preserve the forms. This impious, irreverent attitude bodes no good for a
marriage.
Barbara Hejslip interpretationIt is necessary for you always and in all to be cautious, especially in affairs love. Try to perceive all event easy and coolly, differently you can get in very unpleasant position. Execution of desires is delayed. It is not necessary vanities. Now for you such time when it is better to wait and think. And at the same time it is the period when incomes exceed charges. Any more behind mountains more positive stage, and the nearest weeks it is necessary to devote itself to its preparation.
  30. Radiance (lí). The ClingingAdvise
Use time of joy to feel the unity with the world. Everything is interrelated.
Inital text of I ChingThe Judgement
The Clinging. Perseverance furthers. It brings success. Care of the cow brings good fortune.
The Image
That which is bright rises twice: The image of Fire. Thus the great man, by perpetuating this brightness, illumines the four quarters of the world.
- The footprints run crisscross. If one is seriously intent, no blame.
- Yellow light. Supreme good fortune.
- In the light of the setting sun, men either beat the pot and sing or loudly bewail the approach of old age. Misfortune.
- Its coming is sudden; It flames up, dies down, is thrown away.
- Tears in floods, sighing and lamenting. Good fortune.
- The king uses him to march forth and chastise. Then it is best to kill the leaders and take captive the followers. No blame.
Prediction
The sun illuminates the world from four sides. Clarity in deeds and actions comes. There will be a favorable outcome. Accept help from friends and relatives. Do not regret that lost. Work hard – you have energy for it. Look for support in the wisdom and fortitude. Let your inner truth lead. No isolation - the world is open to you entirety. It is good time to clarify personal relationships.
This hexagram is another double sign. The trigram Li means "to cling to
something," and also "brightness." A dark line clings to two light lines, one
above and one below--the image of an empty space between two strong lines,
whereby the two strong lines are made bright. The trigram represents the
middle daughter. The Creative has incorporated the central line of the
Receptive, and thus Li develops. As an image, it is fire. Fire has no definite
form but clings to the burning object and thus is bright. As water pours down
from heaven, so fire flames up from the earth. While K'an means the soul
shut within the body, Li stands for nature in its radiance.
THE JUDGMENT
What is dark clings to what is light and so enhances the brightness of the
latter. A luminous thing giving out light must have within itself something
that perseveres; otherwise it will in time burn itself out. Everything that gives
light is dependent on something to which it clings, in order that it may
continue to shine.
Thus the sun and moon cling to heaven, and grain, grass, and trees cling to
the earth. So too the twofold clarity of the dedicated man clings to what is
right and thereby can shape the world. Human life on earth is conditioned
and unfree, and when man recognizes this limitation and makes himself
dependent upon the harmonious and beneficent forces of the cosmos, he
achieves success. The cow is the symbol of extreme docility. By cultivating in
himself an attitude of compliance and voluntary dependence, man acquires
clarity without sharpness and finds his place in the world.
THE IMAGE
Each of the two trigrams represents the sun in the course of a day. The two
together represent the repeated movement of the sun, the function of light
with respect to time. The great man continues the work of nature in the
human world. Through the clarity of his nature he causes the light to spread
farther and farther and to penetrate the nature of man ever more deeply.
1
It is early morning and work begins. The mind has been closed to the outside
world in sleep; now its connections with the world begin again. The traces of
one's impressions run crisscross. Activity and haste prevail. It is important
then to preserve inner composure and not to allow oneself to be swept along
by the bustle of life. If one is serious and composed, he can acquire the clarity
of mind needed for coming to terms with the innumerable impressions that
pour in. It is precisely at the beginning that serious concentration is
important, because the beginning holds the seed of all that is to follow.
2
Midday has come; the sun shines with a yellow light. Yellow is the color of
measure and mean. Yellow light is therefore a symbol of the highest culture
and art, whose consummate harmony consists in holding to the mean.
3
Here the end of the day has come. The light of the setting sun calls to mind
the fact that life is transitory and conditional. Caught in this external
bondage, men are usually robbed of their inner freedom as well. The sense of
the transitoriness of life impels them to uninhibited revelry in order to enjoy
life while it lasts, or else they yield to melancholy and spoil the precious time
by lamenting the approach of old age. Both attitudes are wrong. To the
superior man it makes no difference whether death comes early or late. He
cultivates himself, awaits his allotted time, and in this way secures his fate.
4
Clarity of mind has the same relation to life that fire has to wood. Fire clings
to wood, but also consumes it. Clarity of mind is rooted in life but can also
consume it. Everything depends upon how the clarity functions. Here the
image used is that of a meteor or a straw fire. A man who is excitable and
restless may rise quickly to prominence but produces no lasting effects. Thus
matters end badly when a man spends himself too rapidly and consumes
himself like a meteor.
5
Here the zenith of life has been reached. Were there no warning, one would
at this point consume oneself like a flame. Instead, understanding the vanity
of all things, one may put aside both hope and fear, and sigh and lament: if
one is intent on retaining his clarity of mind, good fortune will come from
this grief. For here we are dealing not with a passing mood, as in the nine in
the third place, but with a real change of heart.
6
It is not the purpose of chastisement to impose punishment blindly but to
create discipline. Evil must be cured at its roots. To eradicate evil in political
life, it is best to kill the ringleaders and spare the followers. In educating
oneself it is best to root out bad habits and tolerate those that are harmless.
For asceticism that is too strict, like sentences of undue severity, fails in its
purpose.
Barbara Hejslip interpretationIt seems to you, that all is perfectly, though actually it not so. More likely, you now meaningly deceive yourselves, being in a captivity of illusions. Listen to advice of the friend. You are inclined to entirely to rely on fate as the destiny at present has a kind feeling for you. This impression is deceptive, it can lead into error and cause to you serious damage. Your desires will be executed owing to intervention of the person is more senior than you. Probably, you are expected with large successes in the affairs connected with writing and intermediary. It is necessary to listen to that people speak.
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Richard Wilhelm's commentary