Reading
Judgment
Influence. Success.
Perseverance furthers.
To take a maiden brings good fortune.
The weak is above, the strong below; thereby their forces attract each other, so that they unite. This creates success. For all success rests on the effect of mutual attraction. Inner stillness amid outer joy brings it about that joy does not exceed measure, but remains within the bounds of what is right. This is the sense of the added admonition: Perseverance furthers; for thereby wooing, in which the strong man places himself beneath the weak maiden and shows consideration for her, is distinguished from seduction. This attraction of elective affinity is a general law of nature. Heaven and earth attract each other, and thus all beings come into existence.
Through such attraction the sage works upon the hearts of people; thus the world comes to peace. From the attractions that something exerts, one can recognize the nature of all beings in heaven and on earth.
Image
On the mountain is a lake:
the image of Influence.
Thus the noble one, through receptivity, lets people approach them.
(Literally: Thus the noble one receives people through emptiness.)
A mountain with a lake on its summit receives stimulus through its moisture. This advantage is granted it because its summit does not rise up proudly, but is hollowed. The image yields the counsel that one must hold oneself inwardly low and free, so that one remains receptive to good counsel. Whoever wants to know everything better will soon no longer be given advice by others.
Commentary
The name of the hexagram means "general," "pervasive," and in a transferred sense "to influence," "to stimulate." The upper hexagram is Tui, the Joyous; the lower is Ken, Keeping Still. The lower rigid hexagram, through persevering, still-keeping effect, stimulates the upper weak hexagram, which cheerfully and with joy responds to this stimulus. Ken, the lower hexagram, is the youngest son; the upper, Tui, is the youngest daughter. Thus is represented the general mutual attraction of the sexes. The masculine must take the initiative and place itself beneath the feminine in wooing.
As the first part of the book begins with the hexagrams for heaven and earth, as the foundations of all that exists, so the second part begins with the hexagrams for wooing and marriage, as the foundations of all social relationships.
Changing Lines
Line 1
A six at the beginning means:
The influence expresses itself in the big toe.
Commentary
A movement, before it is actually carried out, expresses itself first in the toes. The thought of influence is already there, but it is not yet apparent to others. As long as the intention has no visible effects, it is indifferent to the outside world; it leads neither to good nor to evil.
Line 2
A six in the second place means:
The influence expresses itself in the calves. Misfortune!
Tarrying brings good fortune!
Commentary
The calf follows the foot in movement. It cannot go forward of itself and cannot stand alone. It is a motion that is dependent and therefore, because it is not master of itself, brings misfortune. One should calmly wait until one is moved to action by real influence. Then one remains free of harm.
Line 3
A nine in the third place means:
The influence expresses itself in the thighs.
It holds to what follows it.
To continue is humiliating.
Commentary
Every mood of the heart arouses a movement. Wherever the heart strives, there the thighs run, without reflection; they hold to the heart, which they follow. But applied to human life, this manner of setting oneself in motion at every stirring of a mood is not right, and, if continued, leads to humiliation. A threefold thought arises: one must not run after every person on whom one wishes to exert influence, but must sometimes be able to hold back. Just as little should one immediately comply with every whim of those in whose service one stands. And finally, with regard to the moods of one's own heart, one should never neglect the possibility of restraint, on which human freedom rests.
Line 4
A nine in the fourth place means:
Perseverance brings good fortune! Remorse vanishes.
If one thinks back and forth in agitation,
only the friends follow
on whom one consciously directs one's thoughts.
Commentary
Here the place of the heart is reached. The stimulation that goes forth from here is the most important. Particular attention must be paid that the influence be steady and good; then, despite the danger that arises from the great mobility of the human heart, no remorse is needed. When the quiet strength of one's own personal being works, then the effects are normal. All people who are receptive to the vibrations of such a spirit will then be influenced. Influence on others should not express itself as conscious and intended working upon them. For through such conscious agitation one comes into excitement and is worn out by the eternal back and forth. Moreover the effects then limit themselves to the people on whom one consciously directs one's thoughts.
Line 5
A nine in the fifth place means:
The influence expresses itself in the neck.
No remorse.
Commentary
The neck is the most immobile part of the body. When the influence expresses itself here, the will still remains firm, and the influence does not lead to confusion. Therefore remorse does not come into question here. What takes place in these depths of the being, in the unconscious, can neither be called forth nor hindered from consciousness. To be sure, with one's own inability to be influenced, an influence on the outer world is also not possible.
Line 6
A six at the top means:
The influence expresses itself in the jaws,
cheeks, and tongue.
Commentary
The most external manner of wanting to gain influence on others is through mere chatter, without anything real corresponding to the words. Such stimulation through mere motion of the speech organs necessarily remains insignificant. Therefore nothing is added about happiness or misfortune.