I Ching or Book of Changes

Product Information

The superior man sets his person at rest before he moves; he composes his mind before he speaks; he makes his relations firm before he asks for something. A man brings about real increase by producing in himself the conditions for it, that is, through receptivity to and love of the good. The dark lines are about to mount upward and overthrow the last firm, light line by exerting a disintegrating influence on it. Thus the well is a place where only fish will stay, and whoever comes to it, comes only to catch fish.

If great help comes to a man from on high, this increased strength must be used to achieve something great for which he might otherwise never have found energy, or readiness to take responsibility. After the large and fundamental problems are settled, certain minor reforms, and elaborations of these, are necessary. This is a situation in which a strong, superior, well–poised man tolerates and protects the inferiors in his charge. Exceptional enterprises cannot succeed unless utmost caution is observed in their beginnings and in the laying of their foundations.

The seed of the good remains, and it is just when the fruit falls to the ground that good sprouts anew from its seed. But if, instead of working for the rescue of the whole, he were to misuse his connections to obtain personal power and success, it would lead to humiliation. The name of the hexagram, because the trigram is doubled, has the additional meaning, “repetition of danger. Both volumes have a personal "Ex Libris" stamp on the bottom edges of the text block as well as on the title pages.

At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true, mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with. e., of allowing energy that is renewing itself to be reinforced by rest, applies to all similar situations. The book sheds new light on manya secret hidden in the often puzzling modes of thought of thatmysterious sage, Lao-tse, and of his pupils, as well as on manyideas that appear in the Confucian tradition as axioms, acceptedwithout further examination. In the " Trigram Symbols" you can read the interpretation of the two Trigrams that the Cast Hexagram is made of.

However men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone.

We must hold here to the fundamental principle thatthe Book of Changes is to be explained in the light of its owncontent and of the Moreover, in this dangerous situation one is as yet without help or friendly advances from above or below. 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.

In the preceding line the carrying rings are described as golden, to denote their strength; here they are said to be of jade.

It is easy to discriminate between right and wrong in this case; it is like biting through tender meat. 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. If, owing to weakness of spirit, a man cannot support himself, a feeling of uneasiness comes over him; this is because in shirking the proper way of obtaining a living, he accepts support as a favor from those in higher place. The perpetuation of this gathering in groups is achieved through the sacrifice to the ancestors, at which the whole clan is gathered together. But care must be taken not to let it come in contact with those further away, because once free it would unfold its evil aspects unchecked.If it is allowed to take its course, misfortune is bound to result; the insignificance of that which creeps in should not be a temptation to underrate it.