#35 and shooting arrows

[pedro]

Ive been getting 35 a couple of times lately, and yesterday I got it (stable) when asking about some way to fulfill my most wanted goal: to become a "center of fellowship", like in 8:5 ("If a man cultivates within himself the purity and the strength that are necessary for one who's the centre of a fellowship, those who are meant for him come of their own accord.")

Now, Ive always taken #35 to mean some sort of purification, raising above our weaknesses, letting our true self shine in its purity. From Wilhelm's image:

"The real nature of man is likewise originally good, but it becomes clouded by contact with earthly things and therefore needs purification before it can shine forth in its native clarity."

But this time as I started meditating in more depth about it, and thinking about the pictogram as LiSe shows it,

another meaning has popped into my mind. Could it be that the circle below the arrows isnt a quiver, but instead a target? Then the little dot in the middle would be the center and it could mean shooting arrows at the bullseye (I think thats the term).

Thinking how the Yi is based on wars and warriors mostly, this made even more sense. For the image text:

"Thus the superior man himself
Brightens his bright virtue."

In my translation this sounds more like "the superior man brightens his evident qualities". So what better way to evidence your (warrior) qualities than shooting straight arrows at the bullseye?

Anyone else find this meaning plausible? (what do you think LiSe?)

 

[martin]

For a long time, hex 35 was something of a mystery to me. The sun rises above the earth?
That's nice, but whenever I got this hexagram not much seemed to happen. If there was any development at all it usually was very very very slow ...
Later I realized that the difference between the upper and the lower trigram is that the upper trigram is focused (energy goes inward from the two yang lines to the yin line in the center) while the lower trigram is not.
From then on I've read the hexagram as: focusing, concentration of attention, intent, energy, etcetera.
This is not very far from your idea of the bullseye. To hit the bullseye you have to concentrate, focus. One of the messages of the hexagram is, I think: if you keep your goal in mind you will probably be able to reach it.
In the long run ...

Martin

 

[pedro]

Yes, aiming correctly is what shooting is all about. Then you can just let go of the arrow, and it will fly to the target.
I agree with your meanings of "focusing, concentration of attention, intent, energy", but to sum it up in one sentence I would go for "letting your light shine". If you just let your light shine it will raise naturally above the soil and I think this hexagram talks more about intention than really effort (indeed it is said that we dont need an act of will, as in 46). We already have the qualities, we just have to let them become evident, and that should be effortless, like less dense materials coming to the surface by the laws of physics.

Now, thinking in Karcher's terms, how do you people pair this hexagram with 36? I can come up with arguments, but none that satisfies me... Maybe after we shine, when we have those evident qualities deep inside us, we dont need to show them off? "who knows doesnt speak, and who speaks doesnt know"?

 

[martin]

Yes, we already have the qualities, no effort needed, I like that very much.
Come to think of it, the sun doesn't need to do anything to rise. It's the earth that turns!

About 36, I never liked the phrase "darkening of the light". To me 36 means "inner light".
Of course if somebody is not used to living inwardly or is forced to live an inward life (like king Wan in prison) it may feel like a "darkening" at first.
Other, related, meanings of 36 are: looking inside, looking beneath the surface, to discover hidden factors and meanings, doing research, inner vision, clairvoyance, etcetera.

Martin

 

[pedro]

Still on 35, and seeing the lower characte as the sun, maybe it means shooting arrows at the sun (now, where have I read this? Im sure I heard it before)

Re: 36 I like your idea of inner light, but in the sense of inner qualities. If one has the necessary qualities, they will show, without any effort or intention of putting them in display.
This same idea is apparent in other hexagrams. For instance in 15:2, a man's modesty shows in his behaviour. If the light is inside, no need to show it off, as it will shine through