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I Ching and Female

MaryHE

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It's not the first time I ask this myself.

While the yin lines are representatives of female in the I Ching, all the unpleasant characteristics are attributed to them. The most heard are "inferior", "weak". Hexagrams such as 23 & 44 are regarded as bad auspice because "the in/yins rule over the male". And 64 shows being out of place because the yins aren't in second place.

And I don't discuss much about the picture of women who are whether courtesans/marrying maiden/child bearing wives (MAYBE it shows all the ways possible for a woman to be in "an era" - as we don't have much information about the older areas; hence some findings about ancient Scandinavian women & matriarchal communities question the belief that views such type of female social conditioning as the "natural" course of evolution & insists that it has been like that always. Even if it was the case, so what? Should we respect slavery because it existed as some point?).

As a female, why should I keep on using & respecting a system with such a degrading view on me?

I'm not likely to stop using the I Ching all of a sudden; it has been like an addiction, or some solution for my thirst to know about future/what's invisible. But the question is in my mind, very bold.
There are 2 problems with your conclusions. In Chinese philosophy ( medicine also) yin and yang are complementary. The point is always to balance them.
Also ancient commentaries/translations may be influenced by patriarchal views and language but the yi jing itself cannot be sexist. So as women we must re read these aspects .....as Feminist scholars do with all historical documents..
 

surnevs

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I do not see any problems with the conclusion as to whether I Ching is influenced by patriarchal views or not. The question is: how old is the I Ching ? If it's a bronze age document, Yes: patriarchal it is without doubt as this was the age of patriarchalism. How old is the I Ching?
 

IrfanK

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I do not see any problems with the conclusion as to whether I Ching is influenced by patriarchal views or not. The question is: how old is the I Ching ? If it's a bronze age document, Yes: patriarchal it is without doubt as this was the age of patriarchalism. How old is the I Ching?
Hmmm. I'm not really sure about that. Once you go back before agriculture, you can find a lot of mixed evidence and variation between different peoples in that regard. And the Zhouyi was pretty much at the cusp of the emergence of agriculture. I wouldn't assume that it was as patriarchal as China became later. Bit hard to really tell. But look at the Book of Songs. There's a lot of women in there, and they aren't all wallflowers.
 

surnevs

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Hmmm. I'm not really sure about that. Once you go back before agriculture, you can find a lot of mixed evidence and variation between different peoples in that regard. And the Zhouyi was pretty much at the cusp of the emergence of agriculture. I wouldn't assume that it was as patriarchal as China became later. Bit hard to really tell. But look at the Book of Songs. There's a lot of women in there, and they aren't all wallflowers.
The book of Song's meaning The book of Ode, the Confucian classic I suppose. When or if time is given I know I should look more into it. And I must confess that my knowledge about the bronze age in China is limited. The little knowledge I have has left me with the impression that it was male-dominated and in this, I could of course be wrong.
 

IrfanK

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The book of Song's meaning The book of Ode, the Confucian classic I suppose. When or if time is given I know I should look more into it. And I must confess that my knowledge about the bronze age in China is limited. The little knowledge I have has left me with the impression that it was male-dominated and in this, I could of course be wrong.
I think it's only Confucian in the way that the I Ching is Confucian. They made it one of their classics. But it is actually around the same age as the Yi. You may be right about society being male dominated back then, but it's not that clear. It probably became more male dominated later, and they sort of retrospectively projected their ideas on the early stages.
 

surnevs

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I just got this idea that if we knew when the I Ching were created we would be able to know under which circumstances it was created. Being created under circumstances similar to today, meaning women being equalised more or less with men (Yes, I know that this is a topic for a lot of discussions :rolleyes: ) versus being created in an all-dominated Patriarchal world. As long as we do not know this, when it was created, we can't know whether the I Ching is in male- or female- or non of these favourite in its text and underlying tone. According to James Legge * the plant oracle was in use back at the time of Emperor Yü / Hsia Hou (2205-2197 BCE ** ) but whether the use of it, the plant- or Yarrow-Oracle, was similar to the one used at the time of King Wen ?
- is a question I still bear in mind (being aware that the Yarrow-Oracle used today is a re-construction...)
----------------------------------
*) The I Ching, The Book of China, Introduction pg. 40 in the Tynron Press, Scotland 1990 ed.
**) Chu Ching, Book of Documents, Book 2 (Ta yü mo), Part II, § 18
 

Daeluin

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Wow, what a fascinating and poignant topic!

It really does deserve a good answer, and I don't really feel like one has been offered that really hits home yet either. For the issue hasn't even really been fully exposed yet IMO either. And boy can we ever expose it.

I talk mainly about the attributed characteristics of Yin lines - which are the representatives of female in the I Ching - and how their position determine the meaning & auspice of a cast. That's what I have read in many interpretation.
Yeah, the yin lines sure get a bad reputation.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned hexagram 12, obstruction. Here we see the yin lines representing an ever increase of conditioning that leads to obstruction. Followed by the ever increasing purity of the yang lines that leads to spiritual transcendence.

This is pretty common - for the yin lines to represent conditioning and the yang lines to represent some sort of righteous strength.
So what's the point? That if being overly nurturing and molded by others was an inherent female thing that made the majority of women happy, they didn't jump on occasions to change, nor older generations regret not having lived like the younger ones. You can say that's the result of external changes but isn't this all the evolution is about?

However, hey, the Yins aren't even regarded as gentle and nurturing, rather idiot and destructive :)

While this is a theme in the Yi, it isn't always the case. Far from it I would suggest... take hexagram 15 for example, which shows the power of humility to make great and powerful changes to the world.

And with hexagram 12 again, the main point is the imbalance, and the excessive purity is also part of the obstruction. The brightest lights cast the darkest shadows after all. If we instead look at hexagram 11, without reading the lines, we see that the tranquility is possible precisely because yang is contained beneath yin.

So if we look at yin as being the incubator of conditioning or representing an undesirable weakness, I feel that the concept and strengths of yin are altogether being missed. But strength is an inherently yang concept, so how do we describe the strength of yin adequately without diminishing it? It is by nature something that is not tangible and is by nature something that does not resist, but receives.

And yet it certainly may be done. For me, yin is capacity and fertility. It is the yin capacity that allows the yang of thunder to carry forth, or allows the resonance of a plucked guitar string to resonate in such a way that carries a full bodied sound, from the hollows of the instrument to the ends of the walls of an acoustic theater.

Or we may see in the Forest of Changes description of unchanging hexagram 2, the open road of hard packed earth that provides no obstruction to forward progress.

And in this we see the strength of its capacitive emptiness.

@my_key hinted at this with the quote from Huang of the commentaries, but to me the translation leaves things somewhat unclear. In my intro I describe finding this quote and seeing it to describe two states of yin and yang, an active state and a quiescent state, for each.

Dazhuan I, part 6 (tl Lynn in bold, commentary Wang Bi in italics):

As for Qian, in its quiescent state it is focused, and in its active state it is undeviating. This is how it achieves its great productivity. Focused means "to be perfectly concentrated," and undeviating means "to be impartial and straight to the mark." As for Kun, in its quiescent state it is condensed, and in the active state it is diffuse. This is how it achieves its capacious productivity. Condensed means "gathered in upon itself." When it is at rest, it condenses its qi, and when it becomes active, it opens up and so brings things into existence. Qian, as the commander of Heaven and the initiator of things, is the primal mover of change and transformation and is omnipresent in what is outside physical form. As for Kun, it is through compliance that it takes up where yang leaves off; its efficacy is completely self-realized, and its function something that stays within physical form. Thus, when we deal with Qian in terms of its focus and nondeviation, we address its capacity to materialize, and when we deal with Kun in terms of its condensing and opening up, we address its capacity to provide physical form.


Further, when we look at a line statement, we are seeing a statement about the active state of yin or yang. While the quiescent state of yin is capacitive and concentrated, the active state of yin is open and fertile.

If I were to go to a field of hard packed earth and till it, to open it, it will become easy for seeds floating upon the wind to settle into some folds of soil and find that when they sprout forth into life they are able to gain purchase within this receptive and open earth.

Thus we gain the image of conditioning that comes from open active yin. Even though fertility is a positive and nurturing thing, its openness is indiscriminate and will be filled up by whatever it is that comes to do so. Before getting to humans, this is the nature of the fertility of nature - pollen is ever floating around as active yang, and when flowers open to become active yin they receive whatever pollen lands upon them.

When it comes to the mental sphere the idea is similar - when we open our yin to receiving whatever may be around us, we often call this naivete, we need to be selective about what we take in and not just believe it because someone said it, but that involves a more dynamic process. When yin opens, it is receptive and receives whatever there is in its surroundings, whether it wants to or not. We can see this in the nature of cat-calls and other undesirable attraction.

From above: As for Kun, it is through compliance that it takes up where yang leaves off; In this we can see that open yin gives form to that which yang has initiated. From another perspective, there is a saying I found in a medical text: yin creates yang; yang activates yin. We can see this idea of yang activating yin in the idea of taking up where yang leaves off and providing substance for yang to merge with, and we can see this idea of yin creating yang in the idea of both its condensing and giving birth after gestation.

There is another concept, found in daoist alchemy of a practice known as nurturing the yang's rising and withdrawing the yin's response. This is often associated with the natural timings of the day and night, where we can see the sovereign cycle of the hexagrams in application. At midnight yin culminates in the creation of yang, and we nurture this yang as it grows: ䷗ ䷒ ䷊ ䷡ ䷪ ䷀, however noon yang culminates and gives way to our activation of yin, and yin grows: ䷫ ䷠ ䷋ ䷓ ䷖ ䷁. Due to the nature of active yin, we have a type of creation taking place with these energies. That is all fine and good, but it tends to mean the use of energy rather than the storage of energy.

For example, I may work for 2 weeks and receive a paycheck. Having money that is the culmination of my hard work (yang), I not have a potential to activate yin and spend my money. This is like the dynamic of hexagram 44, and it is quite a common phenomena for one to spend all of their money and live paycheck to paycheck following this cycle.

So instead we are advised to withdraw the yin response so as to exercise restraint and not active yin, as a way of preserving the yang energy of our life force, which is applicable to both men and women - and bank accounts. This might look like: ䷪ ䷡ ䷊ ䷒ ䷗ ䷁ - rather than activating yin, we are in a sense responding to the increase of yin following noon or a period like it (following the full moon, summer solstice, or any type of cycle one is in that relates to this dynamic, like spending money or vitality), by withdrawing and consolidating. In this way we are still adhering to the yin of the time, but putting our yang into reserve and allowing yin to remain closed and condensed rather than in a state where it is responding to yang by activating and using our energy to create something new (unless we want it to).

This is the same principle as someone who is wealthy, remaining wealthy by not broadcasting their wealth and instead living humbly. They are able to go forth and engage with friends without being expected to pay for everyone's dinner or provide handouts.

To me this also points back to the idea of the power and capacity of quiescent yin, to which the Yi does not focus on overly, but has clearly been recognized in the culture overall. Even within daoist alchemy, where one is cultivating something of the utmost of yang, the container for that yang requires the utmost of quiescent yin, and because that superior yang has no doing, it too is quiescent. Quiescence overall is a yin quality, not a yang one.

So putting it all together, perhaps it becomes a little clearer that a line statement given for a 6 represents the activation of yin responding to yang to create something, while 8 represents closed yin that is condensed but not written about, except to advise an active yin line to restrain itself from activation in undesirable situations. The 'weakness' in such situations is simply being at the mercy of undesirable changes.

When it comes to the nature of the commentaries that refer to women in particular, in relation to yin lines, alas I think it comes down to the nature of the society and how women were treated.

There's a great wikipedia page that I don't think was mentioned that goes into the history of women in ancient china, including the Zhou Dynasty:

By the Zhou dynasty, Chinese society was decidedly patriarchal, with female and male social roles determined by a strict, feudal hierarchy. The foundation for enforced division of women and men in later times appeared during the Eastern Zhou period, when mohists and legalists began to espouse the advantages to each sex performing stereotypical work roles; in theory, such a division guaranteed morality and social order. Well-ordered gender relations gradually came to be expressed in the phrase, "men plow, women weave," (男耕女织). This division expanded to create social separation between men and women. The Book of Changes states that, "among family members, women's proper place is inside and man's proper place is outside." The written sources indicate that women were increasingly confined to enforce this gender separation, with women of lower social status expected to return home when not engaged in unavoidable work outside. Noblewomen enjoyed the luxury of not having to work outside and their family's ability to sequester them from the male gaze became an indication of their status.

So here we see that women, especially noble women, were treated basically as objects and kept inside. It is as though they were only relegated to yin roles and treated as objects of desire that needed to be hidden away, in a sense to avoid this 'activation of yin' in response to yang.

But with the principle revealed, I hope it may be able for it to become very clear that the misogyny found within this tradition does not need to invalidate the principle at the core of the nature of active yin and the potent fertility it represents. The guidance would appear to be focused on how to avoid the pitfalls of allowing undesired fertility to be nurtured when it is inappropriate.

But too there is a great deal of advice for restraining active yang so that it does not go past the measure into activation of yin.

This perspective seems clear to me, but perhaps this is related to the way I work with the Yi, which seems to break from modern convention. I do not see a 9 or 6 to represent yang or yin that are absolutely changing their polarity. I see instead that their changes have become activated, but we still are able to exercise free will as best we may within the proclivity of the hexagram's shaping of change.

To me this is not some new system, but is what the line statements themselves are advising about. Reading the line statements from this perspective, it becomes very clear to me that there is frequently advice that attempts to reign in yang from making hasty actions that are inappropriate.

But yes it is very much a shame that such misogyny exists at all. In some cases an example of a wife coming to conceive a child may portray an appropriate demonstration of yin and yang energies, but in other cases it simply reveals what this culture thought about women and how it treated them. Fortunately we have come far away from these ideas in my lifetime, but we still have much work to do in the name of gender equality. Part of that is very much our modern capitalism driven yang lack of awareness of the importance of yin capacity that allows us to recover from overwork. You sleep when you're dead is a saying a professor taught me that exemplifies our lack of respect the yin powers of nurturing our health and need for time spend in self-care and self-cultivation.

@marybluesky I am very curious how you will receive this, and if there are any points that you feel merit further attention I would be very happy to reflect more deeply on them. Much gratitude to you for your raising of this important topic.
 
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marybluesky

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@Daeluin , thanks.

It's been a long discussion and I'm not sure if I have anything to add. I'll reread your post and add something- if I have.
 

my_key

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@my_key hinted at this with the quote from Huang of the commentaries, but to me the translation leaves things somewhat unclear. In my intro I describe finding this quote and seeing it to describe two states of yin and yang, an active state and a quiescent state, for each.
There are many ways to skin a cat!
The strength of Yin in its capacitive emptiness is explained by many commentators in different ways. Sometimes it does need just simple language, metaphor, imagery or something else to uncover clear meaning or understanding.

For example, someone might say yin has a huge spacious handbag available to her that she can place things in for safe keeping until, like a magician, she pulls the white rabbit out of the bag at just the right moment. Yin's role is to nurture and manifest the creative spark of Qian. If the spark keeps sparking then yin may become confused as to where yang is leading and could well become overwhelmed. A bit like having 10 tennis ball serving machines all firing at her at the same time, incessantly. Which ball do /can I hit? When active, on full volume, Qian will just keep on sending those tennis balls over the net. Switch all but one machine off, or even switch the last machine off after the first ball is fired and then creative focus can be centred on just one tennis ball. Yin then knows exactly which ball to focus on and hit.

Wilhelm speaks of the spacious, devotional qualities that yin holds. These complete rather than compete against the Creative. I agree, as you say, that both yin and yang need a volume control that allows for different levels of activity: otherwise there will be competition. The volume control needs to be set for each at different levels at different times. The mutuality of their 'volume' dance allows for successful, harmonious completion. Wilhelm also comments in the judgement that 'Quiet perseverance brings good fortune' which your comments around the quiescent state of yin concur with.

While the translation I posted from Huang leaves things somewhat unclear for you. These are but a couple of lines from his work. Another comment he makes, just before the text I posted is:
Qian represents the most yang; Kun represents the most yin. In the I Ching all 64 gua are derived from the principal of the mutual coordination and complementarity of yin and yang.
This simple and succinct statement speaks volumes to me and may also add, for you, the degree of context and clarity that was missing to enable you to see clearly what Huang's translation is pointing towards.

Take Care
 
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Daeluin

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Yin's role is to nurture and manifest the creative spark of Qian.

Do you have material to back this up with? Do you have a similar statement about yang? What I find helpful in my methodology is to work from the presentation of prior concepts that offer backup for any theories, and when dealing with a dichotomy of participants, to apply the formula equally to both sides.

Unfortunately I struggle to connect with the tennis ball metaphor as I don't see the other side of it. And a very dynamic process is described so I require more that speaks to how yin and yang are interacting with each part of it.


These complete rather than compete against the Creative. I agree, as you say, that both yin and yang need a volume control that allows for different levels of activity

Activity is the key word here, and activity would apply in dealing with a 6 or a 9, but volume whether loud or soft is still moving in one direction. The point of observing states that are quiescent and active, is that they are moving in different directions, and too when we come upon an active line we also have the choice along with moving quickly or slowly, to stop all together and withdraw.

Wilhelm also comments in the judgement that 'Quiet perseverance brings good fortune' which your comments around the quiescent state of yin concur with.

So to me quiet perseverance is not necessarily the same as quiescence, which implies inactivity. I would need the context of this comment to understand what it was referring to.

My point about your quote:

Huang reports that that one of the commentaries states

Yin is the most gentle and submissive; when put in motion it is strong and firm.
Yin is the most quiet and still; when taking action, it is able to reach a definite goal.


So here, without the use of any pronoun, is confirmation that when in 44 yin is drawn into action it becomes strong and focussed on manifesting that which yang has initiated. In this situation yin is one tough cookie to contend with.

Is that this translation does not emphasize what happens in the quiescent state, only in the active one, and the conclusion you draw from it only works with what happens when it is drawn into action. Also, without yang being presented here along with yin, it is hard to qualify your conclusion as compared to yang, for you describe active yin here as being 'strong and focused' which are rather yang descriptions and I feel clarification is needed to support that perspective.

But it would appear that this bit of the dazhuan has also been translated to take note of the unique way that yin and yang also differ from each other in the quiescent state (as quoted in my post above from both sides), which is critical to following my perspective. It is something that has been presented in principled fashion, but thus far no others seem to have explored.

Qian represents the most yang; Kun represents the most yin. In the I Ching all 64 gua are derived from the principal of the mutual coordination and complementarity of yin and yang.
To me this is indeed poignant, but not new, and does not tap into illumination of how the nuances related to how yin and yang in their quiescent states behave differently. But the Forest of Changes does, so this is not simply an interpretation of the dazhuan but the concept may be found in active use and readily explored.
 
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my_key

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@Daeluin
My post was intended to help give context and perspective to Huang's translation that was unclear for you. It appears that my post falls short of achieving my intent.

In your response not only do you struggle with the metaphor I used but additionally you are unable to relate to what I have written in 5 other instances. You state you need more. More emphasis, more context or more precision for you to be able to manifest an understanding of what I have written. However, I'm not sure that my writing style will be able to provide you with the more that you want.

So as the comments you have highlighted are mostly drawn from the commentary by Wilhelm and Huang then the best I can do for you is direct you back to those works. Therein, may lie the words you are seeking that are lacking from my short post.

I am glad that you have found a perspective around quiescent and active states that provides you with an understanding and thank you for your willingness to share this perspective. Also it is a delight to see someone championing the Forest of Changes which provides such a solid background for your relationship with Yi.

Good luck.
 

Daeluin

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In your response not only do you struggle with the metaphor I used but additionally you are unable to relate to what I have written in 5 other instances.
Are you referring to your previous posts? I admit that I mostly skimmed the previous pages of the thread, taking in what was on the surface and not taking the time to delve deeply into the more lengthy and substantial perspectives.

I wasn't aware that your metaphor had links to those posts, so yes I would be happy to take more time to evaluate what you wrote previously as is only fair.
 

my_key

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Are you referring to your previous posts? I admit that I mostly skimmed the previous pages of the thread, taking in what was on the surface and not taking the time to delve deeply into the more lengthy and substantial perspectives.
No. Just post #70. And of course, there is no need for you to delve deeply into any of this.
I wasn't aware that your metaphor had links to those posts, so yes I would be happy to take more time to evaluate what you wrote previously as is only fair.
The metaphor has no other links. It resides solely and is self contained in post #69 presented in an endeavour to bring some clarity. You seem to have picked up the wrong end of the stick. I am not asking you to take more time to evaluate anything I wrote. So feel no obligation to do so.

Take Care
 
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Daeluin

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My post was intended to help give context and perspective to Huang's translation that was unclear for you.

Perhaps here is where we picked up different ends of the stick.

I am able to connect with the concept you are speaking to, and see where it comes from via Huang's quote. My issue is primarily with the quote. We are not told from Huang's book where it came from. We are not provided with a counterpart quote describing yang. I am unable to find this quote in the ten wings outside of an instance that gives a very different meaning. And finally I do not find that Huang backs up this idea of yin taking on the strength of yang very much at all. (Though I am open to more examples.)

This is what I refer to when I say 'unclear'. In exploring a dichotomy, I find it helpful to have equal measures represented by both sides in order to engender balance and ward of bias within our perspectives.

And I can explore your examples well enough, I was just hoping for more context around your perspective on yang's role outside of being a spark that may become manifest, as a counterpoint to the picture you paint of yin.

If the spark keeps sparking then yin may become confused as to where yang is leading and could well become overwhelmed. A bit like having 10 tennis ball serving machines all firing at her at the same time, incessantly. Which ball do /can I hit?

All of them. Yin isn't a mind that picks and chooses, it is a elemental force that responds. It is vast.

This is why I used a field and seeds in my example. If I plow open the earth to be receptive and open, then whatever seeds float by on the wind and find purchase within the soil will be able to sprout and grow, whether or not it is sustainable.

But this isn't happening just because the spark keeps sparking. If yin is not available and open to receive, it doesn't matter how much yang sparks. If there is no open soil to find purchase in, it doesn't matter how many seeds float on by, they will fail to sprout successfully.
When active, on full volume, Qian will just keep on sending those tennis balls over the net. Switch all but one machine off, or even switch the last machine off after the first ball is fired and then creative focus can be centred on just one tennis ball. Yin then knows exactly which ball to focus on and hit.
This is a good example of how to pair yang and yin to engender a constructive outcome, however is it yin's choice to hit anything?

To me this type of analogy leads away from the concept of yin being receptive. In receptivity we are host to what guests arrive and do not have preconceived notions or agendas about them. Rather it is yang's choice to hit things and shape things, and yin's choice to give them home or not. To open to them or close to them. I can see how the analogy is still able to work, it is just this fundamental bit that I worry is misleading.

The idea of volume similarly bothers me as the key to understanding yin and yang is that they operate in different ways. Only one has volume, and the other has that which allows the volume to unfold successfully. And yet again the analogy is still poignant:
The mutuality of their 'volume' dance allows for successful, harmonious completion.

But I still don't really see anything in your explanations that gives support to how yin takes on the strength of yang, for example you say:
So here, without the use of any pronoun, is confirmation that when in 44 yin is drawn into action it becomes strong and focussed on manifesting that which yang has initiated. In this situation yin is one tough cookie to contend with.
I see now that you are getting this from Huang, but to me this is simply the principle of erosion.

Yin does not need to become strong and focused when it is activated. In its openness it simply elicits a response from the yang.

It is like a sink hole appearing beneath a house. Despite the strength of the house above, it eventually cannot endure. It is simply due to the position of yin that yang cannot resist, rather than the strength that yin suddenly assumes. It's strength is the gravity of its attraction. When beneath 5 yangs it is a potent cause of erosion. When above 5 yangs it is being withdrawn from. Same yin, same volume, different circumstances with different leverages.

So I suppose I contend somewhat with this notion of yin assuming yang's strength that comes from Huang's quote. Which is why I was requesting more to back it up. On my own I was unable to find more to work with, none was provided, and so I find the merits of the principle difficult to explore or discuss.

But of course, please follow the path that works for you. BTW I am always happy to have my perspective critiqued as it is important to me that it is able to hold water and be supported from multiple perspectives. Perhaps it is because of this that I like to delve deeply into new concepts and attempt to find how they may be supported past and present. Blessings!
 
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surnevs

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Article from Academia.

"This chapter traces the shifting roles of gender and the changing character of nature in the Yijing. We consider how gender and nature have been conceived in relation to the Yijing and its potential and limits for addressing questions of gender, the environment, as well as issues of the interconnection of gender and ecology articulated in ecofeminism. Chinese philosophical and cultural traditions have become part of contemporary interpretive conflicts over the meaning of gender and the relative social status of women and men. On the one hand, Chinese cultural and intellectual traditions have been interpreted as having a greater appreciation of the significance of gender and the feminine than standard Western forms of thought. The gendered logic of classical Chinese thought with its emphasis on a dynamic relational balance and transformative reversibility between the categories of the masculine and the feminine is distinguished from rationalizing Western tendencies that either essentialize social-cultural gender roles as an unchanging natural fate determined by " natural " biological sex or conceal gender under the guise of masculine-oriented claims to a nongendered universality and neutrality."

Article: The Yijing, Gender, and the Ethics of Nature
 

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