Make hay while the sun shines

Hexagram 35 is one of the sunniest in the Yijing:

'Advancing, Prince Kang used a gift of horses to breed a multitude.
In the course of a day, he mated them three times.'

Look, it says, you are recognised, you have wonderful gifts, and now you can make the most of them! Seize the day! Grasp your opportunity! This is your day in the sun - the trigram picture shows its light over the earth - so make as much hay as you can. Time to make progress!

It's like an earthier version of the Parable of the Talents: if you’re given five talents, make another five; even if you're only given one, don't just go and bury it. (That would be the action of the paired hexagram, 36, Brightness Hiding, where the light is hidden away under the earth. As relating hexagram, it can sometimes be like the paranoid servant with the single talent.)

When Advancing is the relating hexagram, it may not be objectively true that this is your day in the sun, but there is still an underlying attitude of sunny optimism, seeking out the opportunities in the situation to make the most of them. 'How can this be a way to make progress?'

And this attitude is one you can expect to see in moving lines that point towards Hexagram 35. I've mentioned this before when I wrote about Hexagram 40 changing to 35. When is Release at its most purposeful and goal-oriented? When it's the release of arrows, aimed at the foxes or the hawk.

Hexagram 40 blends quite naturally with 35's bright Advancing. In other readings, where the primary hexagram presents more obstacles or limiting factors, Hexagram 35 relating shows a willingness to look past them - an 'OK, so this is the situation, it is what it is, so now how can I make the most of it?' And this works better in some situations than others…

Line by line

Here are all the lines that - changing alone - connect with Hexagram 35.

21.1

'Shoes locked in the stocks, feet disappear.
Not a mistake.'

Opportunity??

But remember that Hexagram 21, Biting Through, begins by asserting that it is 'fruitful to make use of legal proceedings'. Punishment is meant to be enlightening - an opportunity to learn something. Hence being immobilised and disempowered for now is no mistake: you can still be making progress in understanding. You can see how the meanings of the two hexagrams meet here: Biting Through Advances towards truth, or at least towards a more realistic understanding of consequences. You get the opportunity to sit and think.

(In practice, this isn't necessarily a punitive, moral kind of learning; I've also seen it describe being stopped by a medical issue, needing the doctors to 'bite through' to diagnosis.)

64.2

'Your wheels dragged back.
Constancy, good fortune.'

Much as in 21.1, sometimes you make the most of things by not being in a great hurry to advance. If you apply the brakes and go slowly enough to retain control of your carriage's momentum, you'll have a much better chance of reaching the opposite bank without being swept downstream.

Hexagram 35 is present here as confidence. If I know I'm Advancing towards my chosen destination across the river (a land of opportunity, no doubt!), I won't let myself be rushed. Crossing my fingers, shutting my eyes tightly and hurtling in at top speed is not the same - and I have a few readings with this line where the advice was plainly, 'Hold your horses - there's more to learn yet.'

There's an interesting example of this reading in this post from 2006. How can a science graduate link to the I Ching? To start with, by realising that he is not across the river after all, or not quite all the rivers, and with that 35 mindset of looking for the opportunity in this tempered by the caution of a fox. The opportunities for progress in being Not Yet Across involve taking things slowly.

56.3

'Traveller burns down his resting place
Loses his young helper.
Constancy: danger.'

The gung-ho approach of 35 makes for an interesting combination with the traveller's insecurity. I imagine the traveller in his resting place, deciding that if a small hearth fire is good a big one must be better, and managing to set fire to the chimney. And I've seen a good few readings with this line where over-enthusiasm endangers a relationship.

Still… this does only say 'constancy, danger' and not 'pitfall, calamity and blunder'. LiSe sees it completely differently:

"When a dangerous task has to be accomplished, it is better to burn one’s ships. Fear is strong, but without a refuge it is easier to cope with. When troops start marching to the war, they remove their camp, so the decision is definite."

This is another side of the Advancing attitude: the only way is forward, more and better; falling back is not an option. If you are serious about starting a business, quit your day job - take away your security net. (Note: this is generally terrible advice.) Constancy means danger: this is not a way of life, but it could be a way to get yourself moving.

23.4

'Stripping the bed by way of the flesh.
Pitfall.'

This one is unambiguous: in a time of Stripping Away, 'let's make the most of this!' is just not a good approach. If some Stripping Away is needed, more is not better. Peeling away what is dead and defunct is good; peeling away the living flesh is not.

Looking through readings with this line, I found an interesting pattern: people who have suffered a loss and are doing their utmost to dig in and explore what happened, sometimes many years later. They seem to feel that their experience has to mean something - there has to be a big cosmic reason why the relationship failed, or an international conspiracy that caused the pandemic. It's Hexagram 35 at work again: looking for a way to turn this loss into progress, to 'make the most of it' somehow. This time, it's purely self-destructive.

12.5

'Resting when blocked.
Great person, good fortune.
It is lost, it is lost!
Tie it to the bushy mulberry tree.'

Hexagram 12 tells you there is nothing useful you can do. More effort is not going to help. 'Very well,' says Hexagram 35. 'Effort won't work, so now what? Where is the opportunity now? Where's the progress?'

To start with, it finds an opportunity to rest. This isn't just a reaction - it's good fortune for the great person, who can see that things may change. And - because it confidently expects to find something growing - it binds its hopes to the mulberry, that will regrow by itself however savagely it was cut back.

Blocked Advancing isn't so much about seeing what you can do: very often, it starts by recognising that what you were trying to do isn't happening, is past saving, not going to work. So… find your mulberry! What grows anyway, of itself, despite everything?

16.6

'Enthusiasm in the dark.
Results bring a change of heart,
No mistake.'

Enthusiasm is all about mental pictures, imagining and anticipating. By the time it reaches line 6, it's becoming apparent that motivation and imagination can only get you so far: you're still in the dark, and will be until you can see some real-world results.

This line often comes up for people whose imaginings are taking over, despite being wholly groundless. (That goes equally for over-optimism and -pessimism.) I've also had it a couple of times when asking about changing to a new software solution, a time when there's really no substitute for practical experience.

How to Advance from here? Like 21.1, it's a 'learning opportunity': best to forge ahead and benefit from trial and error.

Example readings

Just a couple of bonus examples…

I found my publisher had used my translation in an 'I Ching divination kit'. It's nightmarishly bad - consulting with a card deck, no changing line texts to be seen anywhere, so that it's actually impossible to consult the Yi with this thing at all.

They have the rights to use the translation as long as they keep it in print, so there was no way I could stop them from producing this horror. And any royalties from sales would be credited to me.

Ugh.

I knew what I wanted to do about this, but I checked with Yi anyway: what would be the right thing to do about royalties for the divination kit? 25.1.5 to 35. I told them I didn't want any.

You can see the 35 here: I was looking for 35, for something positive I could do about this, given all I couldn't do, and I found a way to make Disentangling feel like a kind of progress.

My second example comes from this I Ching Community reading, about Boris Johnson as Prime Minister: 21.1 changing to 35. As I write this, he's trying to slip out of the stocks again - perhaps things could have ended differently for him with a bit more Hexagram 21? But for a perfect embodiment of the 35-as-relating attitude (though not for much else), I can recommend his first speech as Prime Minister, delivered under the blazing sun on one of the hottest days of summer, all aglow with optimism and fiery with impatience to seize the 'opportunities of Brexit'.

I Ching Community discussion

Here's a new episode of the I Ching with Clarity podcast for you, with a listener's reading about a relationship problem that a lot of people will be able to relate to.

Danielle's reading was Hexagram 41, Decreasing, changing to 42, Increasing:

Seven minutes or so into the episode, I pause to talk about change patterns - which in this reading are hexagrams 29 and 30 -

You can read a quick introduction to change patterns here, and there's also a full course about them in the Change Circle Library. (If you're not yet a member, you are very welcome to join here.)

I also talk about the Chinese names of Decreasing and Increasing, sun and yi, which both depict vessels in their oldest forms. Here they are - the vessel to pour out, and the one full to overflowing.

And finally, you're very welcome to share a reading of your own on the podcast: here's how.

As you might know, I'm very keen on keeping things as simple as possible - not least the questions we ask the Yijing. But this can cause some bafflement when I advise against asking questions that are looking for a 'yes' or a 'no' answer. What could be simpler than 'yes' or 'no'? If you want to know whether to do something, isn't it simplest to ask the first question that comes to mind: 'Should I do this?'

It seems as if it ought to be, but it really isn't - probably because an oracle doesn't answer questions like a human being.

Humans vs oracles…

If I want your advice on whether to do the thing, I'll certainly ask you,
'Should I do it?'

You might answer,
'Yes, because if you do, it will probably work out like this…'
or,
'No, because if you do, it'll probably work out like this…'
or even,
'No, and here's what I think you should do instead…'.

In any case, I'll understand what you mean because you started your reply with 'yes' or 'no', and then you explained what scenario you were about to describe. That is, you'd tell me if you were about to paint me a picture of how it would work out if I did the thing, or a picture of what I should do instead. And then you would get into the details and show me the future scenario you want me to imagine - where I'd end up if I follow the path I have in mind.

So there would be three steps to your reply:

1) 'Yes' or 'no'
2) Telling me what you are about to describe for me.
3) Describing it for me. 

Here's where Yi is different: it doesn't normally do steps 1 or 2.

Instead, it goes directly to step 3: it paints you a complete and vivid picture. Since we need to know what its painting depicts, step 2 belongs in the human half of the conversation - in your question. If you ask, 'If I do this, what can I expect?' Yi can paint you a picture of that. If you ask it 'What should I do?' it can paint a picture of you, taking the best course. In each case, you asked for a description - exactly what Yi's good at - and you know where you are with the answer.

But if you ask, 'Should I do this?' then the first thing you have to do with the answer is guess what it might be describing. Is this a picture of you doing the thing? Is it a picture of what you should do instead? You can't even start to understand the answer until you've guessed, and you will always be wondering whether maybe you guessed wrong and it might all make more sense if you read it another way. The question may have been simple, but it can make the business of interpretation disconcertingly complicated.

'But it works for me!'

Some people ask yes/no questions and find they get clear responses with no problem. If you're one of those, and are wondering what I'm on about and why I'm complicating something completely straightforward… then good for you, and obviously don't change anything. What you're probably doing without realising it is reading the oracle's response as an answer to your implied question. Often people will move seamlessly from asking, 'Should I do x?' to reading an answer to 'What if I do x?' - and why not?

Also, you might find it easy to guess which scenario the answer's describing. Suppose I ask,

'Should I get stuck in and do this work?'

and receive Hexagram 8, Seeking Union, without changing lines. If the work is something I hate doing, something I'd have to discipline myself into, then I might take that as a 'No - do something that brings you delight instead.' That works because I can recognise the work I'm contemplating as something like Hexagram 7, the Army, and can't believe there's any way doing it could be like the natural flow of Hexagram 8.

Hm… unless… this were saying that I need to change my mindset about the work, choose it wholeheartedly and get on with it, since 'for the latecomer, pitfall'… . Even with a single hexagram and an imaginary reading, I'm already second-guessing myself.

But if I'd asked 'What if I do it?' or 'What should I do about it?' and received 8 unchanging, I'd know it was calling for that change of mindset. If I'd asked 'What if I don't?' then with the same answer I would know not to attempt it, but to look for something that comes more naturally. Simple - no second-guessing required.

If in doubt…

If you're just getting started with readings, do keep your questions simple! In practice, that means knowing what you're asking the oracle to describe for you. What do you need to see? You can always imagine your question starts with 'Please paint me a picture of…' or 'Please tell me the story of…'.

I Ching Community discussion

At the very end of Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, in its final line, 'results bring a change of heart':

'Enthusiasm in the dark.
Results bring a change of heart,
No mistake.'

And then at the very beginning of Hexagram 17, Following, its first line begins with an official's change of heart:

'An official has a change of heart.
Constancy, good fortune.
Going out of the gates, joining with others, there is achievement.'

The word I've translated as 'change of heart' in both lines is yu 渝. What I didn’t manage to show is that it's used in parallel constructions, too:

16.6 成有渝 - results have/bring change-of-heart
17.1 官有渝 - official has/brings change-of-heart

Its dictionary definition is a change of mind or attitude, a volte-face, violating an oath or denouncing a treaty - so it sounds like quite a dramatic shift, not just the 'on second thoughts I'll have another chocolate biscuit' sort of change. The ancient character shows water and a small boat in the current.

The word occurs just one other time in the Yijing, in 6.4:

'Cannot master this argument,
Returning and taking up the mandate.
With a change of heart, peaceful constancy is good fortune.'

There, it sounds like a matter of reconciliation: losing the argument with reality, and turning away from conflict towards peace and tranquility. But I'd like to concentrate for now on 16.6 and 17.1, because of their parallelism and the way they're part of Yi's story-telling between hexagrams.

The two lines

16.6

'Enthusiasm in the dark.
Results bring a change of heart,
No mistake.'

The word 冥 ming, 'dark', means both shadowy and mysterious (and the realm of the dead) and also dull and stupid. I opted for 'in the dark' to cover both possibilities: maybe my surroundings are dim, or maybe it's just that I am.

This is one of Yi's very short stories. Enthusiasm means anticipation, being motivated by what we imagine. By line 6, that's got us as far as it can - or maybe slightly further - and now our inner world is going to be reshaped by real-world results. (That is, this is one of those 6th lines that's leaving the realm of its hexagram behind.) The results are cheng 成 - a word that normally means an achievement, something successfully built, like a rammed-earth wall.

This line changes to Hexagram 35, Advancing. Enthusiasm seeks progress, wants to grasp all its opportunities - and this desire will both lead it into the dark, and also towards action in the real world, as it seeks tangible achievement. (Whether or not what results looks like achievement to us, it's still 'no mistake', perhaps because it can only be a good thing that we're rejoining the world beyond our imaginings.)

17.1

'An official has a change of heart.
Constancy, good fortune.
Going out of the gates, joining with others, there is achievement.'

Another very short story. This time an 'official' has the change of heart. The word means a government functionary, and also a government position. Apparently the ancient character actually shows buttocks under a roof, so perhaps we should call it the 'seat of power'…

Anyway, the official is very secure within his place, so to go out of the gates certainly calls for a change of heart. It's interesting that this is good fortune in constancy: it must mean being loyal to the change of heart, holding to the new insight and following it where it leads, all the way out of the gates.

This line changes to Hexagram 45, Gathering - it's drawn onward and outward by this desire to join with other people and be part of something bigger.

The lines together - inside and out

Trigrams!

The step from Hexagram 16 to 17 is one of the Sequence's interesting trigram moments: the thunder trigram that was on the outside in Enthusiasm - its songs bellowed lustily over the spring fields! - is taken inside in Following, becoming an inner motivation:

And both 16.6 and 17.1 are part of that trigram zhen, thunder, at its end and its beginning.

In 16.6 we might imagine the effects of the impulse are petering out, the echoes of song are dying away, and possibly we're left wondering what we got ourselves into. (Never mind - you'll find out!)

But 17.1 is the first line of zhen - the initial 'B-' of BANG! This is where the action starts. And - unusually - I think you can see a pretty clear reference to the trigram in the text: 'going out' is an action of thunder, and 'going out to join with others' sounds very much like thunder moving towards lake (the outer trigram). (You could even say that 'the gates' are represented by the nuclear trigram gen mountain, formed by lines 2, 3 and 4.)

The Sequence

The Xugua - the Wing that describes the Sequence of Hexagrams - says

'Enthusiasm naturally means Following.'

As so often, this isn't vastly helpful except as a starting point. Why might enthusiasm mean following?

As best I can see, this is part of the journey of thunder from outside to inside. Enthusiasm sings out its joy and anticipation into the world. Following senses that same impetus, but inside. I've often seen Hexagram 17 describing synchronicities and guidance: the real world infused with meaning, giving you your cues to Follow.

The play of inner and outer, following the movement of the trigram thunder, continues in 16.6 and 17.1. When 'results bring a change of heart', that's internalisation: tangible results 'out there' leading to an inner change. When 'an official has a change of heart', that's a move outward, from the abstract realm of rules towards intercourse with fellow humans - following what's real outside the gates.

I Ching Community discussion

A couple of things I've noticed at the I Ching Community…

• how much good, natural, intuitive interpretation goes on there, and also
• how if people get stuck, it's often because they haven't looked at the whole reading.

There's a natural tendency to jump straight to the moving lines. We know those are the most direct answer to the question, and that their meaning takes precedence over the hexagram as a whole. For instance, if you receive Hexagram 54 ('to set out to bring order is disastrous') but with line 1 changing ('lame, can still walk; to set out to bring order is good fortune') then you know that it's good to hobble on and do your best to sort things out.

However, it really does make your life easier if you start at the very beginning of the reading, and ask why this hexagram? You need to start by recognising how the hexagram is addressing your question and situation, and then the line(s) will make sense.

Another way of saying this - you need to know where you are first. The other day, I was chatting with someone while we waited for a train, and mentioned needing to find the bus station. Ah, he said, that's not far, it's just round the corner from the John Lewis store. You go along the street from there and turn left and… and so on. Presently he noticed that I looked quite blank, and I explained that I didn’t know where John Lewis was.

Reading the lines without knowing what the hexagram's about is quite a lot like this. His directions told me precisely what I needed to know; he was talking very directly about exactly what I'd asked, but this didn't make me any less lost.

So… start with the hexagram, and locate it in relation to your question. If the primary hexagram is 48, what Well? (Perhaps you were just asking about a close friendship that needs care.) If it's 10, what tiger are you getting close to? (Someone fierce? Your own untamed emotions?) If it's 59, what's Dispersing? (A relationship? A belief?)

This is often quite weirdly obvious, leaping to the eye as soon as you look - and then it suddenly becomes clear how the lines apply and are answering your question. You only need to know where you are.

A final note: this is not a rule: there's no stone tablet engraved with 'Thou Shalt Look at the Hexagram First.' If something in the reading calls out to you, trust your response. If you received, say, 26 line 1 -

‘There is danger.
Fruitful to stop it.’

then it makes sense to stop first, and work out exactly what is being Greatly Tamed afterwards. But if you're flummoxed, you need to absorb the whole reading, everything the oracle said to you, and not just zoom in on a few words.

I Ching Community discussion

In this podcast episode, Elisabeth asks Yi,

'What approach or attitude should I adopt to have the best chance of serving other people through my writing?'

Yi answers with Hexagram 61, Inner Truth, changing at lines 1, 4 and 6 to Hexagram 47, Confining - very apt hexagrams, as the writing project she's asking about is her memoir...

If you'd like to talk through your reading with me on the podcast - it's free, as a thank-you for letting me use the recording - you can book your slot here.