Holism, Hexagram 31 and marriage

The Wing of the I Ching describing the Sequence of Hexagrams, the Xugua, generally has a laconic style, sometimes saying scarcely more than, ‘this hexagram is bound to follow from that one.’ But there’s an exception to this when you arrive at Hexagram 31, Influence.

This is the first hexagram of the Lower Canon, and the author takes this opportunity to describe not just how Influence follows from Clarity, but how one thing following from another creates all the kinds of relationship:

“There are heaven and earth, and so there are the ten thousand things.
There are the ten thousand things, and so there are man and woman.
There are man and woman, and so there are husband and wife.
There are husband and wife, and so there are father and son.
There are father and son, and so there are leader and servant.
There are leader and servant, and so there are above and below.
There are above and below, and so there can be rules of worship and righteousness.”

This introduces a whole society founded on ‘above and below’, on hierarchy, so it seems odd to quote it and mention ‘holism’ in the same breath. But there’s a core idea here that’s shared by William Bloom, writing (in Soulutions) that,

“All through nature and the universe, new elements are continually being birthed – people, plants, stars, ideas, atoms, particles, waves – and they do not behave chaotically. There is an unseen dynamic, an attractor, a propellant that always draws these new and diverse elements together. The new organisms, the new bits and pieces, self-catalyse to create coherent systems. They do not remain disorganized and disconnected. They emerge, connect and form wholes.”

“All through nature and the universe, new elements are continually being birthed”; “there are heaven and earth, and so there are the ten thousand things”. The writer of the Sequence is recapitulating his opening words, with which he introduced Hexagram 3 and the world of ‘Sprouting’ things that fill the space of heaven and earth to overflowing. He and Bloom alike are marvelling at the plenitude of creation and the emergent order they see within it. (Their ideas of the nature of that order are different; they share the idea that there is one.)

And the Xugua draws attention to the role of Hexagram 31: it is that ‘unseen dynamic’ of attraction. In readings it represents inner influence, the experience of being inwardly moved and drawn into relationship. It’s also the traditional hexagram of attraction and engagement.

The first thing to arise from the ten thousand things is man and woman, and from them comes partnership, husband and wife. I think this gives a robust answer to the question, ‘What does marriage represent in the I Ching?’ It’s the initial connection that makes a world of experience, creation relationship and harmony possible. ‘Take a wife’ (hexagram 31): actively seek out and participate in a new connection. ‘Marry’ as a woman (as in 11.5): enter into a world of relationships where you belong.