Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).
41,1 Decrease
This has probably been posted before but I thought it might be worth looking at again.
First, a general point on the image. The Wilhelm/Baynes Image reads as follows:
At the foot of the mountain, the lake:
The image of DECREASE.
Thus the superior man controls his anger
And restrains his instincts.
Many people view the reduction in depth of the lake in favour of the height of the mountain (described in the Miscellaneous Notes) as the primary symbolism of the hexagram - an explicit, external process. However, from the Image text above you will see that the superior man is occupied in the CONTROL of his anger and the RESTRAINT of his instincts. These are INTERNAL processes and this is the level at which, I would suggest, the hexagram is primarily concerned, it is urging you to apply control and restraint (Ken) to the eruptive urges (Tui) of anger, greed, jealousy, impatience etc. etc. etc. This control and restraint produce the Cultivation of Character mentioned in the Appended Judgement. Explicit, external losses are, of course, important but they are not the only type of loss covered by this hexagram.
41,1
Going quickly when one's tasks are finished is without blame,
But one must reflect on how much one may decrease others.
The general interpretation is based on the relationship of correspondence between the strong 1st yang and the week fourth yin. The one above needs help from the one below and it is readily offered by the latter. This is all well and good but the problem remains that the actual line text gives no indication whatsoever towards this interpretation. A second alternative line text is offered by Wilhelm, based on earlier I Ching texts: "Going quickly with services, to help the one above - is without blame." I have found this alternative line text to be far more accurate and far more useful. If anyone else has a view on this line I would be very interested in hearing from them.
Just one further point to clarify:
Going quickly when one's tasks are finished
Is without blame.
But one must reflect on how much one may decrease others.
The text encourages one to go quickly and give help, but it then suggests that one considers how much one may DECREASE others. If this sentence is addressed to the subject of the first sentence -- Going quickly..... -- then it fails to make sense as that subject is looking to increase others, not decrease them. If it is referring to any loss suffered by others resulting from 'Going Quickly' it still doesn't make sense in that we are informed that the subject's tasks are finished. That only leaves the option that the text is now addressing a different subject, located in this final sentence. I have come across this strange grammatical quirk elsewhere but my question is this: would it not have been possible through a change in grammar for the ancient Chinese to have made it perfectly clear whom, exactly, they were addressing?
Thanks Gene: Yes I agree that flexible openness must be maintained in any interpretation of the I Ching. My intention was not to suggest any hard and fast rule regarding 41,1 it was simply to clarify an alternative approach which I have found to be very useful. It was given in a spirit of sharing as a clarification of form, an important step if the correct content is to be distinguished. To a young musician the difference between F sharp and B flat is a fundamental and preoccupying aspect of form, to the advanced musician both notes serve his principal focus — content. To the master musician the entire content transforms into his ultimate goal — formless essence.
Rosada, many thanks, I'll get back to you on this one.
There may be some insights to be gained by considering the previous line, 40.6 - 64.
40.6 Here the man releases the arrow and kills the hawk and saves the townspeople! Hurray! Problem solved! But... 64. is Before Completion. So everything's not quite completed yet? Maybe now the townspeople need further help in other areas? But Geeze, how much help do they need?
41.1 True it's nice to help but ya gotta think about how much help you can give before you start needing help yourself.
Thanks Gene, I think we're both on the same page with this one. Any further auxiliary information that we have available (correspondence, resultants, parallel nuclear progressions, etc) is there just as an overall guide and does not have to be hauled out in a definitive manner with every reading. Hex 41 provides us with a good example of using correspondence to help clarify one's position.
41,1 "Going quickly" indicates going willingly, going decisively, without hesitation. 41,4 "If a man decreases his faults" - decreasing one's doubts, hesitation, unwillingness. Both lines are simply different aspects of an underlying reluctance to give support.It doesn't matter which line one regards as more important, following either one with care will lead to the final goal.
Hi, Rosada:...
40.6 Here the man releases the arrow and kills the hawk and saves the townspeople! Hurray! Problem solved! ...
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).