Where you find the noble one We mostly come across the junzi, the ‘noble one’, in the Image Wing of the Yi. But he also features in many oracles and lines of the original text. Here’s the whole list: 1.3, 2.0, 3.3, 9.6, 12.0, 13.0, 15.0, 15.1, 15.3, 20.1, 20.5,… Read more »The noble one’s story
As I’ve probably mentioned from time to time, I’m working on an enlarged and improved version of the Words of Change Yijing glossary, to be included as part of the upcoming journal software. This gives me the perfect excuse for lots of completely engrossing research and exploration into Yi, while… Read more »Marriage and Mandate
If you’ve been working with Yi for a while, you’re probably familiar with the idea of looking at the hexagram each individual moving line would change to on its own, to give you a better context to understand its meaning. You might have heard them referred to as zhi gua,… Read more »Two-line changes
There’s something about writing on the Yijing – it’s not like other books, that just sit there mutely and allow themselves to be translated. I think people who’ve worked through the hexagram-by-hexagram threads over the years have had similar experiences, as the line of the day just happens to show… Read more »Getting written
A client who’s working on my I Ching course had received Hexagram 35, line 1. In Stephen Karcher’s comments on the line, she found reference to ‘using a net’ and wondered what this meant. So – not unreasonably – she asked Yi what to make of the ‘net’.
Ian wrote to ask me: “How can an English-speaking science graduate link to I Ching?” Nice question, thanks! The ‘English-speaking’ part is relatively easy: use a couple of distinctively different, good translations. Don’t be misled by the preoccupations of mad natural linguists (like this one) into believing you have to… Read more »I Ching for scientists
Hexagram 37, People in the Home, defines a safe space. Within it we can find our place with one another, and become confident enough in our own identities that we can eventually reach out beyond its walls.
The first line of the hexagram sets up those all-important walls:
‘With barriers, there is a home.
Regrets vanish.’
It’s a very clear line: walls create a home; they separate ‘inside’ from ‘outside’, so there can be a secure, close-knit group within. In readings, this line very often points to the need to set limits, to have ground rules, without which there can be no mutual understanding. Fences, as Wu Jing Nuan comments on this line, make good neighbours.
