Reading
Judgment
Abundance has success.
The king attains it.
Be not sorrowful; you must be like the sun at midday.
To bring about a time of highest greatness and abundance is not granted to every mortal. There must be a born ruler over people who is able to do such a thing, because their will is directed toward the great. The time of such abundance is mostly brief. A sage could therefore, in view of the following decline, well become sad. Yet such sadness does not befit them. Only a man who is inwardly free of worry and grief can bring about a time of abundance. They must be like the sun at midday, which illuminates and gladdens all beneath heaven.
Image
Thunder and lightning both come: the image of Abundance.
Thus the noble one decides lawsuits and carries out punishments.
The hexagram has a certain relation to the hexagram "Biting Through," Number 21, where likewise thunder and lightning are together, but in the reverse order. While there the laws are established, here they are carried out and applied. Within, clarity makes possible an exact examination of the facts, and without, the shock provides for the strict and precise carrying through of punishments.
Commentary
Chen is motion; Li is the flame, whose attribute is clarity. Inwardly clarity, outwardly motion, this gives greatness and abundance. It is a time of high culture that is represented by the hexagram. Yet in the circumstance that it is a matter of a highest, the thought is already suggested that this extraordinary state of abundance will not be able to maintain itself lastingly.
Changing Lines
Line 1
A nine at the beginning means:
When one meets one's destined lord,
one may be together ten days,
and it is no mistake.
To go there finds recognition.
Commentary
To bring about a time of abundance, union of clarity and energetic motion is needed. Where these two qualities are found in two people, there these people suit each other, and even if they are together for a full cycle in the time of abundance, it is not too long and no mistake. Therefore one may go there to work; it will find recognition.
Line 2
A six in the second place means:
The curtain is of such abundance
that at midday one sees the polestars.
Through going there one gains mistrust and hatred.
If one awakens him through truth, good fortune comes.
Commentary
It often happens that between the ruler who wills the great, and the man who could carry out the great, intrigues and party cabals press in, which have a darkening effect like an eclipse of the sun. Then one sees in place of the sun the north stars in the sky. The lord is pushed into the shadow by a party that has seized the rule. Were one in such a time to undertake something energetic, one would only meet with mistrust and envy, which would make all motion impossible. Here one must then stand inwardly in the power of truth, which is finally so strong that it works in the invisible on the ruler, so that all goes well.
Line 3
A nine in the third place means:
The undergrowth is of such abundance
that at midday one sees the small stars.
He breaks his right arm. No blame.
Commentary
Here as image is depicted the advancing covering of the sun. At this point totality is reached, therefore one sees at midday even the small stars.
Transferred to social conditions, here the prince is so darkened that even the most insignificant people can push themselves forward. It is here impossible for a capable man who could be the right hand of the ruler to undertake anything. It is as though his hand were broken. But it is not his fault that he is in this way hindered from acting.
Line 4
A nine in the fourth place means:
The curtain is of such abundance
that at midday one sees the polestars.
He meets his equal lord. Good fortune!
Commentary
Here the darkness is already on the wane, therefore the corresponding comes together. Here too the complement must be found: to readiness for action the necessary wisdom. Then all will go well. Here the reverse complement is considered as compared with the first line. There wisdom was to be complemented by energy; here energy by wisdom.
Line 5
A six in the fifth place means:
Lines come; blessing and fame draw near. Good fortune!
Commentary
The ruling man is modest, so that he is accessible to the counsel of the capable. Thus men come into his surroundings who bring him close the guidelines of action. Thereby come blessing, fame, and good fortune for him and all the people.
Line 6
A six at the top means:
His house is in abundance.
He covers up his clan.
He peeps through the gate and notices no one anymore.
For three years he sees nothing. Misfortune!
Commentary
Here a man is depicted who through his arrogance and self-will achieves the opposite of what he strives for. He seeks abundance and splendor for his dwelling. He wants at all costs to be lord in his house. But thereby he estranges his family, so that finally he stands wholly isolated.