Comments on: Hexagram 62, line 3

By: Hilary

Hilary — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:59:32 +0000

Update: I just wrote an article on Hexagram 62 that includes discussion of all the lines, and maybe helps to set this in context.

By: Hilary

Hilary — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 23:48:34 +0000

Yes, good thought - I do think the mysterious ’someone’ following behind could be a part of oneself, and the injury could be self-sabotage. It happens…

By: Ikoko

Ikoko — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:16:54 +0000

Could “Somebody” (â€œIf one is not extremely careful, Somebody may come..”) and “Someone” (”Not stepping across, defending herself. Someone following behind may kill her. Pitfall.”) and “enemies” (”the man is disdainful of weak enemies and does not exercise…”) that is written above, mean Oneself. Could it mean a persons ego, that in defending, they are defending against the completion of this stage of their growth, but not knowing that in doing so, in following their current position of defense, they are leaving themselves open to hurt.

I’m new to the Yi-Jing and 62.3,4 has just come up in a reading I’ve done so thank you for the insights. It seems to me that everybody is right here. From this post, I see that the Yi-Jing tells what the person is doing wrong and leaves then to see the truth, or gives advice more directly and tells them what they should do. I’m thinking that this could relate to, if the translater is at a stage (of personal growth or life experience, etc…) where they are personally effected by the stage that the Yi Jing is giving advice on. So maybe when Wilhelm translated 62.3, he was letting the small things become too important and wouldn’t let them go! It is strange how he only translates this line in the form of personal advice. “Magic” works in mysterious ways…

By: Chad Henry

Chad Henry — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 20:28:11 +0000

R. G. H. Siu, whose “Portable Dragon” is generally overlooked, is a Chinese American scientist and administrator I think with MIT or was in the day. His translation of 62.3 is: “the man is disdainful of weak enemies and does not exercise adequate precautions in the face of apparently insignificant signs. He will be hurt.” His translation of 16.3 is “the man looks upward for favors and continues his dependency upon others. He indulges in visions of pleasure and affluence. Unless he changes immedieately, he will be sorry.” This post departs from the problem of literal translation, but gives an interpretation from a native speaker of Chinese and intellectual scientist (who uses quotes from mainly western literature to comment of the lines).

By: Hilary

Hilary — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:45:01 +0000

‘Nowhere exceeding, defending-against it’
Compare R&S p654
‘Nowhere exceeding, meeting it’
- universally translated as ‘not crossing over but meeting’. Of course, to be consistent you could translate line 4 as ‘not meeting excesses’ or ‘not meeting too much’. If you really wanted…

By: chris lofting

chris lofting — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:19:52 +0000

try p653 of Ritsema and Sabbadini

By: Hilary

Hilary — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:58:17 +0000

What the line says you are not doing here is ‘guo’ - exceeding, or committing excesses. The sentence structure heavily implies (to say the least) that you are protecting yourself.

By: chris lofting

chris lofting — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:45:51 +0000

Line 3 -
“One does not protect oneself from excesses. Following this path may lead to death (being killed). Danger.” [One needs to be disuaded from this path, return]

Any form of exaggeration will force differentiation and that is competitive and so an increase in the chance of some conflict. hex 62 in general covers unconditional loyalty and the use of exaggerations of traditions etc to try and maintain collective loyalty (it pairs with 56 that is particular in its approach to loyalty issues) - with a hint that we have passed (or are approaching) the ‘best before/use by’ date of the collective.

Line 3 is ‘ruled’ by hex 15 where the focus is on avoiding highs and lows, keeping words close to the facts, and so being modest. This trait linked with the overall focus of 62 on exaggerations of traditions etc to maintain loyalty elicits a warning where not considering the properties of 15 (where considering those properties acts to limit exaggerations to the ‘truth’) in this context of 62 can lead to danger.

By: Taras Balderdash

Taras Balderdash — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 14:53:57 +0000

The yang line in this position is at the top of the mountain gua. It is encountering the thunder gua which is directly in front of it. The image is of someone suddenly encountering something disconcerting or frightening right in front of them. They stop short, but unless their caution is very great, the yin lines behind them run into them. Thus this position carries the tag of misfortune.