understanding 48.6

[seethis]

I recently had an experience with 48.6 chaning to 57, thinking that it meant everything would go and as a result acted selfishly which led to rejection. Unfortunately I was relying on Wilhelm's edition which says:

a) One draws from the well
Without hindrance
It is dependable
Supreme good fortune
b) "Supreme good fortune." In the top place, this means great perfection.

The line is at the top, that is, where the well water can be used by people. The rising of the water to the top makes it possible to use the well. Because of this, the line marks the completion of the hexagram; this is why the augury of great good fortune is added.
In a footnote it says: Since the image is based on the idea of the drawing up of water, the meaning of the individual lines grows the more favorable, the higher the line stands.

After I had made my mistake by misinterpreting this line I checked with The Complete Idiot's Guide to the I Ching and read:
The hexagram emphasizes the importance of labor or, to be exact, human resource. After King Wu conquered the 99 nations, he questioned how to use the abundant resources wisely.
Six on LIne6: No not cover the well with a lid. Mutual trust will bring fortune. Do not limit the talent and capabilities of your workers. Do not keep them under your thumb. Trust them and they will demonstrate their devotion to you.

Well, the resulting hexagram 57 certainly makes sense now since I feel I have penetrated the meaning of the above. A full well doesn't relieve me of the responsibility to act wisely!

 

[heylise]

I think every translation should always add this "if". An oracle is not for telling what will happen, it tells what will happen IF one does this - or that. If you use the well, things will go well, if not - uff.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the I Ching doesn't sound that idiot. I like this interpretation.

 

[sooo]

I recently had an experience with 48.6 chaning to 57, thinking that it meant everything would go and as a result acted selfishly which led to rejection.

Realizing this, the water still flows.
It's very hard to hold back a living spring.
Don't put a lid on it yet..

As said, the water rises up to or over the surface. Bradford depicts the wood as now the lid, rather than as a bucket* (clever!). The fact that you summoned yourself, called yourself out, means the water is still flowing upward, and now outward. It's usual for the first of it to be mixed with earth, so it purifies as it flows. Let it flow, don't put a lid on it now.

*or pole

 

[dragona]

Just to make sure I understand this line and a hex as a whole.
The well is the object of inquiry, the core and the value of which the essence cannot be changed.
Perhaps it has to do with its location, as it cannot be moved. Lines speak of different states the well finds itself in - from broken place to replenished clean water filled again.
But when something is repaired does it mean it is unchanged? How we approach the situation of the 6th line?
Hilary speaks of the lid as a way of self-protection but the idea is of great fullness, state where we feel very confident.
Red in one thread that it asks for respect and independence (for a person) - valid for an issue/object of great importance. To me it gives also the idea of openness, being available. Perhaps by subtle penetration which chimes nicely in IMO with the idea of constancy of the flow.
It is very late, but wanted to ask if this makes any sense?

 

[charly]

Just to make sure I understand this line and a hex as a whole.
...
It is very late, but wanted to ask if this makes any sense?

Hi, Dragona:

The text of the Changes is so polysemic that we need an accurate approach to the consult. Maybe seeing only the lucky promise without the IF CLAUSE said by LiSe. I believe that behaving selfishly is quite opposite to the advice of 48.6, wich is SHARE OUR GIFTS.

For better understanding we must no trust in Wilhelm/Baynes that in the case of 48.6 is little accurate at the light of the chinese received text. See yourself:

井收勿幕
jing3 shou1 wu4 mu4
WELL ACCEPTS NO CURTAIN (1) (2)
[W/B: One draws from the well without hindrance.]

Don´t try to put a curtain to the well.
Wells must no be appropriated for private use, they are public.


有孚
you3 fu2
HAVE TRUST (3)
(or also...) BE RELIABLE
[W/B: It is dependable.]

元吉
yuan2 ji2
ORIGIN LUCKY
(or also...) MAIN(LY) LUCKY
[W/B: Supreme good fortune.]

Lucky for the origin of the well is nature,
and sharing the well´s water, behaving generously, we let the nature be,
our needs will be quenched.
​

Only one of the many literal renderings possible.

The subject of 48.6 is the WELL that, like some wild animals, cannot live in prison.

A removable LID is not a problem, the problem is not to take account of the well´s needs. For the WELL, like all the things in the Changes, is a LIVING BEING.

For comparison, here is Wu Jing-Nuan translation:

48.6:

井收物幕
jing3 shou1 wu4 mu4
A well receives all living creatures in intimacy.

有孚
you3 fu2
Have sincerity.

元吉
yuan2 ji2
Great good fortune.»
​

...
«A well is an important thing to take care of and to share. I receives all living creatures in intimacy.»
...
«The well´s highest concern is potable wáter. Its essence is not only the provenance of man, but the link to all living creatures. A well is ... the Great Mother who provides a nipple to all creatures.»
...

Wu Jing Nuan

Dr. Wu used 物 wu4 = things / beings instead of 勿 wu4 = no / not. 物 has the radical COW-ANIMAL 牛 added to the phonetic 勿 which, maybe, before dropping the radical had both meanings.

Of course, for Dr. Wu all things were living beings and the WELL was a FEMALE BEING, the EARTHLY GODDESS, nothing spiritual but carnal, with her nipples and all her attached attributes, but that´s another story. (4)

All the best,


Charly
_________________________________
(1) 收 to accept / to receive
(2) 幕 veil / cover / tent / curtain [the same word used for IRON CURTAIN]
(3) 孚 trust / sincerity / reliability // captive / to capture , for the modenist approach WAR CAPTIVES SACRIFIED of course it could be used in figurated manner, as a metaphor or as an euphemism.
(4) H.47 and H.48 can have both hidden sexual meaning and 48.6´s advice for boys and girls is SHARE YOUR GIFTS, don´t put veils over naked nature, have trust that love (the origin) is lucky. If not, hihlight some sequences of W/B commentaries.

Ch.

 

[charly]

Characters with the phonetic 井 jing3
geng1 耕 [耒 lei3 plough wood] to till / to plough / to cultivate
jing3 阱 [阝阜 fu4 wall] a trap / a snare
jing3 井 [井 remnant] a well

From: SEARS´ www.chineseetymology.org

http://www.chaz.org/Arch/China/Well/Yangshao_01.png
From: Field-Well conceptual System http://www.chaz.org/Arch/China/Well/Well.html

Ch.

 

[bradford]

For the same reason that you open a bottle of wine and let it breathe for a bit.
In a new well you want to encourage maximum flow for a while, see what the output is, get to know what it's capable of, let it off-gas, let the water clear of the fine particles. It flushes the system.
Similarly, when you get a new lease on life, you want to really enjoy the experience, let it flow, not lock it down.

 

[charly]

F... when you get a new lease on life, you want to really enjoy the experience, let it flow, not lock it down.

Hi, Brad:

I believe that being in the 6th line, the advice might be like you said, only that AT THE END.

Yours,


Charly