The I Ching or Book of Changes (104 page)
Nine in the third place:
a
) He who does not give duration to his character
Meets with disgrace.
Persistent humiliation.
b
) “He who does not give duration to his character” meets with no toleration.
The line is at the point of transition from the lower to the upper trigram, hence excited and superficial. In the forward direction, it has not yet entered into the movement of the trigram Chên; in the backward direction, it has already passed beyond the gentleness of Sun (because it is a strong line in a strong place). Therefore it does not come to rest anywhere.
Nine in the fourth place:
a
) No game in the field.
b
) When one is forever absent from one’s place, how can one find game?
Chên is represented by a horse ranging the field, likewise by a highroad, where there is no game; hence the image.
The line is at the beginning of the trigram Chên, i.e., not yet central. It is a strong line in a weak place, hence not correct. Thus it bestirs itself unceasingly where it should not, and therefore finds nothing. The third line has character (a strong line in a strong place) “but no duration: the present line has duration but no character (a strong line in a weak place).
Six in the fifth place:
a
) Giving duration to one’s character through perseverance.
This is good fortune for a woman, misfortune for a man.
b
) Perseverance brings good fortune for a woman, because she follows one man all her life. A man must hold to his duty; if he follows the woman, the results are bad.
This line is yielding but central and in direct relation to the strong nine in the second place, which is ruler of the hexagram. Hence these relations are enduring. However, the law” that the weak unswervingly follows the strong reflects a virtue of woman. Things are different in the case of a man.
Six at the top:
a
) Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune.
b
) Restlessness as an enduring condition in a high position is wholly without merit.
Chên has movement for its attribute. Here a weak line is at the high point of the trigram of movement. It cannot control itself
and therefore falls prey to a restlessness that is harmful because it is in opposition to the meaning of the time. The line is the opposite of the six at the beginning; there we have movement too hasty to endure, here movement that endures but accomplishes nothing.
The constituting rulers of the hexagram are the two yin lines in the first and the second place. They show the dark principle pressing forward, with the light principle in retreat. The ruler of the action is the strong, central line in the fifth place, which finds correspondence in the weak, central line in the second place. This is the line referred to in the Commentary on the Decision: “The firm is in the appropriate place and finds correspondence. This means that one is in accord with the time.”
The lower trigram is Kên, Keeping Still, hence the three lower lines show themselves hampered in retreating. The upper trigram is Ch’ien, strong movement, hence the retreat of these three lines is free and unhampered.
The Sequence
Things cannot abide forever in their place: hence there follows the hexagram of RETREAT. Retreat means withdrawing.
Miscellaneous Notes
RETREAT means withdrawing.
THE JUDGMENT
RETREAT. Success.
In what is small, perseverance furthers.
Commentary on the Decision
“RETREAT. Success”: this means that success lies in retreating.
The firm is in the appropriate place and finds correspondence. This means that one is in accord with the time.
“In what is small, perseverance furthers”: this means that it is pressing forward, and on the increase.
Great indeed is the meaning of the time of RETREAT.
Success lies in being able to retreat at the right moment and in the right manner. This success is made possible by the fact that the retreat is not the forced flight of a weak person but the voluntary withdrawal of a strong one, as is implicit in the nature of the strong ruler of the hexagram, the nine in the fifth place, which finds correspondence in the weak six in the second place. Strength is shown in that one does not attempt to force anything but shows perseverance in small matters alone, because the dark element, represented by the two yin lines below, is pressing forward and on the increase.
The meaning of the time of RETREAT is great; that is, it is vitally important to hit upon the moment when retreat is called for.
THE IMAGE
Mountain under heaven: the image of RETREAT.
Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance,
Not angrily but with reserve.
The question is to what extent the mountain under heaven suggests the image of RETREAT. One interpretation is that the mountain under heaven is so high and steep that men cannot
come near to it. However, the other interpretation—that heaven represents the superior man, the mountain the inferior man—is more in harmony with the movement of the trigrams. Heaven has a strong upward movement and therefore automatically retreats from the mountain, whose character is immobility. An even greater divergence occurs in the hexagram P’i, STANDSTILL (
12
), in which the movements are directly opposed.
What the situation in the present hexagram teaches is, as in the case of P’i, deduced from the attributes of the trigrams taken separately. The superior man keeps the inferior at a distance by being as reserved and inaccessible as heaven; thus he brings the inferior man to a standstill (this is the attribute of the lower trigram, Kên, mountain).
THE LINES
Six at the beginning:
a
) At the tail in retreat. This is dangerous.
One must not wish to undertake anything.
b
) If one undertakes nothing while exposed to the danger of the retreating tail, what misfortune could befall one?
The two lower lines are those before which the four upper ones retreat, therefore they are the constituting rulers. As in the hexagram Lü, CONDUCT (
10
), in which the youngest daughter follows the trigram Ch’ien, so likewise here, where the youngest son is under Ch’ien, the tail is used as the image of the first line. The interpretation does not take into account the fact that in the hexagram as a whole, this line represents the inferior man, because the Book of Changes gives counsel not for inferior men but only for the superior. Instead, the counsel focuses on the situation as such, which is retreat, particularly retreat at the tail—the rear. To be at the rear in a retreat is dangerous. The danger is avoided by keeping still.
a
) He holds him fast with yellow oxhide.
No one can tear him loose.
b
) “He holds him fast with yellow oxhide”: this means a firm will.
Here also the retreat is hampered. This line occupies the middle of the trigram Kên, Keeping Still. Yellow is the color of the middle. The line is near the nine in the third place, hence holds it fast. Here we have the perseverance of the inferior, the small, referred to in the Judgment.
Nine in the third place:
a
) A halted retreat
Is nerve-wracking and dangerous.
To retain people as men- and maidservants
Brings good fortune.
b
) The danger of a halted retreat is nerve-wracking; this brings fatigue.
“To retain people as men- and maidservants brings good fortune.” True enough, but one cannot use them in great things.
The line is strong in itself, and it might therefore be expected to have the strength to retreat. What makes this impossible is the fact, first, that it is at the top of the trigram Kên, Keeping Still, and, second, that the two weak lines below cling to it. This is tiring. It can of course use the lower lines as men- and maidservants, because in the trigram Kên the top line has the mastery. This provides a way out, to the extent that the immediate danger is thereby avoided. However, with such a following it is not possible to attain great ends.
Nine in the fourth place:
a
) Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man
And downfall to the inferior man.
b
) The superior man retreats voluntarily; this brings downfall for the inferior man.
Here the entrance into the upper trigram is completed. Since heaven is strong, all three of the upper lines can retreat
unhindered. This is the line of demarcation. The superior man retreats upward and the inferior man remains alone below. This is bad for him—though not for the superior man—because he cannot rule himself.
Nine in the fifth place: