Skuo Kua / Discussion of the Trigrams

[rosada]

Then follows the stern season, when proof of deed accomplished must be forthcoming. Judgement is in the air. From earth our thoughts return to heaven, to Ch'ien, the Creative. A battle is being fought, for it is just when the Creative is coming to dominance that the dark yin force is most powerful in its external effects. Hence the dark and the light now arouse each other. There is no doubt as to the outcome of this battle, for it is only the final effect of the pre-existing causes that comes to judgement through the Creative.
-Wilhelm

 

[rosada]

Hunh? This sounds like Judgement Day or something. What is one supposed to make of this?
-rosada

 

[pocossin]

What is one supposed to make of this?
-rosada

The Father is the disciplinarian in this family

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄▄▄▄▄ [b]The Stern Season[/b]
▄▄▄▄▄▄

The grim lines of a wrinkled forhead.

 

[rosada]

Now winter ensues, in the trigram K'an, the Abysmal.

K'an, in the north - the place of the Receptive in the Primal Arrangement - is symbolized by the gorge.

Now comes the toil of gathering the crops into the barns. Water shuns no effort, always seeking the lowest level, so that everything flows to it; in the same way, winter in the course of the year, and midnight in the course of the day, are the time of concentration.
-Wilhelm

 

[pocossin]

▄▄  ▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄  [b]K'an[/b]
▄▄  ▄▄

Now winter ensues, in the trigram K'an, the Abysmal.

K'an, in the north - the place of the Receptive in the Primal Arrangement - is symbolized by the gorge.

Now comes the toil of gathering the crops into the barns. Water shuns no effort, always seeking the lowest level, so that everything flows to it; in the same way, winter in the course of the year, and midnight in the course of the day, are the time of concentration.
-Wilhelm

In my experience crops are barned in the fall, not the winter. But isn't Wilhelm mistaken about "barns"? Maybe the Chinese used barns when he was in China, but my understanding is that in King Wen's time grain was stored in pits under the houses. And K'an is indeed the time of the pit, when the family lives off its stored grain.

 

[rosada]

The trigram Keeping Still, whose symbol is the mountain, is of mysterious significance. Here, in the seed, in the deep hidden stillness, the end of every thing is joined to a new beginning. Death and life, dying and resurrection - these are the thoughts awakened by the transition from the old year to the new.

Thus the cycle is closed. Like the day or the year in nature, so every life, indeed every cycle of experience, is a continuity by which old and new are linked together. In view of this we can understand why, in several of the 64 hexagrams, the southwest represents the period of work and fellowship, while the northwest stands for the time of solitude, when the old is brought to an end and the new is begun.
-Wilhelm

 

[pocossin]

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄  ▄▄ Keeping Still
▄▄  ▄▄

The trigram Keeping Still, whose symbol is the mountain, is of mysterious significance. Here, in the seed, in the deep hidden stillness, the end of every thing is joined to a new beginning. Death and life, dying and resurrection - these are the thoughts awakened by the transition from the old year to the . . . the northwest stands for the time of solitude, when the old is brought to an end and the new is begun.
-Wilhelm

Wilhelm may be thinking of the remnant of life hidden in the planted seed.

 

[sergio]

I posted this one in the I Ching news section but it is relevant here ,too.
http://www.dpedtech.com/IJTri.pdf
Sergio

 

[rosada]

6.
The spirit is mysterious in all living things and works through them. Of all the forces that move things, there is none swifter than thunder. Of all the forces that bend things, there is none swifter than wind. Of all the forces that warm things, there is none mor drying than fire. Of all the forces that give joy to things, there is none more gladdening than the lake. Lf all the forces that moisten things, there is none more moist than water. Of all the forces that end and begin things, there is none more glorious than keeping still.
Therefore: Water and fire complement each other, thunder and wind do not interfere with each other, and the forces of mountain and lake are united in their action. Thus only are change and transformation possible, and thus only cal all things come to perfection.
-Wilhelm

 

[rosada]

I can understand thunder and wind best for moving and bending things, fire being best at drying, water best for moistening but why is lake best for gladdening? And why the word "glorious" for describing the effects of keeping still?
Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and post the last paragraph of this chapter as I am going out of town tomorrow and may not have access to a computer for several days.
Rosada

 

[rosada]

Only the action of the six derived trigrams is described here.

It is the action of the spiritual, which is not a thing among things, but the force that manifests its existence through the various effects of thunder, wind, and so on.

The two primary trigrams, the Creative and the Receptive, are not mentioned because, as heaven and earth, they actually are those emanations of the spirit within which, through the action of the derived forces, the visible world comes into being and changes.

Each of these forces acts in a definite direction, but movement and change come about only because the forces acting as pairs of opposites, without canceling each other, set going the cyclic movement on which the life of the world depends.
Wilhelm

 

[pocossin]

Only the action of the six derived trigrams is described here.

It is the action of the spiritual, which is not a thing among things, but the force that manifests its existence through the various effects of thunder, wind, and so on.

In the microcosm, ☰ is within, ☷ without. This inverts the conventional social position where yang is out and yin is in. In Wen's arrangement, ☰ is north of ☷:


☴ ☲ ☷
☳... ☱
☶ ☵ ☰


The six children ☳ ☴ ☵ ☲ ☶ ☱ then represent the projection of ☰ into ☷.


If this idea is correct, then the Earlier Heaven arrangement of the trigrams represents the macrocosm.

 

[Sparhawk]

The six children ☳ ☴ ☵ ☲ ☶ ☱ then represent the projection of ☰ into ☷.


If this idea is correct, then the Earlier Heaven arrangement of the trigrams represents the macrocosm.

Yes, it does! :bows:

 

[rosada]

CHAPTER III

The third chapter deals with the eight trigrams separately and presents the symbols with which they are associated. it is important inasmuch as the words of the text on the individual lines in each hexagram are very often to be explained against the background of these symbols. A knowledge of these associations is important as a tool in understanding the structure of the Book of Changes.

7. THE ATTRIBUTES
The Creative is strong.
The Receptive is yielding.
The Arousing means movement.
The Gentle is penetrating.
The Abysmal is dangerous.
The Clinging means dependence.
Keeping Still means standstill.
The Joyous means pleasure.

8. THE SYMBOLIC ANIMALS
The Creative acts in the horse,
The Receptive in the cow,
The Arousing in the dragon,
The Gentle in the cock,
The Abysmal in the pig,
The Joyous in the sheep.
-Wilhelm

 

[johnny ng]

I Ching is the oldest oracle that details the fundamentals of the creation of the cosmos. Its content is vast and profound. It is the source of all enchantments and magics. It first states "Qian, Beginning, Cultivation, Reward, and Perseverance." Qian has the great might of creation. All things owe their existence to Qian. It represents Tao in the cosmos and the True Self in human. "Beginning," the utmost benevolence, is the beginning of the cosmos. "Cultivation," the utmost perfection, symbolizes the prosperity of beings in the cosmos. "Reward," the mysticism of the Truth, indicates that all things and beings are at proper places and in harmony. "Perseverance," the root of all substances and matteers, represents that all beings following the everlasting Tao.

The Xi section of I Ching states that the origin of I is Tai-ji (the Great Primal Beginning). Tai-ji produces the two primary forces yin and yang. The two primary forces generate the four images: young yang, old yang, young yin, and old yin. The four images generate the eight trigrams. The eight trigrams symbolize Heaven, Earth, and all phenomena within. The eternal opposition and changes between yin and yang is Tao.

The interactions between yang and yin reveal the five fundamental elements - water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. The Qi of these five fundamental elements circulates to produce the sequential changes of the four seasons. When yin settles to the ultimate quiescence, it starts to transform into yang, and this is young yang. In Heaven, this Beginning. On Earth, it denotes east in directions, spring in four seasons, and benevolence in virtues. When yang expands, yin contracts. When yin totally vanishes, it is old yang. In Heaven, this is Cultivation. On Earth, it denotes south in directions, summer in four seasons and propriety in virtues. When yang expands to its maximum and exhausts itself, yin evolves, and this is young yin. In Heaven, this is Reward. On Earth, it denotes west in directions, autumn in four seasons, and justice in virtues. Yin distends continuously until yang totally vanishes, and this is old yin. In Heaven, it is Perseverance. On Earth, it denotes north in directions, winter in four seasons, and wisdom in virtue. A new cycle starts at the end of the old yin. The endless regeneration of this cycle is called the Tao of Heaven and Earth.

 

[pocossin]

7. THE ATTRIBUTES
The Creative is strong.
The Receptive is yielding.
The Arousing means movement.
The Gentle is penetrating.
The Abysmal is dangerous.
The Clinging means dependence.
Keeping Still means standstill.
The Joyous means pleasure.

8. THE SYMBOLIC ANIMALS
The Creative acts in the horse,
The Receptive in the cow,
The Arousing in the dragon,
The Gentle in the cock,
The Abysmal in the pig,
The Joyous in the sheep.
-Wilhelm

Each of these statements deserves comment, but I will deal with just those about Xun.

As Legge translates it, Xun has the attribute of penetration, and its animal is the fowl. Judging by the use of Xun in hexagrams, 'fowl' is the better translation. The trigram has the general appearance of a bird:

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄▄▄▄▄  body of bird
▄▄  ▄▄ legs

Hexagram 53

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄▄▄▄▄  wild goose
▄▄  ▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄  ▄▄
▄▄  ▄▄

Hexagram 61

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄▄▄▄▄ bird
▄▄  ▄▄
▄▄  ▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄ marsh
▄▄▄▄▄▄

A crane is a marsh bird.

 

[rosada]

Gosh this is great, pocossin!
I wish you would post for all the trigrams....
Thanks,
Rosada

 

[rosada]

The Creative is symbolized by the horse, swift and tireless as it runs, and
the Receptive by the gentle cow.
The Arousing, whose image is thunder, is symbolized by the dragon, which, rising out of the depths, soars up to the stormy sky - in correspondence with the single strong line pushing upward below the two yielding lines.
The Gentle, the Penetrating, is symbolized by the cock, time's watchman, whose voice pierces the stillness - pervasive as the wind, the image of the Gentle.
Water is the image associated with the Abysmal; of the domestic animals, the pig is the one that lives in mud and water.
In Li as its trigram, the Clinging, brightness, has originally the images of a pheasant-like firebird.
The dog, the faithful guardian, belongs to Ken, Keeping Still.
The Joyous is linked with the sheep, which is regarded as the animal belonging to the west; the two parts of the divided line at the top are the horns of the sheep.
-Wilhelm

 

[pocossin]

Gosh this is great, pocossin!
I wish you would post for all the trigrams....
Thanks,
Rosada

I am conflicted about this, Rosada. If I post observations I am depriving others of the opportunity to find these things for themselves -- basically depriving them of energy, since the shock of recognition gives energy for further advance. So my practice has been to post a little and them stop. A Darkening of the Light makes a space for other lamps.

 

[hilary]

Haven't we sort-of had this conversation before? You know, not everyone can see what you see... until you point to it. And then we still have the experience of recognition... or we don't, as the case may be... but you may have created a possibility that just wasn't there for us before.

 

[pocossin]

Haven't we sort-of had this conversation before? You know, not everyone can see what you see... until you point to it. And then we still have the experience of recognition... or we don't, as the case may be... but you may have created a possibility that just wasn't there for us before.

We did, both with and without me

http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showthread.php?t=4523&page=12

 

[tuckchang]

7. THE ATTRIBUTES
The Creative is strong.
The Receptive is yielding.
-Wilhelm

The original words in Chinese are: 乾 (Qian)，健 (jian4: healthy, strong, vigorous etc ) 也；坤 (Kun)，順 (shun4: yielding, submissive etc) 也.. They should be read as: Qian is … and Kun is … instead of the Creative is … and the Receptive is……

I personal think Wilhelm’s interpretation too much focuses on the creative of Qian and the receptive of Kun (please correct me if I am wrong). In my opinion, Qian possesses multiple characters such as the creative, perseverance (in terms of healthy, strong, vigorous etc, which signifies to continue in a course of action in spite of difficulty) etc and is presented in the form of the sky, the father, the horse….while Kun possesses the character of the receptive, submissiveness and is presented in the form of the earth, the mother, the cow…..

According to my experiences, perseverance and submissiveness do fit most of the hexagram names presented by Qian/Kun and the texts involving Qian/Kun, for instant:

The image of Qian: 天 (tian: the sky) 行 (xing: to go or to do) 健，君子以自強不息: The sky performs with perseverance; a gentleman should also exert himself strongly and untiringly. The line of Qian acts like a gentleman, a founder and a leader. Line 3 must be doubly perseverant in the daytime, as well as vigilant and cautious at night. Line 4 is searching for a way to make achievements like the dragon trying to reach the sky. Line 5 is the dragon flying in the sky; his aspiration is realized and brought into full play. Line 6 reaches the end but still perseveres in marching upwards; hence the haughty dragon; regretful. The line of using 9, wherein all the lines start changing to the masculine and becoming submissive, they do not fight for leadership, so a flock of dragons without the leader any longer; auspicious.

The line of Kun acts with submissiveness like a assistant and a adherent: Line 3 possesses brilliance internally can persist (in the norm, i.e. submissiveness) pertinently; as if serving the king, not to seek achievement for oneself but to accomplish the job with a good ending. Line 4 must be discreet in word and deed like a tied up bag, as if the courtier serves the king, and Kun submits Qian; this won’t bring him any praise but no fault (or calamity) either. Line 5 reaches the domain of the sky, the territory of Qian, and the king’s position; however, it still behaves moderately and humbly like wearing a yellow skirt, and like a person at a high-ranking post behaving with the norm of Kun (submissiveness); it is greatly auspicious. Line 6 is approaching the end of the hexagram Kun and it is losing the norm of Kun; it reaches the top of a hexagram and proclaims itself the leader; it is in the sky domain and encounters Qian; these two are in battle and bleeding; their blood blends together. The line of using 6, wherein all the lines start changing to the masculine, it is advantageous (or appropriate) to persist in the norm of Kun everlastingly since masculinity is the desired end of femininity.

Best regards
Tuck :bows:
www.iching123.com

 

[pocossin]

In my opinion, Qian possesses multiple characters such as the creative, perseverance (in terms of healthy, strong, vigorous etc, . . . )

Indeed it does, Tuck. The meaning of health and vigor for ☰ is used in hexagrams 25 and 26.

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄▄▄▄▄  health
▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄  ▄▄
▄▄  ▄▄ seeking
▄▄▄▄▄▄

Line 5: Use no medicine in an illness . . .

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄  ▄▄ stoppage
▄▄  ▄▄
▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄▄▄▄▄  male principle/vigor
▄▄▄▄▄▄

Line 5: The tusk of a gelded boar.

 

[rosada]

9. THE PARTS OF THE BODY
The Creative manifests itself in the head, the Receptive in the belly, the Arousing in the foot, the Gentle in the thighs, the ABysmal in the ear, the Clinging (brightness) in the eye, Keeping Still in the hand, the Joyous in the mouth.

The head governs the entire body.
The belly serves for storing up.
The foot steps on the ground and moves;
the hand holds fast.
The thighs under their covering branch downward;
the mouth in plain sight opens upward.
The ear is hollow outside;
the eye is hollow inside.
All these are pairs of opposites corresponding with the trigrams.
-Wilhelm

 

[pocossin]

9. THE PARTS OF THE BODY . . . the Gentle in the thighs . . . The thighs under their covering branch downward . . .

▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄▄▄▄▄ 
▄▄  ▄▄

In the Yi, 'thighs' occurs in the second, third, and fourth positions:

31.3 The influence shows itself in the thighs.
36.2 Darkening of the light injures him in the left thigh.
43.4 There is no skin on his thighs, And walking comes hard.

In Bradford's Yijing, vol I, pp.471-3, ☴ is also the correlative of the nose and respiratory system, and its astrological correlative is Mercury, the correlative I have always used.

 

[rosada]

10. The Family of the Primary Trigrams

The Creative is heaven, therefore it is called the father.
The Receptive is the earth, therefore it is called the mother.

In the trigram of the Arousing she seeks for the first time the power of the male and receives a son. therefore the Arousing is called the eldest son.

In the trigram of the Gentle the male seeks for the first time the power of the female and receives a daughter. Therefore the Gentle is called the eldest daughter.

In the Abysmal she seeks for a second time and receives a son. Therefore it is called the middle son.

In the Clinging he seeks for a second time and receives a daughter. Therefore it is called the middle daughter.

In Keeping Still she seeks for a third time and receives a son. Therefore it is called the youngest son.

In the Joyous he seeks for a third time and receives a daughter. Therefore it is called the third daughter.
-Wilhelm

 

[pocossin]

Legge's rendering of this section is somewhat clearer. Those trigram offspring that have a predominance of yang lines are an application of ☰ to ☷ (he seeks). Those that have a predominance of yin lines are an application ☷ to ☰ (she seeks).

 

[rosada]

In the sons, according to this derivation, the substance comes from the mother - hence the two female lines - while the dominant or determining line comes from the father. The opposite holds in the case of the daughters. The child is the opposite in sex to the parent who "seeks" it.
-Wilhelm

 

[frank_r]

I was always intriged by the section about the trigrams of the children. The oldest son and daughter. Trigram thunder and trigram wind(both wood) are always male (thunder) and female(wind). In heaven and on earth the other trigrams(Trigram water and mountain) are male on earth and female in heaven.

And the trigrams fire and lake are female on earth and male in Heaven. Pag. 275 of wilhelm.

In practical sense the oldest duaghter and son are always male and the 2nd and 3th are a bit of both.

Frank

 

[tuckchang]

According to Xi Ci, Volume 2, Chapter 4:
The masculine trigram possesses more femininity (i.e. the feminine line), (while) the feminine trigram possesses more masculinity. What is the reason? The masculine trigram is (constituted by the line stroke of) the odd number, (while) the feminine trigram is the even number.

Therefore, Qian, Zhen, Kan and Gen are the male trigram while Kun, Xun, Li and Dui are the female trigram.

Regards
Tuck :bows:
www.iching123.com