Clarity,
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confucius
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Etymology of the ideogram Bo.23
The ideogram used to illustrate the twenty-third hexagram depicts a seasonal ritual. It is composed on the right from a group suggesting the idea of a knife and on the left a group whose radical includes a tree. On top of that tree is a compressed character symbolizing an axe. Because of the necessary compression the top part of the axe is shrunk, as is the case with its bottom too, in order not to encumber the four strokes representing the branches and the bark falling (from the action of the axe).
This pruning is always done one branch at a time, slowly, methodically, from the periphery down to the trunk. Rather than a splinting, it is a structure and gradual wear to the core. The fearful image roaming in the background is always that of taking too much off so that the tree can not recuperate. That would be a lack of faith in the seasons: if it is appropriate to prime the trees in November it is exactly to promote the accumulation of the vital flux in the roots.
In winter, that flux is reduced on the outside, but it is not interrupted. Bo.23 contains the idea of striping down, not that of exhaustion: the tree is pruned, not shut out. Further illustration on the tree can be found in Kun.47.
Winter will guarantee a new spring as long as one accepts it as a set cycle, without further stress, recognizing things as they are meant to be represented, in this case a Yin period where one must preserve the essential; this by keeping in mind the objective of preparing the resurgence of energy.
Confucius
The ideogram used to illustrate the twenty-third hexagram depicts a seasonal ritual. It is composed on the right from a group suggesting the idea of a knife and on the left a group whose radical includes a tree. On top of that tree is a compressed character symbolizing an axe. Because of the necessary compression the top part of the axe is shrunk, as is the case with its bottom too, in order not to encumber the four strokes representing the branches and the bark falling (from the action of the axe).
This pruning is always done one branch at a time, slowly, methodically, from the periphery down to the trunk. Rather than a splinting, it is a structure and gradual wear to the core. The fearful image roaming in the background is always that of taking too much off so that the tree can not recuperate. That would be a lack of faith in the seasons: if it is appropriate to prime the trees in November it is exactly to promote the accumulation of the vital flux in the roots.
In winter, that flux is reduced on the outside, but it is not interrupted. Bo.23 contains the idea of striping down, not that of exhaustion: the tree is pruned, not shut out. Further illustration on the tree can be found in Kun.47.
Winter will guarantee a new spring as long as one accepts it as a set cycle, without further stress, recognizing things as they are meant to be represented, in this case a Yin period where one must preserve the essential; this by keeping in mind the objective of preparing the resurgence of energy.
Confucius