Reading
Judgment
The Receptive effects sublime success,
furthered by the perseverance of a mare.
If the noble one has something to undertake and tries to lead,
they go astray; but if they follow, they find guidance.
It is favorable to find friends in the west and south,
to forgo friends in the east and north.
Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.
The four fundamental attributes of the Creative, "sublime success, furthered by perseverance," appear also as the designation of the Receptive. Only, the perseverance here is more closely defined as the perseverance of a mare. The Receptive designates spatial actuality as against the spiritual possibility of the Creative. When the possible becomes actual, when the spiritual becomes spatial, this always occurs through a limiting, individualizing determination. This is indicated by the fact that the expression "perseverance" has here the qualifier "of a mare" appended to it. The horse belongs to the earth as the dragon belongs to heaven; through its boundless movement across the plain, it symbolizes the vast expanse of the earth. The expression "mare" is chosen because the mare combines the strength and swiftness of the horse with the gentleness and devotion of the cow.
Nature can realize the impulses of the Creative only because it is equal to its essence. Her abundance lies in nourishing all beings, and her greatness in that she beautifies and glorifies all things. Thus she creates prosperity for all that lives. While the Creative engenders things, they are born by the Receptive. Applied to human conditions, what matters is to conduct oneself in accordance with the situation. One is not in an independent position but is active as an assistant. There one has work to do. Not to want to lead, which would only lead one astray, but to allow oneself to be led: this is the task. If one knows how to conduct oneself with devotion toward destiny, one will surely find appropriate guidance. The noble one lets themself be led. They do not advance blindly, but draw from circumstances what is required of them, and follow this directive of destiny.
Since one must accomplish something, one needs helpers and friends in the time of work and exertion, when the thoughts that are to be carried out have already been fixed. The time of work and exertion is expressed by the west and south. For the south and west are the symbol of the place where the Receptive works for the Creative, as nature does in summer and autumn; if one does not then gather all one's strength, one cannot finish the work that must be done. Therefore to gain friends here means precisely that one finds accomplishment. But apart from work and exertion, there is also a time of planning and ordering; for that, solitude is needed. The east symbolizes the place where one receives orders from one's master, and the north the place where one reports on what has been done. There one must be alone and objective. In that sacred hour one must forgo companions, so that the purity is not clouded by partisan hatred and favor.
Image
The state of the earth is receptive devotion.
Thus the noble one, broad in nature, bears the outer world.
Just as there is only one heaven, so there is only one earth. But whereas with heaven the doubling of the hexagram signifies duration in time, with the earth it signifies spatial extent and solidity, through which it bears and sustains all that lives and moves. The earth in her devotion bears good and evil without exception. Thus the noble one makes their character broad, solid, and load-bearing, so that they are able to carry and endure both people and things.
Commentary
The hexagram consists entirely of divided lines. The divided line corresponds to the shadowy, yielding, receptive primal force of the Yin. The attribute of the hexagram is devotion; its image is the earth. It is the perfect counterpart of the Creative: the counterpart, not the opposite; a completion, not an adversary. It is nature as against spirit, earth as against heaven, the spatial as against the temporal, the feminine-maternal as against the masculine-paternal. The principle of this counterpart, applied to human relations, is found not only in the relationship of man and woman, but also of prince and minister, or father and son; indeed even within the individual human being this duality is present, in the coexistence of the spiritual and the sensual.
Nevertheless one cannot speak of true dualism here, for between the two hexagrams there exists the relationship of a clear order of rank. In itself the Receptive is of course as important as the Creative. But through the attribute of devotion, the position of this primal force relative to the Creative is defined. It must stand under the guidance and stimulation of the Creative; then it works beneficially. Only when it steps out of this position and seeks to set itself up as equal alongside the Creative does it become evil. From that arises opposition and struggle against the Creative, which brings misfortune to both parties.
Changing Lines
Line 1
A six at the beginning means:
When one treads on hoarfrost, the solid ice is near.
Commentary
As the light force represents life, so the shadow force represents death. In autumn, when the first frost falls, the power of darkness and cold is just beginning to unfold. After the first traces, the manifestations of death will, by fixed laws, gradually increase, until finally the rigid winter with its ice is upon us. It is exactly the same in life. When faint, scarcely noticeable signs of decay appear, they continue until the final collapse is reached. But in life one can take preventive measures, if one heeds the signs of decay and meets them in good time.
Line 2
A six in the second place means:
Straight, right-angled, great.
Without intention, yet nothing is left unfurthered.
Commentary
Heaven has as its symbol the circle, the earth the right-angled square. Thus the right angle is an original property of the earth. By contrast, straight-line motion is originally a property of the Creative, as is greatness. But all right-angled things have their root in the straight line, and in their turn form solid magnitudes. When in mathematics one distinguishes lines, surfaces, and solids, right-angled surfaces arise from straight lines, and cubic magnitudes from right-angled surfaces. The Receptive conforms to the properties of the Creative and makes them its own. So a straight line becomes a square, and a square becomes a cube. This is simple devotion to the laws of the Creative, neither adding to nor subtracting from them. Therefore the Receptive has no need of special intention or effort, and everything turns out right.
Nature produces beings without falsity, that is her straightness; she is calm and still, that is her right-angledness; she refuses to bear no being, that is her greatness. Thus without external activity or particular intention, she achieves what is right for all. For the human being it is the highest wisdom to become, in one's own work, as natural as nature itself.
Line 3
A six in the third place means:
Hidden lines; one is able to remain persevering.
If you should enter the service of a king,
seek no works, but bring them to completion.
Commentary
If one is free of vanity, one is able to conceal one's merits so that they do not prematurely attract public attention. In this way one can mature in stillness. When circumstances require it, one may step forward into public view, but even then with restraint. The sage is willing to leave fame to others. They do not seek accomplished facts that will be credited to them as achievements; rather, they hope for effective causes, that is, they complete works in such a way that they will bear fruit for the future.
Line 4
A six in the fourth place means:
A tied-up sack. No blame; no praise.
Commentary
The shadowy opens when it moves, and closes when it rests. Here the strictest closure is depicted. The time is dangerous: any stepping forward leads either to hostility from overwhelming opponents, should one try to fight them, or to misunderstood recognition, should one relax one's guard. So one must shut oneself up, whether in solitude or in the bustle of the world: for even there one can conceal oneself so well that no one knows one.
Line 5
A six in the fifth place means:
A yellow undergarment brings sublime good fortune.
Commentary
Yellow is the color of the earth and of the center, the symbol of the reliable and the genuine. The undergarment is inconspicuously ornamented, the symbol of noble restraint. When someone is called to act in a prominent but not independent position, true success depends on the greatest discretion. Genuineness and refinement must not come directly to the fore, but should make themselves felt only indirectly, as an effect from within.
Line 6
A six at the top means:
Dragons fight in the meadow.
Their blood is black and yellow.
Commentary
In the topmost place the shadowy should yield to the light. If it tries to hold its ground in a position that does not belong to it, and to rule rather than to serve, it draws upon itself the wrath of the strong. A struggle ensues in which it is overthrown, and in which both parties suffer harm. The dragon, symbol of heaven, comes forth and does battle with the false dragon, the image to which the earthly has here exalted itself. Dark blue is the color of heaven; yellow is the color of the earth. When therefore black and yellow blood flows, it is a sign that through this unnatural battle both primal forces suffer harm.