The character yue, a ‘summer offering’, is one of those interesting ones that appears three times in the Yi: ‘Being drawn. Good fortune, no mistake.With truth and confidence, it is fruitful to make the summer offering.’ Hexagram 45, line 2 ‘With truth and confidence, it is fruitful to make the… Read more »A small offering
Here’s another period of time mentioned three times in the Yijing: ‘Corruption. Creating success from the source.Fruitful to cross the great river.Before the seed day, three days. After the seed day, three days.’ ‘Brightness hidden, flying away,His wings hanging down.The noble one is on the move,For three days, eats nothing,Has… Read more »Three days
A Change Circle member recently mentioned getting a whole series of readings with 15 as relating hexagram, so I thought I’d dig in and explore how it works there, as the background to a reading… Integrity, humility… The name of Hexagram 15, qian 謙, means humility – or perhaps integrity,… Read more »Hexagram 15 as relating hexagram
Why ten years? Years, in the Yijing, usually come in threes. I’ve counted seven mentions of ‘three years’, most of them indicating a long period when something doesn’t happen: 13.3 three years without rising up 29.6 three years without gain 47.1 and 55.6, three years without meeting anyone 53.5 three… Read more »Ten years
People often ask about the significance of the specific periods of time mentioned in the Yijing. Does this literally mean seven days, or ten years? Very occasionally, it can – but normally, these periods have symbolic value. It’s interesting to see that ‘seven days’ get three mentions in the Yijing:… Read more »Seven days
Measuring Hexagram 60 is called Measuring, or Limits – not in the sense of imposing restrictions, but of knowing where the edges are, and discovering or negotiating what’s workable. The original concept is the knots and segments of bamboo, and hence all ways of dividing up something big into smaller… Read more »Hexagram 60 as relating hexagram
I’m repeating myself here, but never mind – it bears repeating. The Yi is wonderfully made, with mind-boggling depth. One of the ways this manifests is in the relationships between changing lines and their zhi gua, the hexagram that follows from the change. For example, 49.3 changes to Hexagram 17,… Read more »Revolution without entanglement
