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Etymology of the ideogram Li.30
The ideogram used to depict hexagram 30 is composed of two side-by-side groups. On the left is a complex ideogram whose bottom part represents a portion of the ideogram Yack (its back part, massive and powerful evoked its hind legs and its tail) and, above it, the ideogram for Bird, most likely resting on the back of the yack. On the right, the general ideogram for Birds, most especially those birds with short tails.
The association of a stout cattle and a bird ready to take off resumes the problem of this ideogram: to weigh down in order to avoid being attracted upwards. It also explains the contradiction found in Li.30, with its double meaning: To Leave – like the Bird, has become the dominant definition in China –and, To Adhere, like the Yack, the closer meaning to the strategy of this hexagram.
If the Bird has become the dominant symbolism of this hexagram it is because it leads upstream to a Net and downstream to the Light. During antiquity, the ideogram Li.30 was confounded with another character pronounced Luo. Luo was built from three groups: the Net, Silk, and the same character used for Birds here. Both these ideograms were confounded for each other until at least the Han period. This can be confirmed by the fact that on the Ma Wang Dui silk manuscript, it is the character Luo rather than Li representing hexagram thirty.
The premier definition for Luo is To Catch Birds With A Net, when used as a verb and The Net of A Bird Catcher, when used as a noun. This canonical definition is precisely the one applied in the context of the Yi Jing concerning Li.30, as can be found at the exiting of Xiao Guo.62. From this original sense, Luo has come to designate primarily all sorts of finely knitted material and, figuratively, all kinds of meticulous grids allowing to channel the energetic networks on Earth (Feng Shui). This explains how the geomantic compass helped diviners to configurate and diagnose ambient energy, which they called Luo Pan: the plateau of networks Luo.
From the Net which brings down the Birds the ideogram Li.30 has adopted the meaning of Attached-To, To Adhere, often encountered in the classic Book Of The Odes, where many bird hunting scenes are described.
The ancient Chinese appreciated hunting very much and eating birds was considered a delicacy, as can be witnessed in their bronze and terracotta sculptures. This representation was at its peak especially during the Han period, where the notion of its trigram was reinforced. During that period, the oil lamps were shaped like birds. The wick was wrapped around the legs and the neck of the bird figurine and hung down, finally, from the beak. For the wise man of old, it was used in their watching over and refining the text of the Zhou Yi, to have it become the Yi Jing. The blending of the image of the bird with that of the flame was an evidence of renewed light every night. By extension they would eventually associate the trigram Li with the Pheasant (a bird with a splendid plumage), which was written by combining the ideograms Arrow and Bird, and pronounced like the word Knowledge.
In the text of hexagram thirty, the transition from the canonical meaning to the broader definition is still perceptible. To maintain its effect, Li.30 has adopted Net when understood as it was anciently (its classic form) and by Light when applied in an abstract context.
Confucius
30
The ideogram used to depict hexagram 30 is composed of two side-by-side groups. On the left is a complex ideogram whose bottom part represents a portion of the ideogram Yack (its back part, massive and powerful evoked its hind legs and its tail) and, above it, the ideogram for Bird, most likely resting on the back of the yack. On the right, the general ideogram for Birds, most especially those birds with short tails.
The association of a stout cattle and a bird ready to take off resumes the problem of this ideogram: to weigh down in order to avoid being attracted upwards. It also explains the contradiction found in Li.30, with its double meaning: To Leave – like the Bird, has become the dominant definition in China –and, To Adhere, like the Yack, the closer meaning to the strategy of this hexagram.
If the Bird has become the dominant symbolism of this hexagram it is because it leads upstream to a Net and downstream to the Light. During antiquity, the ideogram Li.30 was confounded with another character pronounced Luo. Luo was built from three groups: the Net, Silk, and the same character used for Birds here. Both these ideograms were confounded for each other until at least the Han period. This can be confirmed by the fact that on the Ma Wang Dui silk manuscript, it is the character Luo rather than Li representing hexagram thirty.
The premier definition for Luo is To Catch Birds With A Net, when used as a verb and The Net of A Bird Catcher, when used as a noun. This canonical definition is precisely the one applied in the context of the Yi Jing concerning Li.30, as can be found at the exiting of Xiao Guo.62. From this original sense, Luo has come to designate primarily all sorts of finely knitted material and, figuratively, all kinds of meticulous grids allowing to channel the energetic networks on Earth (Feng Shui). This explains how the geomantic compass helped diviners to configurate and diagnose ambient energy, which they called Luo Pan: the plateau of networks Luo.
From the Net which brings down the Birds the ideogram Li.30 has adopted the meaning of Attached-To, To Adhere, often encountered in the classic Book Of The Odes, where many bird hunting scenes are described.
The ancient Chinese appreciated hunting very much and eating birds was considered a delicacy, as can be witnessed in their bronze and terracotta sculptures. This representation was at its peak especially during the Han period, where the notion of its trigram was reinforced. During that period, the oil lamps were shaped like birds. The wick was wrapped around the legs and the neck of the bird figurine and hung down, finally, from the beak. For the wise man of old, it was used in their watching over and refining the text of the Zhou Yi, to have it become the Yi Jing. The blending of the image of the bird with that of the flame was an evidence of renewed light every night. By extension they would eventually associate the trigram Li with the Pheasant (a bird with a splendid plumage), which was written by combining the ideograms Arrow and Bird, and pronounced like the word Knowledge.
In the text of hexagram thirty, the transition from the canonical meaning to the broader definition is still perceptible. To maintain its effect, Li.30 has adopted Net when understood as it was anciently (its classic form) and by Light when applied in an abstract context.
Confucius
30