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Hex 27, Nourishment - haunted by a ghost, Hungry Ghost Festival

Lilly-La

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Each year in the 7th month (late August to early September) Chinese celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is a bit similar to Halloween here in the West. In a magazin for chinese music i found some more profound infos on the festival and its history. It reminds me very much of Hex 27.

Chime Journal, page 35ff.

The story of the Hungry Ghost Festival is the tale of Mu Lian, a disciple of the Buddha. Through his great spiritual powers Mu Lian discovers that his mother was reborn as a hungry ghost. He makes offerings of food to her, demonstrating to her that one who has become a Buddhist monk might still observe proper Confucian rites for dead, but all food turns into flaming coals in her mouth. (Becoming a Buddhist monk or nun contradicted the traditional Confucian view that one´s primary responsible in life is to demonstrate solicitude and respect for one´s living and dead ancestors.) Mu Lian asks the Buddha for advice. The Buddha informs Mu Lian that the sins of his mother are too deep to expiate them by himself. The Buddha thereupon preaches a method by which hungry ghosts can be saved. This method includes giving offerings to the monastic community at the 15th day in the seventh month, right after 3 months of heightened asceticism when the community has accumulated a lot of spiritual power.

The Festivals seem to have been spectacular colourful with lots of rites, music and food. It was also a great entertainment for the living. The participation of monks was deemed essential for the salvation of ghosts. Over time the Hungry Ghost Festival became increasingly popular.

Later on the tale of Mu Lian appears in many more variations but at core it is about a hungry ghost longing for salvation.

This tale reminds me very much of Hex 27, Nourishment, the symbol of an open (hungry) mouth. The 4 inner Yin lines are a symbol for darkness. Already the first line talks about the dropped tortoise. That might be the mother´s fear her son gave up taoist/confucian rites for dead. Line 2 talks about deviating from the path to seek nourishment from the hill (a temple). The tiger to me is the mother (the hungry ghost) seeking nourishment/salvation.

There is certainly more to say about the Hexagram and the salvation of ghosts / ancestors which seems to have been a major task of living family members. Thus it should be found in the Yi. Additionally i read that different religious groups of that day haven´t been less hostile to each other than it is the case of today. Taoists, Confucianists and Buddhists often weren´t friendly to each other and/or united in spirituality. Many different schools in all 3 major religious groups existed. Sometimes they were fierce competitors.

However, if you draw Hex 27, Nourishment, you might be haunted by a ghost :mischief:

Any thoughts are welcome, cheers :)
 

moss elk

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How would you interprete Hex 28 in combination with Hex 27?

I am not one to confidently speak on the relationships and sequences of hexagrams. My own study is focused for now on individual line meaning, and understanding readings as a whole.

Hilary and Rosada will surely have some input about your question, the've written on it in the past.
 

charly

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...


However, if you draw Hex 27, Nourishment, you might be haunted by a ghost :mischief:
Any thoughts are welcome, cheers :)
Hi Lilly:

Maybe one of the meanings of H.27 is about DEVOURING. I was said that the first component of the character YI was an x-ray sketch of a mouth seen from the side, with its lips, upper an lower teeth and something between both. Most probable MEAT / FLESH, maybe advicing "DON'T PUT YOUR HEAD IN THE TIGER'S MOUTH". the second component is of course a sketch of a HEAD.

But meanings change depending upon the point of view. If you are the owner of the HEAD, beware of anybody seeming too hungry. If you are the owner of the mouth, say the hungry one, don't try to swallow all the meat at once, begin with the more interesting part of it, don't be GLUTTON.

That doesn't happen to you like happened to the Big Bad Wolf after swallowing the whole Little Red Ridding Hood and her Grandmother. Better proceed by parts.

All the best,

Charly
 
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Lilly-La

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Hi Charly,

Maybe one of the meanings of H.27 is about DEVOURING.

to figure out a Hexagram i usually compare it to its partner Hex -> here H.28.
For 28 there are 2 lines referring to a couple (older man/younger woman, older woman/young man). That could be a metaphor for extending time. If the man is Ch´ien (summertime) and the woman Kun (wintertime) than this points perhaps to calendrical leap days/months. Older man = late autumn, old woman = late winter. (The chinese calendar was a lunar-solar calender and it was common to insert days (leap days/weeks) to get the different phases into accord. To keep the calendar in order was most important in old china. The king´s weal and woe did depend on a correct calendar.) As well it could point to the "delay of death" in a wider sense.

However if H.28 is the extention of time, then Hex 27 should point to a reduction of time or a dark time. The tiger surely points to wintertime. "Nourishment" perhaps only refers to winter time? As well Hex 27 refers to the corners of the mouth, not the mouth itself. (You let your magic tortoise go, and look at me with the corners of your mouth drooping.) In Hex 28 the beam is mentioned where "The ridgepole sags to the breaking point." The corners of the mouth connect the upper and lower lips. As a metaphor: the connection of time is not correct. It is not balanced. This might refer to the two phases of sun and moon or any other connection between yesterday and tomorrow or young and old, this life and afterlife etc..

Can you digest my interpretation? :)

J. Minford writes in his book about breastfeeding for H.27. I have some problems with this breastfeeding interpretation as it does not fit to the text.
"Devouring" fits ina way as it is similar to "too much".

That doesn't happen to you like happened to the Big Bad Wolf after swallowing the whole Little Red Ridding Hood and her Grandmother. Better proceed by parts.

You remember the "Wolf" .... :) thx, best lilly
 

charly

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Hi Charly,
...
J. Minford writes in his book about breastfeeding for H.27. I have some problems with this breastfeeding interpretation as it does not fit to the text.
"Devouring" fits ina way as it is similar to "too much".
...
You remember the "Wolf" .... :) thx, best lilly
Hi Lilliy:

I did never think in BREASTFEEDING for H.27 but I find it not unreasonable. Maybe Minford view in this Bronze Character at the left two breasts with its nipples (something like the character for mother) and at the right a side view or an open mouth (it looks more like the snout of a dog).

The chin (or the lower jaw) put in the cleavage and the mouh maybe aiming to catch the right nipple.

Do you see it in the picture?
Bronze character number B16282 fron Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology

b16282.gif

Source: http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=頤

I believe that BREASTFEEDING fits well with the character yi2 and even with the hexagram structure:

  • atop MOUNTAIN (breast), KEPPING TRANQUIL,
  • lower THUNDER (the baby, noisy and needy), AROUSING (provoking with crying to be quickly served).

However at first sight it does not seem to fit with all the lines. Might you quote Minford's translation for the lines? I wonder if he applied breastfeeding only to children or also to adults!

A good CASSE for breastfeeding coul be 21.2:

噬膚滅鼻旡咎
shi4 fu1 mie4 bi2 wu2 jiu4
BITING SKIN SUFFOCATING NOSE: NO WRONG.
Nibbling (1) tender flesh (2) sinking (3) the nose (4).

Soon:

THE WOLF CONNECTION
with H.21 frst trigram.
Big Bad Wolves means Dirty Old Men
Does Little Bad Wolves mean Dirty Young Boys?

All the best,


Charly
___________________________________
(1) In the lines only appears Shi, maybe abreviated form of ShiHe, biting and chewing, eating, DEVOURING or maybe meaning only biting, its semantic variants like NIBBLING, gnawing or even metaphoric alternatives like kissing (think in lovebites).

And of course more connections can appear examining homophons and synonims. By example, a synonym of SHI is YAO with similar strucure but different so called "phonetic" components:

SHI = MOUTH + YARROW DIVINATION,
YAO = MOUTH + F_CKING, but that's another story.

(2) The character translated as TENDER MEAT by Whilhelm / Baynes means SKIN, In chinese there is an idiom: SOFT SKIN AND TENDER FLESH. Given that in english meat has a strong connection with food I prefer tender flesh. I always believed that Wilhelm knew very well about wat was he writing. Tender in chinese has also the sense of delicate an young.

(3) The character that W / B translate disappear means to put fire off, to SUFFOCATE and, by extension, to submerge, to SINK and to destroy. The dialectic of WATER / FIRE is most impotant in the Changes as in Daoism.

(4) I never believed that biting and chewing the nose should be taken in literal sense. The NOSE of course bears a PHALLIC SYNBOLISM, in chinese also has the sense of ONSELF. Little children with breastfeed have maybe the feeLing or the fantasy of PLUNGING THEIRSELVES INTO THE BREAST.


FOR SEEING THE CHINESE CHARACTERS
INSTEAD OF GARBAGE GO HERE:
https://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/printthread.php?t=25236&pp=10&page=1
Ch.
 
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Lilly-La

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TORTOISES were considered most LEWD creatures whose head and neck looks pretty phallic. Say, the Shangs have lost the Heaven's Mandate and with it the POWER. They were known as too fond of wine and women. But NO MORE.

Now they are pending of the Zhous speech, a new Dynasty has the word.

Hi Charly,

i think that´s at core it: A new Dynasty on the rise. Here is why i think so (too):
Hex 27.3
Turning away from nourishment.
Perseverance brings misfortune.
Do not act thus for ten years.

Those 10 years point to Hex 50 (5, 50, 500 etc.. is the half of 1, 100, 1000 the 10 thousands things).No surprise H 50 is The Couldron/Ding. It´s partner Hex is 49 (Revolution). Unfortunately i have no english translation of the judgement for 49 i could propperly cite now - it says something like: "Tang, founder of the Shang and Wu founder of the Zhou reorganized theoder/path/rules/system and they were with heaven. The time of revolution is a great time." And:
"Thus the superior man
Sets the calendar in order
And makes the seasons clear".
In 49 you find the tiger again btw.

In Hex 27.2 you find: "Deviating from the path... misfortune."
In 27.5: Turning away from the path.
To remain persevering brings good fortune.
One should not cross the great water (yet).


So the PATH seems to be an approbiate proceeding according to time. Transitional times are spring and autumn. Autumn points to Hex 28 (old woman, young man). Crossing the great river relates to the stars crossing the milky way. The milky way was regarded as a heavenly river.

As i wrote in my other posting above, Hex. 27/28 are also about time in general, 'connecting/transitional time', leap days or weeks. Those leap days were really important and they might have a metaphorical meaning here - an in-between time (like Change of Dynasties), where important decisions have to be made and when you fail, you fail completely. :eek:
______________________________

Mythological (not mathematical) numbering as i see it:
Heaven is 1 and encloses the 4 seasons. So 4 stands often as well for 1. See Hex 44 and 43 - both are just one yin line distant from Heaven No.1. As the YI is about eternal time 1 stands as well for 100, 1000, 10,000 etc.. To probably keep the Hex table small you set 100 to 50. So 50 is where Heaven reaches its full cycle and is connected to Earth. The book could well end with Hex. 54 as a full 'heavenly cycle' (50) plus the 4 seasons end. 5+4=9 btw.

6 is the number for the "earthly cycle" as in former times a year had 6 months à 60 days. (The book ends with Hex 64 => 6 is the full 'earthly cycle' and 4 = 4 seasons = 1. (6+4=10 btw) As 64 includes 54 all cycles are finished.

What i like to point out is that you deal with 2 cycles: namely a 'heavenly cycle' (thats what i call it) and an 'earthly cycle'. And at some points they touch, interchange.

Another example:
Hex 3 is partly about this poor girl.. Hex 3.2 says that she has to wait for 10 years. That points to Hex 60. Half of 60 is Hex 35 the other Hex 36. The solution for Hex 3.2. is Hex 35 while Hex 3.6 will end in Hex 36 (a very important Hexagram). Mathematical 35 + 36 = 71 but i refer to mytholocical 'numbering'.
________________________________

For the Breastfeeding: i will either scan or write Minfords comments concerning breastfeeding in a seperate posting.
 

Lilly-La

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Okay, i habe a go with my fotos of Minfords 2. book for Hex 27. I hope foto will not be scaled down.

 

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Lilly-La

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Okay, i habe a go with my fotos of Minfords 2. book for Hex 27. I hope foto will not be scaled down. (okay, it scales it down. If you (Charly) can´t read let me know.)

 

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