I-Ching
Current
Changing
Transformed
Current
05 - Hsü / Waiting (Nourishment)
Above: K`AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below: CH`IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
All beings have need of nourishment from above. But the gift of food comes in its own time, and for this one must wait. This hexagram shows the clouds in the heavens, giving rain to refresh all that grows and to provide mankind with food and drink. The rain will come in its own time. We cannot make it come, we have to wait for it. The idea of waiting is further suggested by the attributes of the two trigrams: strength within, danger in front. Strength in the face of danger does not plunge ahead but bides its time, whereas weakness in the face of danger grows agitated and has not the patience to wait.
Waiting is not merely empty hoping, it has the inner certainty of reaching the goal. Such certainty alone gives that light which leads to success. This leads to the perseverance that brings good fortune and bestows power to cross the great water.
One is faced with a danger that has to be overcome. Weakness and impatience can do nothing. Only a strong man can stand up to his fate, for his inner security enables him to endure to the end. This strength shows itself in uncompromising truthfulness with himself. It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are, without any sort of self-deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events by which the path to success may be recognized. This recognition must be followed by resolute and persevering action, for only the man who goes to meet his fate resolutely is equipped to deal with it adequately. Only then he will be able to cross the great water, that is to say, he will be capable of making the necessary decisions and of surmounting the dangers.
Thus the superior man eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer.
When clouds rise in the sky, it is a sign that it will rain. There is nothing to do but to wait until after the rain falls. It is the same in life when destiny is at work. We should not worry and seek to shape the future by interfering in things before the time is ripe. We should quietly fortify the body with food and drink and the mind with gladness and good cheer. Fate comes when it will, and thus we are ready.
Above: K`AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below: CH`IEN THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN
All beings have need of nourishment from above. But the gift of food comes in its own time, and for this one must wait. This hexagram shows the clouds in the heavens, giving rain to refresh all that grows and to provide mankind with food and drink. The rain will come in its own time. We cannot make it come, we have to wait for it. The idea of waiting is further suggested by the attributes of the two trigrams: strength within, danger in front. Strength in the face of danger does not plunge ahead but bides its time, whereas weakness in the face of danger grows agitated and has not the patience to wait.
The Judgement
WAITING. If you are sincere, you have light and success. Perseverance brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.Waiting is not merely empty hoping, it has the inner certainty of reaching the goal. Such certainty alone gives that light which leads to success. This leads to the perseverance that brings good fortune and bestows power to cross the great water.
One is faced with a danger that has to be overcome. Weakness and impatience can do nothing. Only a strong man can stand up to his fate, for his inner security enables him to endure to the end. This strength shows itself in uncompromising truthfulness with himself. It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are, without any sort of self-deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events by which the path to success may be recognized. This recognition must be followed by resolute and persevering action, for only the man who goes to meet his fate resolutely is equipped to deal with it adequately. Only then he will be able to cross the great water, that is to say, he will be capable of making the necessary decisions and of surmounting the dangers.
The Image
Clouds rise up to heaven: The image of WAITING.Thus the superior man eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer.
When clouds rise in the sky, it is a sign that it will rain. There is nothing to do but to wait until after the rain falls. It is the same in life when destiny is at work. We should not worry and seek to shape the future by interfering in things before the time is ripe. We should quietly fortify the body with food and drink and the mind with gladness and good cheer. Fate comes when it will, and thus we are ready.
Changing
Six at the top means:
One draws from the well without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.
The well is there for all. No one is forbidden to take water from it. No matter how many come, all find what they need, for the well is dependable. It has a spring and never runs dry. Therefore, it is a great blessing to the whole land. The same is true of the really great man, whose inner wealth is inexhaustible. The more that people draw from him, the greater his wealth becomes.
One draws from the well without hindrance. It is dependable. Supreme good fortune.
The well is there for all. No one is forbidden to take water from it. No matter how many come, all find what they need, for the well is dependable. It has a spring and never runs dry. Therefore, it is a great blessing to the whole land. The same is true of the really great man, whose inner wealth is inexhaustible. The more that people draw from him, the greater his wealth becomes.
Transformed
48 - Ching / The Well
Above: K`AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below: SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD
Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water. The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers. The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.
In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus, the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same, which cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less nor more, but exists for one and all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance. However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life, for any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness, by which the jug is broken, is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug. This hexagram applies also to the individual. Although men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. Every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man`s nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention. A partial education of this sort is as bad as none, or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development completely.
The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K`an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.
Above: K`AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below: SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD
Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water. The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers. The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.
The Judgement
THE WELL. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water, and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus, the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same, which cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less nor more, but exists for one and all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance. However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life, for any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness, by which the jug is broken, is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug. This hexagram applies also to the individual. Although men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. Every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man`s nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention. A partial education of this sort is as bad as none, or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development completely.
The Image
Water over wood: the image of THE WELL. Thus, the superior man encourages the people at their work, and exhorts them to help one another.The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K`an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.