60. Restricting

Sequence of the Gua

Things cannot disperse forever. Thus, after Dispersing, restricting follows.

Decision:

Restricting.
Prosperous and smooth.
Not appropriate to be steadfast.
In bitter restriction.

Commentary on the Decision

Restricting.
Prosperity and smoothness.
The firm and the yielding are equally divided,
And the firms obtain the central places.
Not appropriate to be steadfast in bitter restriction.
Its way leads to the end.

Passing the danger with joy,
Carry out restriction in the proper position.
From the central and correct place,
His advance is without limitation.

When Heaven and Earth regulate their restriction,
Then the four seasons complete their functions.
When restriction is put into regulation,
Then resources will not be exhausted
And people will not be hurt.

Commentary on the Symbol

Water over Lake.
An image of Restricting.
In correspondence with this,
The superior person creates numbers and measures fore restriction
And discusses a moral code for social conduct.

Fifth Nine

Sweet restriction.
Good fortune.
Going forward: esteem

Significance

The gua takes the image of water in a lake to illustrate that there is a need to regulate the excessiveness and insufficiency of water and applies the principle to adjusting right and wrong in human society. the nature of water is moving, When water is moving, it is fresh and clean, and when it stops, it becomes stagnant and stale. If the water moves without direction, it will be either wasted or exhausted. If it is dammed up without a plan, it will cause flood and calamity. The ancient Chinese accumilated experience in dealing with the Yellow River, which flooded once a year for thousands of years. Their experience was to dredge the riverbed and to guide the water, based upon the principle of adjusting its excessiveness and insufficiency, to control the rate of its flow. From this experience, they applied the principle of regulating rivers and watercourses to social affairs.

The lower gua is Lake. Water in the lake is rising. Beyond the third line, it will overflow. The upper gua is Water. The nature of water is to flow. When the water reaches the topmost line, it shoud stop. Otherwise flood and calamity will ensue. The message of the gua is that if there is there is too little water, one should be concerned about possible drought. In our daily lives, we should strike a balance between excess and insufficiency and walk in the central path.

The host of the gua is the solid line at the fifth place. Only a person supreme wisdom and one in an honorable place is able to adjust right and wrong and practice the Tao of restriction.

During King Wen’s sitting in stillness he realized that after overcoming dispersion, people came together to work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose. It was time to promote restriction—to set limits to one’s expenses and bounds on one’s behavior. Promoting restraint would bring people and the government sucess, but painful restriction should not become common practice. The Duke of Zhou narrates different consequences of restriction. If either government or the people do not observe restraint, it would create unhappiness. Peaceful restriction bring success and invites good fortune. Painful restriction results in misfortune.

48. Replenishing

Decision:

Replenishing.
The site of a village may be moved,
Not the well.
Neither loses nor gains.
Coming and going, drawing, drawing.
Nearly out of the well,
Break one’s bucket—misfortune.

Commentary on the Decision

Penetrating into the water and bringing the water up.
It indicates a well. The well supplies replenishment.
But is never exhausted.

The site of a village may be moved,
Not the well,
Because the solids are in the central positions

Nearly out of the well,
The achievement has not yet been fulfilled.
Break one’s bucket;
There is misfortune.

Commentary on the Symbol

Water over Wood.
An image of Replenishing.
In correspondence with this,
The superior person encourages the people at their work
And urges them to help one another.

Significance

The gua shows the wisdom of replenishing the people. In order to replenish people, the head of a household or the leader of a community must first have a source that is inexhaustible. According to the wisdom of the ancient sages, the only way to assure that the supply is inexhaustible is to make the best possible use of the people and resources, and let the commodities flow abundantly into the market. This gua also explores the wisdom of employing virtuous people. Water in a stream is a gift of nature. Water in a well results from the accomplishment of human beings. All the underground streams are there, but without digging the water is wasted. So it is with able and virtuous people. In ancient times, selecting the virtuous and the able was always an important task of a great king.

The host of the gua is unusual—it is the yin element at the topmost place. The yang element at the fifth place is the king—firm and strong, central and correct. Confucius’s Commentary on the Decision says, “The site of a village may be moved, not the well, because solids are in the central positions.” The firm is the king at the fifth place. He is the well, the source of replenishment. Things may change, but his desire to replenish the people never changes. This line has the correct attributes to be the host, but it is not the host.

There is another yang element that is firm and strong, central and correct—the yang element at the second place. This yang element could also act as the host, but it doesn’t. Since this gua is about drawing water from the well, or selecting the virtuous and the able from the multitude, which can only be accomplished by the person at the top. The topmost yin element symbolizes a well without a cover, indicating that the resource of the well is fully used. This line represents the ideal society—a society of great harmony in which the leader and the people work in full cooperation and with unity of purpose.

After the success of King Wen’s southern expedition, the Zhou population increased and the territory expanded. In order to replenish the people’s latent productive capacity, King Wen abolished the old slavery system, setting the slaves free. Likewise, the old personnel system was accordingly changed, and new talent and able officials were recruited. King Wen stated that the system could be changed, but not the principle. The old system could not function well, like an old bucket already broken. If the old system were to remain in place, there would be misfortune. The Duke of Zhou records the problems of the old system. The new social system and the new personnel system functioned better, as if the well have been tiled. The water pure and cold and could be used again. Supreme good fortune ensued.

Initial Six

The bottom line is a yin element at a yang place. it is at the bottom of the well where there is mud and no water. Nobady drinks, not even a bird. The lower gua is Xun, Wood, which represents a cock. Thus the Yao Text takes a bird as the symbol. The well is too old and not well maintained. The situation is bad. If one in this place is not able to live in accord with the time and make adjustments, one will be deserted.