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confucius
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Etymology of the ideogram Gu.18
Two superimposed groups are necessary to illustrate Gu.18. At the bottom is the general symbol for vases and, above it, repeated three times, the general term used to designate all sorts of crawling bugs: worms, scorpions, spiders and all other venomous insects used for witchcraft artists to produce elixirs, poisons, love potions or youth philters according to the desired outcome. The ideogram Gu.18 is issued from that description. Its foremost idea, poison, venom, is still current, more likely because of a famous recipe: you take five venomous species, put them in a single vase and wait until they are done killing each other; the venom of the survivor is said to be without a cure.
On the other hand, the ideogram illustrating Gu.18 does not contain five but three insects; in China three being the accepted symbol for many. Three is here used to denote a swarm of insects like the ones found spoiling the grain. From there has developed the symbolism of disease, infection, corruption. The ideogram Gu.18 also invites the idea of bringing a cure to this spoiling process, reinforced by its similarity with the character bitter, the traditional taste of Chinese medicine. Further development on this character bitter is found in the judgment of Jie.60.
There is also a social application for Gu.18; it means disorder.
This analogy has influenced commentators over time to understand the image of this hexagram as representing the three years of mourning that a son had for his departed father. When the mourning was over, he took the rusted tools of his father and rendered them usable once more.
This is the constructive image used to illustrate the idea of something corrupted rectified by the active intervention of a corrective measure.
Confucius
Two superimposed groups are necessary to illustrate Gu.18. At the bottom is the general symbol for vases and, above it, repeated three times, the general term used to designate all sorts of crawling bugs: worms, scorpions, spiders and all other venomous insects used for witchcraft artists to produce elixirs, poisons, love potions or youth philters according to the desired outcome. The ideogram Gu.18 is issued from that description. Its foremost idea, poison, venom, is still current, more likely because of a famous recipe: you take five venomous species, put them in a single vase and wait until they are done killing each other; the venom of the survivor is said to be without a cure.
On the other hand, the ideogram illustrating Gu.18 does not contain five but three insects; in China three being the accepted symbol for many. Three is here used to denote a swarm of insects like the ones found spoiling the grain. From there has developed the symbolism of disease, infection, corruption. The ideogram Gu.18 also invites the idea of bringing a cure to this spoiling process, reinforced by its similarity with the character bitter, the traditional taste of Chinese medicine. Further development on this character bitter is found in the judgment of Jie.60.
There is also a social application for Gu.18; it means disorder.
This analogy has influenced commentators over time to understand the image of this hexagram as representing the three years of mourning that a son had for his departed father. When the mourning was over, he took the rusted tools of his father and rendered them usable once more.
This is the constructive image used to illustrate the idea of something corrupted rectified by the active intervention of a corrective measure.
Confucius