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[confucius]

Etymology of the ideogram Kun.2


坤


The ideogram used to represent Kun.2 is twofold. The element on the left is a general application of expressions concerning the ground, the Earth or the soil. It is here compressed, as is always the case when it is encountered in a composite figure. Its ancient purpose was to illustrate a raised stone, a sort of megalithic altar, a pedestal, used in ceremonies of worship of the Earth. This ancient origin, more spiritual than it was agricultural, was a tribute to the fertile virtues of the Earth and all the Yin analogies it entails, a natural feature in a culture renown for promoting a sedentary lifestyle and its attachment to the land. In the context on the Yi Jing, this would partially explain why it is often encountered as part of the highly favorable mantic appreciation Opportunity.

On the right is a rather simple graphic whose global meaning expresses the idea of continuous extension. One of its archaic representations, suggesting two hands pulling a rope in opposite directions, illustrated the concerting action of two dialectic forces. As it is presented here it suggests the infinite extension of the germinating power originating from the Earth.

On the silk manuscript found in 1974 at Ma Wang Dui, the ideogram used to illustrate this hexagram is different. It was, at this point and time, called Waterway. This choice proves again that the names dedicated to the trigrams were applied after those of the hexagrams composed of two identical trigrams. It evoked the never ending expansion of the Yin flow according to a horizontal movement. It here serves as an echo to the ascending vertical movement described by the name and the unfolding of Qian.1, the Creative Spark, the first hexagram.




*The silk manuscript was found with the tomb of the marquis of Kui. It is to date the oldest known copy of the Yi Jing .It was buried in 178 b.c. It is virtually identical in content to the modern editions aside the fact that it bears no mention of trigrams of names attached to them.

Fu Zi

[ewald]

坤 "Continuous extension" of "soil" to me is Land.

Earth as soil to me doesn't express the space that is suggested in 2.0. Earth as planet or as "everywhere that one can go" is too abstract for the Yijing. The Yijing, as an oracle, is foremost concrete.

[bradford]

Hi-
Ive always found this subject interesting, especially when I learned that Chuan was the Mawangdui text's Gua Ming for Kun.

I would me a lot more careful with these two statements, however:
"It was, at this point and time, called Waterway. "
There are no indications whatsoever anywhere that the Mawangdui
texts represented mainstream or reliable versions. In fact,
variations between the Laozi texts suggest otherwise.
You just can't generalize from a single occurrence.
And
"This choice proves again that the names dedicated to the trigrams were
applied after those of the hexagrams composed of two identical trigrams."
It proves no such thing. Note the fequency of occurrences of Ba Gua names and
other reiteratives in the Tuan and Yao Ci, starting with qian qian at 01.3.

Anyway, here are two footnotes on water-earth lifted from my Xiao Gua chapter:

The Symbolism: Kun comes close to the conception of Earth which we know as
Gaia, the great Mother. As the ocean did not play an important part in the lives of
the ancient Chinese, those aspects of life which in the West accrued oceanic and
aquatic symbols were represented in China by symbols of the Earth: these include
unity, fecundity, understanding, tolerance, embrace, plenum, capacity and the
mystic's truth. And of course there are the more "earthy" meanings of basis,
ground, substance, substratum, support, accessibility and as many gifts, simply, yet
conditionally, provided, as one is capable of accepting. The dimension is breadth,
the range of the possible, or the field of options with an infinite number of paths.



*Note: Here again is the Chinese conception of Earth symbolized in the west by
Water. Interestingly, the Chinese Mawangdui text calls the Kun Chong Gua
Chuan (1439), Stream, Water or Flow. Curious, too, is that the mare is sacred to
Neptune, her creator in Greek mythology. Remember that in these symbolic
languages, the symbol is not what is being referred to: the symbol is only meant to
evoke a state of mind. Not the finger, the Moon.

Originally Posted by ewald

"Continuous extension" of "soil" to me is Land.

Earth as soil to me doesn't express the space that is suggested in 2.0. Earth as planet or as "everywhere that one can go" is too abstract for the Yijing. The Yijing, as an oracle, is foremost concrete.

If I understand what Brad has said, soil/earth/land in ancient China was indeed considered as being space: “As the ocean did not play an important part in the lives of the ancient Chinese, those aspects of life which in the West accrued oceanic and aquatic symbols were represented in China by symbols of the Earth: these include unity, fecundity, understanding, tolerance, embrace, plenum, capacity and the mystic's truth.”

Most fascinating to me is his term, “mystic truth” used as an earth value. Whereas “mystic” today is generally thought of as star travelers, sky pilots and space cadets, here it isn’t heaven which brings about mystic truth, it is earth. That makes me jump up and run a round inside, maybe beat a pot!

Also interesting is the word “unity” for earth. Conquest, war and territory are conditions brought on by looking up: Father/Heaven worship. That is what dominating religions of the world do, they look up for mystical inspiration and power. All the while, the Great Mother performs miracles, nonstop, beneath their feet. Jesus didn’t turn water into air, he turned it into wine, and that into blood. But then Jesus was a Daoist anyway.

[heylise]

The right part of the character has more meanings that just 'stretch out'.
hex-02.gif
SHEN1: stretch-out, spirit, ghost, explain, to state, express, power of expression, lightning. In it’s oldest version it is written more or less like a double spiral: a picture of lightning.

See http://www.anton-heyboer.org/i_ching/hex_1-16/01-02.htm

LiSe

[rosada]

We have been able to grow some vegetables here. I've noticed when I've eaten these foods I seem to get clear intuitions, as if the earth's wisdom is passed on through eating the plants. Plants that are sold at stores don't seem to effect me this way. Perhaps because they are grown far away, the information they carry isn't pertinent in this location, and thus not recognized..

Originally Posted by rosada

We have been able to grow some vegetables here. I've noticed when I've eaten these foods I seem to get clear intuitions, as if the earth's wisdom is passed on through eating the plants. Plants that are sold at stores don't seem to effect me this way. Perhaps because they are grown far away, the information they carry isn't pertinent in this location, and thus not recognized..

Rosada,

Wow, thanks for giving me this flashback.

One Mother’s Day, my dad drove us to a nice restaurant up in NJ, or maybe it was NY state. Anyway, it was up in onion farm country, where the earth was rich and almost black in color. My Italian grandma was with us that day (of course!), and on the way home she told my dad to pull off the road and go pull up some arugula, which she saw growing along the fertile roadside. Looking out the back window, my dominant dad in an Italian suit and shined shoes, walking through the soft dirt, pulling arugula out by the roots, all to satisfy his mother. I remember the drive home, the earthy and sweet smell. It all felt right.

[hmesker]

To confuse things a little bit more I would like to add a little info about hexagram 2 and its MWD character:

Do not click here.

Harmen.

[hmesker]

I accindentally deleted the latest entry in my weblog about the Xiping Stone Classics. I think it's gone forever. Too bad.