Signs and Lines Creating and Acting
1. The eight trigrams are arranged according to completeness: thus the images are contained in them. Thereupon they are doubled: thus the lines are contained in them.
The eight trigrams are arranged according to completeness:
The trigrams are arranged in the sequence of light increasing to its maximum and then darkness increasing to its maximum.
Each trigram is also balanced by the opposite trigram.
This is the natural order of Fu Hsi’s Sequence of Earlier Heaven.
This is the complete presentation of the zodiac or seasons of the year.
thus the images are contained in them.
The images that hang in the heavens are the moving lights: the sun, moon and planets.
They are contained within the zodiac and because the trigrams are a complete representation of the zodiac or seasons, they are completely one and the same.
The moving lights are contained within the trigrams and move through them in sequence.
A second implication which has been adopted in the mathematical era of yarrow stalk divination is that each trigram has its own image.
The Later Heaven Arrangement, Mathematically Based
Thereupon they are doubled: thus the lines are contained in them.
A. From a mathematical viewpoint the trigrams were doubled and one was placed above the other. There were eight trigrams on top of each of the original eight trigrams.
This made sixty-four hexagrams with six lines in each,
and from this the meaning of the lines were mathematically considered.
The Eight Trigrams Set the Original Natural Sequence.
The bottom line when solid revealed that daylight was increasing (winter, spring)
The bottom line when broken revealed that darkness was increasing (summer, fall)
The second line when solid revealed that there was more daylight than darkness (spring, summer)
The second line when broken revealed that there was more darkness than daylight (fall, winter)
The third line when solid revealed the light half of each season.
The third line when broken revealed the dark half of each season.
The fourth line divides the light half and the dark half of each of the eight seasonal divisions of the year, making sixteen divisions of four lines in the correct sequence of light and dark halves in the year. (The fourth line in its position around the circle alternates four broken lines followed by four solid lines with the dark lines starting and ending at the winter solstice.)
The fifth line divides the sixteen divisions of the year into thirty-two divisions of five line totems, in the correct sequence of light and dark halves, with the broken lines aligning with the winter solstice or greatest darkness and with the solid lines aligning with the summer solstice or greatest light.
The sixth line divides the thirty-two divisions of the year into sixty-four divisions of six line totems, in the correct sequence of light and dark halves. (In the circle of the year the sixth line alternates from solid to broken to solid to broken etc. from one hexagram to the next.)
In this correct sequence of Earlier Heaven
Each hexagram represents a different phase of the zodiac cycle, house cycle, and planetary or moon cycle.
Each line represents a different degree or day with its unique combination of light and darkness across the year or cycle.
The significance of the hexagrams and the lines comes initially from their position in the sequence of each cycle, then further considerations will come from the position of the lines within the hexagram.
In the mathematical era of Later Heaven great insights were developed by contemplation about the implications of the lines within each hexagram and trigram.
Unfortunately the Sequence of Later Heaven changed the sequence of the trigrams and the hexagrams from the natural order to a mathematical one consisting of random pairs of opposites.
The relationship to nature and the natural order became obscured and distorted.
The correspondence to astrology and to the true ways of the heavenly lights, the moving lights and the lines on the earth was compromised and undermined.
Hence the era of mathematical deduction left everything to random chance rather than the celestial order.
The decline of the era of the old ways began in 1200 BC and the ascent of a new era of mathematical association and speculation began.
2. The firm and the yielding displace each other, and change is contained therein. The judgements, together with their counsels, are appended, and movement is contained therein.
The firm and the yielding displace each other, and change is contained therein.
This confirms the original natural sequence of change.
The position of the solid and broken lines within the trigrams and the hexagramsin the cycles of the year, month and day are set.
Change is contained within these cycles.
As a whole, change is neutral and quiescent ….… complete in itself.
When a movement occurs anywhere that specific movement will be somewhere in the cycle of change and it will accentuate a zodiac sign, an astrological house and a phase of the moon cycle, as well as a hexagram and a line in that hexagram.
This is the way astrology works.
Moving lights in the signs and houses and with aspects.
What is above, what is below, and what is in between.
In the mathematical era the Sequence of Later Heaven was used with its magical squares, and subsequent associations were used to determine the newly altered sequence of change.
The meaning of the lines was determined from their position within the hexagram and in context to the name of the hexagram as a whole, without referring to the clear original considerations of the seasons or natural cycles inherent in the Sequence of Earlier Heaven.
The judgements, together with their counsels, are appended,
Judgements about the relationships of the trigrams and lines and advice as to the good fortune or misfortune implied were added.
In the natural era of Fu Hsi and Early Heaven these judgements were made from observations of the year, the moon phases, and the day and subdivisions thereof.
In the mathematical era of King Wan and the Duke of Chou the judgements were based on mathematical association within each hexagram and in relationship to magic squares like the Lo River and Yellow River Maps.
The lines were active or passive and in an odd or an even place within the hexagram.
Number associations replaced the original natural insights of above, below and in between.
Some of the original logic persisted but was used in mathematical context.
and movement is contained therein.
Originally this was the movement of the moving lights (images hanging in the heavens) through the zodiac constellations.
In the mathematical era, movement was implied from the random numbers of the yarrow stalks and the determination of what was considered to be a changing line.
It should be remembered that the lines do not change.
They are fixed within each hexagram but when stimulated by a 9 or a 6, the largest and smallest counting of the yarrow stalks, that line would become a so-called changing line.
A new hexagram would be implied in which all the lines of the original hexagram would remain the same, but the line accentuated by a 6 or a 9 would, in the second hexagram, be changed to its opposite; a solid would change to a broken line or a broken would change to a solid line.
Thus one would divine a hexagram and by the so-called changing of a line into its opposite a new hexagram would be created as a further influence in the scheme of things.
The line(s) that were different in the two hexagrams came to be known as changing lines.
The lines became numerologically weighted and altered accordingly within the context of random mathematical divination.
This change would allow for a concept of time and would prove to be most useful.
Within the context of the astrological or natural use of the changes the so-called changing lines are irrelevant.
It could add another level of abstract consideration, but the changing lines would be the lines that the moving lights were moving through.
3. Good fortune and misfortune, remorse and humiliation, come about through movement.
Good fortune and misfortune, remorse and humiliation, come about through movement.
The movements of the sun in a year, the moon in a month and the earth in a day, with the increasing and decreasing of light determine what is to be gained or lost and therefore what is good fortune and misfortune.
It is the moving lights that determine the good fortune and misfortune.
This is basic astrology.
Astrology was considered to be the science of the world before 1500AD
So in the mathematical divination it was numbers that determined the changing lines and from this, consideration was given about the good fortune and misfortune implied.
Numbers were used to replace planets and the old astrological ways.
4. The firm and the yielding stand firm when they are in their original places. Their changes and continuities should correspond with the time.
The firm and the yielding stand firm when they are in their original places.
The solid and broken lines each have their fixed places in each hexagram and around the circle of change.
Their position in the cycle does not change.
The complete cycle is neutral.
Everything is balanced, still and quiet.
When they become stimulated by the presence of a moving light they come alive and each hexagram and line presents a special meaning according to its place in the sequence.
Each line has its own unique balance of light and darkness within the cycle of the zodiac, the cycle of the houses, and the cycle of the moon.
As a mathematical consideration within each hexagram
If a solid or firm line is in an odd numbered place, firmness is considered to be appropriate.
If a broken or yielding line is in an even numbered place, yielding is considered to be appropriate.
If a solid or firm line is in an even numbered place, firmness is considered to be inappropriate.
If a broken or yielding line is in an odd numbered place, yielding is considered to be inappropriate.
This is one of the prime mathematical factors in assessing the meaning of the lines.
It is used to assess the strength and weakness of each line and its implied behaviour.
Their changes and continuities should correspond with the time.
Each line, the energy it represents and its direction, has a specific place in the entire cycle, which corresponds to the time of year within the cycle of the seasons, and to the zodiac with its changing signs; which corresponds to the time of the month or phase of the moon cycle; which also corresponds to the time of day or the rotation of the earth with its twelve houses.
Each hexagram is part of a scale that measures changes in the light and the dark.
For a scale to be meaningful and valid it must be consistent.
An inch is an inch, a foot is a foot or twelve inches, a mile is a mile, etc.
Within the mathematical considerations each line and its position has its mathematical correspondences within each hexagram.
The hexagram came to represent the time or theme, and the lines came to represent the circumstances within it.
5. Good fortune and misfortune take effect through perseverance. The Tao of heaven and earth becomes visible through perseverance. The Tao of sun and moon becomes bright through perseverance. All movements under heaven become uniform through perseverance.
Good fortune and misfortune take effect through perseverance.
This paragraph initiates the term translated as perseverance.
It has a subjective implication or bias implying that one must persevere to make any good fortune or misfortune happen.
This is tied to the Confucian concept of the superior man and his virtue.
The superior man will persevere in his virtuous ways and good fortune will result.
If he perseveres in unvirtuous ways misfortune will result.
The wise one will consistently follow the guidance of the heavens and its moving lights as they cause changes on the earth.
The wise one will follow the stars of the horoscope.
To follow the dictates of heaven is to be virtuous.
One will thereby elevate one’s nature and position on earth.
This will bring good fortune.
To act without previous astrological consideration and reflection is considered unvirtuous and will bring misfortune and loss.
Heaven and earth and the moving lights persevere in their cycles.
The year, the month and the day are consistent in the course of their cycles.
The wise one too, should be consistent in following the example of these changes and cycles.
This is what is meant as perseverance.
It has a somewhat different interpretation today.
It now implies to simply push forward consistently.
This is not the way of heaven, or earth or the moving lights.
The Tao of heaven and earth becomes visible through perseverance.
By observing the increasing and decreasing of the light in heaven (zodiac) and on earth (houses) and acting accordingly one will come to understand the essence of the changes.
Remember that Tao represented what was above form.
That is the heavenly lights of the zodiac, the moving lights in the zodiac, and the light as it reaches and affects the earth or houses.
By consistently observing and acting upon these cycles and the advice of the gods or planets, the wise one will come to true understanding.
The Tao of sun and moon becomes bright through perseverance.
In the common abstract sense of Tao being unfathomable and unperceivable , it could not be bright or dark!
The wise one can become enlightened by observing and reflecting upon the action of the sun.
By observing the changes in the light and the dark across the seasons of the year, the wise one will come to understand the essence of the year and the priorities of each season or zodiac sign.
The wise one will then act accordingly.
By observing the position of the sun in the sky relative to earth each day,
By observing the sun rising to noon and then setting to midnight,
The wise one will come to understand the essence of elevated and humble positions.
The wise one will then act accordingly.
All movements under heaven become uniform through perseverance.
All movements under heaven are conditioned and directed by the circumstances of the heavenly lights; the seasons, the moon phases and the rising and setting of the sun.
These movements persevere in their cycles.
They are consistent and one can rely on them for guidance.
Without these lights, who could see where to go?
Life could not exist without these lights.
These movements became uniform
in that they all respond to the changes
in the year, the month and the day.
We are all created from the heavens.
Our actions are directed from the heavens.
All movements under heaven are conditioned by the heavenly lights, their perseverance and continuity in their eternal cycles,
6. The Creative is decided and therefore shows to men the easy. The Receptive is yielding and therefore shows to men the simple.
The Creative is decided and therefore shows to men the easy. The Receptive is yielding and therefore shows to men the simple.
This is clear cut!
When there is light it will be easy to act and be strong.
One can see what one is doing.
When there is darkness it will be difficult to act.
One will yield and retreat.
It is no longer the time for action.
It is simple.
As darkness increases, activity slows down.
One will eventually yield to sleep.
A good night’s sleep is a simple and a very useful thing.
Hence the way of the creative and the receptive, and the domains of the father and the mother, the places of action and the places of rest, the time for action and firmness, the time for yielding and rest.
7. The lines imitate this. The images reproduce this.
The lines imitate this.
The solid lines are light lines.
They reveal the easy and the way of the creative.
The broken lines are dark lines.
They represent the simple and the way of the receptive.
The images reproduce this.
In the trigrams:
The bottom line reveals firm or yielding below on the earth.
The top line reveals light or dark above in heaven.
The middle line reveals the easy and the simple in between in the affairs of man.
In this way the trigrams reproduce or are built on the combination of the lines.
8. The lines and images move within, and good fortune and misfortune reveal themselves without. The work and the field of action reveal themselves in the changes. The feelings of the holy sages reveal themselves in the judgments.
The lines and images move within,
This implies that the changes are within the hexagrams.
There are the upper and the lower trigrams.
In each trigram there is a line for above, below and in between.
Within the hexagram there are lines.
The bottom two lines represent the conditions of the firm and the yielding below.
The upper two lines represent the conditions of the light and the dark above.
The middle two lines represent the conditions of the easy and the simple and the subsequent conditioning of the ways of man in between.
and good fortune and misfortune reveal themselves without.
The lines reveal increasing and decreasing light within the hexagram,
As light is gained or lost, good fortune and misfortune are seen as the worldly result.
The work
The work of elevating one’s nature and living accordingly …… the higher way.
The standard of what to do is determined by the moving lights in the heavens, by the sun, moon and planets in the zodiac.
and the field of action
This refers to the circumstances and fields of activity implied in the astrological houses and in the hours of the day and what can be done in them.
The field of action is the areas of the earth that receive the light.
These are the astrological houses.
reveal themselves in the changes.
The heavenly lights or zodiac, the moving lights or sun, moon and planets, and the lines on the earth or houses can all be seen in the hexagrams.
The ways of the year, the ways of the moon cycle or month, and the ways of the day can be seen and understood in the hexagrams.
The feelings of the holy sages reveal themselves in the judgments.
In the judgments the holy sages revealed their feelings about the changes and their implications.
This is the first reference to the feelings of the holy sages as opposed to their thoughts!
9. It is the great virtue of heaven and earth to bestow life. It is the great treasure of the holy sages to stand in the right place.
How does one safeguard this place? Through men.1 By what are men gathered together? Through goods. Justice means restraining men from wrong-doing be regulation of goods and by rectification of judgements.
It is the great virtue of heaven and earth to bestow life.
The great virtue of heaven and earth is that they create life.
Without the light of the heavens shining on the darkness of the earth there would be no life.
Mankind was created from and lives within this relationship of heavenly lights to earthly darkness.
Our affairs are determine by the effect of the heavenly lights on the fields of material or worldly behaviour.
We are the products of our horoscope,
We are influenced by our stars, and our destiny is determined from this influence.
It is the great treasure of the holy sages to stand in the right place.
The wise one stands in a position of open understanding.
He is wise because he understands astrology, and the influences of the heavenly lights on the worldly circumstances.
He stands in the right place because he takes the heavenly lights as his guide for his affairs on earth.
It is indeed a great treasure to understand the ways of heaven, earth and man.
It is a great treasure to understand astrology and that the meaning of life
is written in life around us… above, below and in between.
The wise one stands centred in this great secret!
This last paragraph seems to be an advertisement to propagate a specific point of view.
How does one safeguard this place? Through men.
How does one protect this place of understanding and wisdom?
Through kindness in the affairs of men.
Through kindness the wise one is receptive to others and others will become receptive to his or her wisdom.
Without kindness no one will listen.
They will consider this wisdom to be useless nonsense.
When kindness is shown receptivity will develop and follow.
By what are men gathered together? Through goods.
Men get together to acquire things.
Men get together by virtue of the changes in the light and the dark.
Justice means restraining men from wrong-doing by regulation of goods and by rectification of judgements.
This seems to be an addition put in as a socio-political warning or convenience.
The talk of controlling goods and rectifying judgments is alien to what we have so far encountered.
Most likely it refers to the wrongs that happen when one doesn’t heed the advice in the changes. when one doesn’t listen to the implications of the horoscope when one does not follow the ways of wisdom as represented in the hexagrams and by the wise ones who understand them.