Hi All, (am I on the correct forum for my question-- exploring...?)
I receive this line quite frequently.
Today: I asked, whether there's another step for me to take, with regard to my practical situation in life (which is shifting), or whether just to wait for the results of the steps I've already been taking.
I received 11.5 to 5
I understand this as: the King took care of the marriage of his sister -- and marriage is a strong, enduring bond -- so the King (the Universe, the Tao) is taking care of my affairs, to make the right marriage for me, i.e. my next big commitment, reflected in the practical affairs of my life.
Any thoughts on this?
Who too is King Ti Yi? any historical anecdotes that illuminate this line. I haven't found any in my scatter-shot research. Thanks

Here is Legge's commentary:

Tî-yî, the last sovereign but one of the Yin dynasty, reigned from B. C. 1191 to 1155; but what was the history of him and his sister here referred to we do not know. P. Regis assumes that he gave his sister in marriage to the lord of Kâu, known in subsequent p. 84 time as king Wăn, and that she was the famous Thaî-sze;--contrary to all the evidence I have been able to find on the subject. According to Khăng-žze, Tî-yî was the first to enact a law that daughters of the royal house, in marrying princes of the states, should be in subjection to them, as if they were not superior to them in rank. Here line 5, while occupying the place of dignity and authority in the hexagram, is yet a weak line in the place of a strong and its subject, accordingly, humbly condescends to his one, strong and proper correlate in line 2.

Is there another step for me to take ... or just to wait ... ? 11.5 → 5
Enjoy what you have right now [5], however small/meager it seems.
Accept the inferior position [.5], no need to advance[11] further.

11.5 Intriguing, is the young woman in an inferior position? or instead exalted?

ashteroid said:

Is there another step for me to take ... or just to wait ... ? 11.5 → 5
Enjoy what you have right now [5], however small/meager it seems.
Accept the inferior position [.5], no need to advance[11] further.

Click to expand...

Hi , Ashteroid, yes that makes sense. I am curious about the historical background of this hexagram, too. Also: line 5 sounds very auspicious to me, -- I am not totally convinced that the marriage involved is really an "inferior"position, rather it may share in the stature of the royal family (unlike the marriages in Hexagra 54). That is my hunch. I am open to different points of view about this line, which is quite intriguing.

The line indicates a situation where your guess is as good as anyone elses'. So, if it is something you are legally bound to, your interpretation is correct: wait to see what happens. Otherwise, make sure that what you are amenable to is not misinterpreted.

About the historical background - here is Stephen Field (possibly the best source for that) on 11.5:

'Di Yi, second to last ruler of the Shang dynasty, married his daughter to Chang, Earl of the West. Yi realised that Chang's popularity and power were increasing. He wanted to consolidate that power by joining the two clans in marriage.'

He gives more detail under Hexagram 54, where line 5 refers to the same story:

'The hexagram describes the marriage of a Shang princess, a daughter of King Di Yi, to Chang, Earl of the West, otherwise known as King Wen. This was the standard procedure for subduing a recalcitrant neighbour short of going to war with him. However, the hexagram texts also draw attention to an unusual aspect of the marriage. High officials were customarily married to two sisters plus one of their nieces. We know from other sources that King Wen's second wife was a Lady of Shen, who was probably the mother of King Wen and the Duke of Zhou. The "younger sister" of lines 1 and 5 is the Lady of Shen.'

(The Lady of Shen would have been related to Diyi, too.)

So the line is 'fulfilment, good fortune from the source' seen from a historical perspective as part of the rise of Zhou - though it would be another generation before that was realised, when Wu overthrew the Shang. I imagine that's why the line is joined with Hexagram 5, Waiting. Of course, if Diyi had known the outcome, he might not have considered it fortunate.

In the context of your question, I think you might be something like Diyi: you've made the connections, and now things are out of your hands; time to wait.

Hilary, Thanks!
it is interesting to consider the inter-textual references, too, for instance, between hexagram 11 and hexagram 54.
The context of 11 suggests that the marriage promotes peace, while the context of 54 suggests some power imbalance.
Thanks, too ernobe, for your input.

loverofknowledge said:

while the context of 54 suggests some power imbalance.

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That's not what the line in 54 means. If you think about it carefully, you'll discover that the topic is still a pretty common one today, and a bit of a running joke in some circles. Only then does the meaning clear up.

Sounds interesting though I'm not sure what you mean...?
My comment was about the overall judgments in the respective hexagrams, which provide the contexts for the different changing lines.

loverofknowledge said:

Sounds interesting though I'm not sure what you mean...?

Click to expand...

I don't know why people can't figure this line out. It's so damned obvious.

OK, gotch-ya

In the Yi, perfection is the beginning of decline. Diyi wasn't just insisting that the bride be humbler than her maids, which was contrary to tradition even back then. He insisted that she leave some room to grow. In the Gua text, the moon isn't full yet. Patience is a big key to 54, but only two of the marrying maidens in the lines really practice it.

I see what you're getting at, yes.

bradford said:

In the Yi, perfection is the beginning of decline. Diyi wasn't just insisting that the bride be humbler than her maids, which was contrary to tradition even back then. He insisted that she leave some room to grow. In the Gua text, the moon isn't full yet. Patience is a big key to 54, but only two of the marrying maidens in the lines really practice it.

Click to expand...

"Moon not yet full" = "room to grow" = "patience needed" (& so forth with other moon references).

*light bulb*



Thank you.