WikiWing says:
‘Meeting your equal and lord,
Though for ten days, no mistake.
Going on brings honour.’

It is said that both people who meet are strong. Therefore, under ordinary circumstances one would not follow the other. But since they hold a purpose in common, they cooperate for a 'complete cycle of time,' whatever that happens to be in their case. Some translations say that if they continue together for more than 10 years, 'disaster' will result.

I have been getting line 55.1 a lot recently in regard to my marriage, which was formed well over 10 years ago. Maybe we're not aiming at the same goals anymore.

But not all translations stress the '10 days' aspect. For example, the Thomas McCleary translation reads: 'Meeting the partner, though the master is equal, there is no blame. There is worth in going.' He speaks of clarity (the lower trigram) assisting action (the upper trigram). This is because 'action without clarity has no aim, while clarity without action has no use. Through their mutual sustenance they become useful.' How true! These two lines are interdependent.

So I decided to asked the I Ching directly about this: Are you saying that because of 55.1, both strong, I have to go live someplace else? That is, one of us has to leave -- and in our case, that would be me, since my husband says he doesn't want to move.

I received H19.5, Dening says: Make sure you're fully informed about the situation. Choose competent helpers. McCleary says this line represents a person who does not trust his own knowledge and therefore 'delegates authority to the intelligent.' It bodes well to do so.

Therefore, people of Online Clarity, I'm asking you if you've had your own experiences with this line 55.1? What happened after the initial purpose of the relationship wore off? Was the relationship able to renew itself? Obviously I'm not going to leave my husband because a line says ten hours, ten days or ten years. I'd really like to hear from anybody who knows about this line.

My experience wth 55 in emotional issues most of the time implies the conflict between the relation and the self development. And one need to choose: the relation OR self development. You cann't have both at the same time.

Not an easy choice.

Best wishes

Hi Ginnie

55.1 coming up frequently is obviously making some wider comment on your relationship with your husband within the marriage.
The first line can be the the place where you are coming from, and this could be saying that you are not seeing things as clearly as you might at the moment, and your strength should you chose to use it to see deep into the matter and this will bring you a picture that will make everything correct for you.

As for the 10 days I've always seen this as a cycle of when you get your act together and realise a period during which all things become equal. Mind and intuition meld.
The fan yao 62.1 " The bird that flies thereby brings misfortune" - don't try to run before you can walk - take time to see all the smallness
The opposite 56.6 talks of the bird burning its nest and not quite expecting the unexpected.Clarity of mind - "when the going gets tough the tough get's going" and by that I'm not advocating a moving out

Relationships are never easy things to call on and only you can make the final call here as to what you make of it all. For me there is a flavour of working though what you have right now.It may even be that the most self development will come from seeing yourself through these tough times. I'm not sure I agree with jesed that this is an either or call. Staying may even be a greater self development than going.

After all 19.5 can also be seen as keeping balanced and correctly centred so that you can see things for what they truely are. It's not letting your mind play tricks with you when there are no tricks being played.

Take what you will and ignore the rest.

Be Well

Mike

Ginnie my experience with 55.1 is that the relationship has a time limit. You stay together to do what you have to do then split. Its good while it lasts but you can't extend it and you usually learn alot from it..its a very genuine bond i think., but it does have a natural end

Hmm re a marriage it would seem a rather unsettling line depending on how you feel about the natural time with your husband having a limit...but then all relationships end sometime, maybe its a simple reminder that what feels permanent isn't...being aware of that, that you will seperate eventually through death anyway may alter perspective on the time you have together

trojan said:

Hmm re a marriage it would seem a rather unsettling line depending on how you feel about the natural time with your husband having a limit...

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I'm a very loyal person, despite some of my posts. I never thought my marriage might have a natural time limit, other than death. I mean, many people come and go, that's natural, but isn't marriage supposed to endure? That is, isn't a marriage by nature self-renewing?

We've been married for a long time, not at the stage of contemplating marriage. I think of my husband as my family. We are family to each other.

62 (55.1 change) covers issues of loyalty at a collective level where something (a tradition etc) is past its best-before/use-bay date and is in need of refurbishment - the whole focus of 62 in the use of exaggeration, over-acting etc, to bring out the value of that 'something'.

55.1 covers the beginning of 55 and as such the 'over-abundance/diversity' element starts with this focus on some form of exaggeration tied to a collective emphasis.

Thus the issues of collective loyalty cover attempts to 're-ignite' a relationship and so keep it going. The basic focus is on the shift to a focus on values (yin line 1) over facts (yang line 1) from one's personal perspective; the fact of the horse n buggy being out of date, past its time, but the value element of such a ride etc is still present and can be enhanced to maintain the ongoing use of horse n buggy.

jesed said:

My experience wth 55 in emotional issues most of the time implies the conflict between the relation and the self development. And one need to choose: the relation OR self development. You cann't have both at the same time.

Not an easy choice.

Best wishes

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Jesed,
May I ask, what you say is based on the story behind that hex , about Wu who instead of mourning he went to fight ?

elvis said:

the fact of the horse n buggy being out of date, past its time, but the value element of such a ride etc is still present and can be enhanced to maintain the ongoing use of horse n buggy.

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This is funny

I hear a lot of interesting echoes in there

Not for an abstract reason

Going back in my notes, I see that I'd asked this question on Feb. 13, 2009: "Many translations say about 55.1 that the meeting between the two princes of equal rank must not persist longer than 10 years or 10 days, a limited time. What can you tell me about this, I Ching?" I got 4.4 > 64.

Here's what the WikiWing says on 4.4:
‘Oppressed ignoramus.
Shame.’

‘Oppressed’, the name of Hexagram 47. The ignoramus trapped within walls, unable to reach out and connect. How is he to learn?

4 zhi Hexagram 64, Not Knowing, Not Yet Across. Maybe the ignoramus is motivated by the desire to stay safe on the river bank? So you both don’t know, and are reluctant to commit yourself until you know the conditions are right… and this is a sure way to stay put forever.

There are also implications that the ignoramus is stuck in foolishness and should be left to experience the consequences.

To be stuck is never pleasant and I have asked on various occasions why certain people were so unpleasant, maybe even hostile on occasion, as was the case with one of my clients recently . . . and I've gotten this line H4.4.

The rigidity represented by this line is so box-like and all-encompassing that such a person is truly overburdened, troubled, stifled and frustrated.

I think the earlier answer shows that it's perhaps not for an abstract reason that 10 years can form a cut-off date, but simply because people tend to put ourselves and each other into boxes from which we ourselves cannot escape.

Suddenly line 55.1 is beginning to make much more sense . . .

Another thought on this question

I am thinking that sometimes one's 'husband' and the 'line 55.1 person' can be the same individual, but that is usually because husband and wife cooperate for some specific reason, and I can think of at least one example of that from my own marriage. And then, as soon as that task is over, it isn't that the marriage dissolves, it is more that the project is over.

You know how in the wording of the text another person can be called young servant, concubine, ignoramus, hoodlum, unrepentant criminal, King, ruler, prince of equal rank, Yi lord -- and so forth.

And so, with the different words of the I Ching, different images come to mind, and our minds certainly like to put people into slots!!!

Sometimes the I Ching is just reflecting back to us our own attitude towards the other person or lack of acceptance of some things about the other person. There's that distortion, too.

Because if the other individual were to pick up the I Ching and ask a question, that other person is then addressed by the I Ching as if he were the Noble person -- or could be.

Hi Ginnie
Nice observations.
Putting other people into slots or allowing other people to put you into a slot can cause lots of trickery. Lables stick with superglue and can be there for years, in my experience.
That's where I think 55.1 shows the start of abundance as being about getting equality, giving it and receiving it and especially can include an element of "fake it till you make it".

Also accepting of the diversity of all people and things allows a greater perspective to be acquired whereby richness is seen in more things.55.1 can perhaps be seen as the starting blocks for the marathon.

Mike

my_key said:

That's where I think 55.1 shows the start of abundance as being about getting equality, giving it and receiving it and especially can include an element of "fake it till you make it".

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Thanks, Mike. Equality or impartiality is taking on new meaning for me. Isn't it true that even though we're all so different, on the deepest level nobody is higher or lower than anybody else . . . that's a spiritual perspective.

I mean, a lot of things can seem to be true about people, but when you look deeper at anybody, some things you may not have understood about them simply become clearer and clearer, until those aspects simply disappear before your very eyes. That's the power of understanding.