Comments on: The non-people of Hexagram 12

By: Hilary

Hilary — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:33:19 +0000

Ah… ‘inferior’ as simply, literally - and not particularly morally - that which is underneath? I like that.

Generally when Wilhelm/Baynes says ‘inferior people’ Yi just says literally ’small people’, and it makes a lot of sense to think of them as the ’substratum’ people, the ones who sense and receive. The ‘non-people’ or ‘evil people’ (W/B) of 12, and 8.3, are something different: not part of the natural layered construction of society at all.

By: jr

jr — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:14:51 +0000

The ‘inferior people’ may be the ‘receptive’ which is below, as opposed to the ‘creative’ that is above. Inferior may mean that which is subservient, humble or faithful which may be better inclined for sensing and receiving.

By: Hexagram 12 - negative souls? | 'Answers' I Ching blog

Hexagram 12 - negative souls? | 'Answers' I Ching blog — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:24:04 +0000

[...] been revisiting the idea of the ‘non-people’ in hexagram 12. The most helpful way to understand them, most of the time, is as people we regard, for whatever [...]

By: Hilary

Hilary — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:57:17 +0000

Yes, but - careful, Hexagram 12 doesn’t actually talk about the contrast between small and great men. It talks about the ‘non-people’ and the noble one; ‘non-people’ are not the same thing as ’small’ ones. And it says that great goes, small comes - which is not just about kinds of people, but also about the kind of issue you’ll be handling and the kind of achievement that’s possible.

But this is still a good general point for those hexagrams where this contrast is being made. It’s easy to assume that by ‘great person’ the oracle means us, and the people we don’t like are the ’small’ ones, when in fact the oracle has said nothing of the kind. More often, it’s asking you the question: which are you? Which will you be?

By: sarah

sarah — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 07:32:58 +0000

Hi,
Here the problem is to know who are you from the point of view of hexagram symbolism. If you are the small man then you are rejected by the great one because the means you are using. If you are the geat man, then you are rejecting the small men because the means they are using. In both ways there is stagnation. That is no change, progress, gain.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 13:54:13 +0000

My thoughts on any hexagram always involve looking at the movement from one to the next. From 11 - Peace we move to 12 - Stagnation which when resolved to the next level becomes 13 - Fellowship with Men. The context clue drives my personal understanding of these hexagrams. Peace evokes a period of heaven and earth in communion, where Stagnation suggests a time we are out of communion, with ourselves, the universe, or with others. Our spirits are without breath and life. It is a time when evil understood as (the absence of God/Heaven) can take hold. The return of communion expresses itself then in 13, concord and community being the main event.
These are the ways in which I work with the Ching, to me one is not understood out of context with each neighboring hexagram.

By: Ed Graham

Ed Graham — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 02:00:41 +0000

Regarding Hex 12. The inferior people mentioned would be perhaps the inferior within myself primarily. In answer to some questions it may mean other people or the inferior elements within other people. When interpreting the answer we need to see it in the context of the question. With the supreme wisdom of the mighty I Ching emphasising wisdom we need to look at ourselves too.

By: Ed Graham

Ed Graham — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 01:55:09 +0000

A quick comment on another topic- ie women and the I Ching which is an interesting subject. The I Ching whether we like it or not evolves from a particular culture- an ancient patriarchal one. It cannot be twisted to fit a modern feminist agenda. I agree with the feminist agenda myself as any rational modern person would. I speak of hexagram 44 “a bold and wilful woman- do not marry”. but lets not forget that timid men are seen as undesirable in the text also. It was writen by people who believed in sex role demarcation. Some feminist versions of the text see hexagram 44 as favourable but this is a distortion of the original idea which was certainly negative because of the broken line at the bottom supporting 5 unbroken lines. Plenty of new age people have realised that the Ching is uncannily accurate but because they are usually feminist in their inclinations, as I myself am, they find it hard to reconcile it with modern feminist notions.
Remember that hexagram 37, the family in contrast to 44, exalts women, but the femininity it praises is the notion of the duty-prone wife- see line 4. If men are expected to be duty-bound, isn’t it treating women equally to expect them to be duty-bound also but within the context of the society they live in? Sex role differentiation has been common in human society for thousands of years- for clearly hunting lions with spears requires greater physical prowess. Before we condemn ancient Chinese sex roles, lets look at the fact that we have men’s and women’s tennis, even though I guarantee Venus Williams would thrash most men on the planet. “The most important rule in family life is that the woman be firm and correct” (Hex 37) This gives women the greatest power albeit within the specific role of women in ancient societies.

By: chris

chris — Mon, 23 May 2005 10:02:14 +0000

From a universal perspective, 12 covers a focus on neutralising as compared to 11s balancing.

In the context of the traditional IC with a focus on change, so 12 is interpretable as ‘negative’ in that 12 promotes the maintaining of a belief, to the degree of fighting for it and in so doing strengthening that belief. This goes against the grain of being open to change.

With/from devotion (to another/others) [earth base] comes singlemindedness [heaven top].

From a light/dark perspective we have a context of total darkness in which is operating blinding light.

Focus on the dynamics WITHIN the octet of earth-based hexagrams

(02,23,08,20,16,35,45,12)

and 12 is the full actualisation of the potential devotions present in 02. In that actualisation so the yang top line of 12 favours a conditional perspective as compared to the unconditional nature of 02.