Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).
When it is time for someone to step aside, to become the advisor, not the mover and shaker, but they continue to push, that is 1:6. Life is generational. If older people beyond the time to retire to a secondary role they are off balance. Their mindset and energy levels are perfect as advisers and sources of wisdom based on experience. But if they jealously hold on to their place, not allowing younger people to move up into positions of authority, their management becomes onerous, their wisdom turns to folly.
This is one example of how I would interpret 1:6.
At 1-6 it says “亢龍有悔”. Kang 亢 is often translated as ‘pride, arrogance’, but this is just one of the many meanings. If we look at some other meanings of this character we can adjust our translation a bit:
– 高 – high
– 舉- rise, go up
– 極,太過 – too (much)
– 強硬; 剛強 – strong, inflexible
– 遮蔽; 庇護- out of sight, hide
If we combine this with our dragon from 1-6 we get the picture of a dragon who without stopping goes up and up, and disappears out of sight (it is nice how sometimes all these meanings can be combined) . This is not an arrogant dragon,but a reckless dragon: a Chinese Icarus who overestimates his own powers and thereby will have hui 悔. Hui 悔 can mean
– 悔恨; 后悔 – regret, repentance
– 悔過; 改過 – correct your mistakes out of repentance
– 災咎; 災禍 – unavoidable misfortune
– 《易》卦有六爻,其上體即上三爻稱 “悔”,又稱外卦 – upper/outside trigram of a hexagram
If we stick to the image of Icarus, then I think the third meaning fits best. If you do not know your limits, or do not accept them, you will have unavoidable misfortune. Not from arrogance, but from recklessness. It are often the kind people, and not the arrogant people, who have to learn their lessons like this.
(http://www.yjcn.nl/wp/the-chinese-icarus/)
have been thinking about 1.6 and the arrogant dragon. Sometimes feels a bit misleading as its an strong word and, maybe, prevents us to see other nuances. Its not clear to me what word fits better, but opinionated seems as a good candidate. Of course its about context, yet I try to find a more, " helpful" word(s).
being opinionated, sometimes has nothing to do with other people, but with us and how some convictions do not serve us well. Could be from simple things, such us, that course of action won't work ...or more serious one.
1.6 > 43.... voicing our opinion, pov etc ( among other things) and fan yao 43.6 point to the perils of a stand " I know better" and not consider other's opinions or be aware of things we are not receptive.
The question is, how you "translate" the arrogance of 1.6 and , those can read Chinese, what alternative interpretations are there. Posting the character would be welcome .
Hi, Maria:...
The question is, how you "translate" the arrogance of 1.6 and , those can read Chinese, what alternative interpretations are there. Posting the character would be welcome .
The Key and the Flow
The Xici zhuan or "Appended Statements Commentary" (also known as the Great Commentary) portrays the Yijingas a microcosm of the phenomenal world. It further portrays the Yijing's first two hexagrams-Qian and Kun-when taken together, as a microcosm of the Yijing itself, with Qian representing the hard, male, heavenly principle and Kun representing the soft, female, earthly principle. Familiar as these representations have become within Chinese culture, there is nothing in these names of the hexagrams that would suggest such great importance. However, the recent publication of the Mawangdui manuscript version of the Xici zhuan, which dating to about 175 B.C. is far and away the earliest direct evidence of the text, indicates that the original names of the hexagrams may have been Jian, "The Key," and Chuan, "The Flow," and that the names refer, perhaps primarily, to the male and female genitalia...
In this paper, I will discuss these descriptions and how their corporal origins, which, after all, come in the course of praising the procreative functions of the Way, have been obscured by the metaphysics of the received text.
Edward L. Shaughnessy, University of Chicago
Source: https://www.asian-studies.org/absts/1996abst/china/c7.htm
Firstly, I translate Chinese loong as "loong" instead of "dragon", because they are totally different animals.
Hi, Maria:
Not an alternative but an additional interpretation: H.1 is about MALE ENERGY that at the end decays. If we pretend to endure too much we will regret it.
is it possible to explain it a bit ?
thank you
Its not tooo far fetched to see astronomical observations reflected in the text. King Wen had his Ling Tai 靈臺 Marvellous Tower and the night sky was the television of the day.
Loong is a mystical animal in Chinese folk legend, it could swim in the water and fly in the sky. In hexagram 1, loong stands for acting according to changing circumstances. When it should stay underground, it will stay underground; when it should appear on the ground, it will appear on the ground; when it should fly in the sky, it will fly in the sky...I Ching tells you that you should change with each shift in the situation. That's why there is a special code at the end of this hexagram:"There are a host of loongs, no one of them always be a leader."
Hi, Maria:Thanks Charly,
a question: do you think that its the energy that decays or its an excessive drive to 'procreate' but channeled in not that appropriate way and appears as decay. IOW the drive overdrives ?
The book Er Ya Yi: The dragon is the leading figure among the scales. . . . The head is like that of a camel, the horns like that of a deer. The eyes look like those of a rabbit. The ears look like those of an ox. The neck looks like that of a snake. The scales look like those of a golden carp. Its claws look like those of an eagle. Is paws look like those of a tiger. There are 81 scales on its back. This is a Yang number of nine by nine. . . . Under its lower jaw there is a pearl.
Source: http://www.china.org.cn/english/2006/Sep/180652.htm
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).