Reading
Judgment
The Taming Power of the Great.
Perseverance furthers.
Not eating at home brings good fortune.
It is favorable to cross the great water.
To hold fast and accumulate great creative forces, as represented in the hexagram, calls for a strong, clear man who is honored by the ruler. The hexagram Ch'ien points to strong creative power, the hexagram Ken to firmness and truth; both point to light and clarity and to the daily renewal of character. Only through such daily self-renewal does one remain at the height of strength. While in calm times the power of habit is helpful to order, in such great times of gathering of strength everything depends on the power of personality. But since the worthy are honored, as is shown by the strong personality whom the ruler has entrusted with leadership, it is favorable not to eat at home but to earn one's bread in public by taking on an office. One is in accord with heaven; therefore even difficult, dangerous undertakings like crossing the great water succeed.
Image
Heaven in the midst of the mountain:
the image of the Taming Power of the Great.
Thus the noble one comes to know many words of antiquity
and deeds of the past
in order thereby to firm up their character.
Heaven in the midst of the mountain points to hidden treasures. Thus in the words and deeds of the past a treasure lies hidden that can be used for firming up and raising one's own character. This is the right kind of study, not to limit oneself to historical knowledge, but to make the historical again and again present through application.
Commentary
The Creative is tamed by Keeping Still. This gives a great strength, quite different from Number 9, The Taming Power of the Small, where only the Gentle tames the Creative. While there one weak line was to tame the five strong, here there are two, besides the minister also the prince. Therefore their taming power is far stronger. A threefold meaning lies in the hexagram: heaven in the midst of the mountain gives the thought of holding fast, of holding together; the hexagram Ken, which holds the hexagram Ch'ien still, gives the thought of holding fast, of holding back. Finally, since a strong line at the top is the master of the hexagram, who is honored and fostered as a sage, the thought of holding fast, as fostering, nourishing, arises. The last thought comes especially into force in the master of the hexagram, the strong upper line, which represents the sage.
Changing Lines
Line 1
A nine at the beginning means:
Danger is at hand. It is favorable to desist.
Commentary
One would wish for a vigorous advance. Yet in the circumstances there lies a hindrance. One sees oneself held back. Were one to force the advance, it would bring misfortune. Therefore it is better to compose oneself and wait until a way out opens up for the accumulated forces.
Line 2
A nine in the second place means:
The axles are removed from the wagon.
Commentary
Here advance is hindered, similarly as in The Taming Power of the Small (Number 9, nine in the third place). But whereas there the hindering force is slight and therefore a conflict arises between the one pressing forward and the one hindering, as a result of which the spokes break off from the wagon, here the hindering force is unconditionally superior. Therefore no fight takes place. One submits and first removes the axles from the wagon, that is, one limits oneself for the time being to waiting. Thereby the taut force gathers itself for later energetic advance.
Line 3
A nine in the third place means:
A good horse that follows others.
Favorable is awareness of danger and perseverance.
Practice daily in driving the wagon and in defensive arms.
It is favorable to have somewhere to go.
Commentary
The way opens. The hindrance has ceased. One stands in relation to a strong will that works in the same direction. One goes forward like a good horse that follows another. But danger still threatens, of which one must remain aware, so that one does not let firmness be taken from one. Thus one must on the one hand practice in what leads forward, on the other in what protects against unexpected attack. Then it is good to have a goal toward which one strives.
Line 4
A six in the fourth place means:
The headboard of a young bull.
Great good fortune!
Commentary
This line and the one following are the ones that tame the forward-striving lower lines. Before a bull's horns have grown, one places on its forehead a headboard, which takes care that, once the horns are there, they can no longer injure. It is a good kind of taming to meet outbreaking wildness before it expresses itself; thereby one achieves an easy and great success.
Line 5
A six in the fifth place means:
The tooth of a gelded boar. Good fortune!
Commentary
Here the taming of the impetuously forward-pressing has been reached in an indirect way. The tusk of the boar is in itself dangerous, but when the nature of the boar is changed, it loses its dangerousness. So too with people one must not combat wildness directly, but remove the roots of wildness.
Line 6
A nine at the top means:
One attains the way of heaven. Success.
Commentary
The time of hindrance is past. The force long accumulated through hindrance breaks its way and has great success. It is a sage who is honored by the ruler, and whose principles now penetrate and shape the world.