Speculations on relations between hexagrams: the Sequence, patterns of trigrams, nuclear hexagrams, etc
How lucky we are that scholars have dug out some of the ancient stories ‘behind’ the Yijing – stories its authors would have known naturally, but that can require some real ingenuity to ferret out nowadays. Hexagrams 55 and 56, Abundance and the Traveller Hexagram 55 is Abundance, and Abundance,… Read more »Reflecting stories
Some of the Yi’s most interesting phrases come in threes. The advice not to chase what’s lost, for instance, or ‘not robbers, marital allies’. This is another of those: ‘the moon is almost full’. ‘Already rained, already come to rest.Honour the power it carries.The wife’s constancy brings danger,The moon is… Read more »The moon almost full
There are just two ‘outer mountain’ hexagrams in the Upper Canon: 41, Decreasing, and 52, Stilling. Hexagram 41, Decreasing The Oracle Hexagram 41 is Sun 損: decrease, damage, harm, weakening. So the words of the oracle that define it are startling – ‘Decreasing has truth and confidence.From the source, good… Read more »Mountain above: hexagrams 41 and 52
I talked in a previous post about gen, mountain, as the outer trigram of Hexagrams 4 and 18. There, it ‘nurtures de‘, with a dual obstructing and protecting function that feels something like mentorship. The next appearances of mountain outside come in the 20s, a series of hexagram pairs with… Read more »Mountain above: Hexagrams 22 and 23
Hexagram 12 is no fun at all… ‘Blocking it, non-people.Noble one’s constancy bears no fruit.Great goes, small comes.’ Hexagram 12, Oracle The noble one is typically imaginative and willing to learn; constancy means persistence, loyalty, holding firmly to the truth… and none of this is going to make any difference.… Read more »The noble one’s constancy, and inner light
The Yijing’s changing line texts are in conversation with the hexagrams created by each change. But they can also have quiet exchanges with their fan yao, the ‘reverse line’ that travels in the opposite direction. For instance, 11.2 changes to 36, and in reverse, 36.2 changes to 11: 11.2 and… Read more »Lines in conversation
In my last post, I mentioned all the meaning packed into a tiny space in Hexagram 56, line 6. The nest is burned, line 6 changes, and you can see the bird flying away, into Hexagram 62. Because the Yijing’s lines move, it creates this kind of magic all the… Read more »Hexagrams in conversation
