This pictures a time when inferior people are pushing forward and are about to crowd out the few remaining strong and superior men.

In the course of time, owing to the great repute for wisdom attachingto the Book of Changes, a large body of occult doctrines extraneousto it -- some of them possibly not even Chinese in origin -- havecome to be connected with its teachings. In contrast to the meaning of Chin, PROGRESS (35), this pushing upward is associated with effort, just as a plant needs energy for pushing upward through the earth. But his comrades, who no longer heed any warning, will in their excitement certainly be displeased with him. Recourse to law and penalties overcomes the disturbances of harmonious social life caused by criminals and slanderers. Therefore it may safely be saidthat the seasoned wisdom of thousands of years has gone into themaking of the I Ching.The obstructions in the social life of man increase when there is a lack of clarity in the penal codes and slackness in executing them. A man who in the extremity of danger has lost the right way and is irremediably entangled in his sins has no prospect of escape. But since these groups come together in full public knowledge and are in harmony with the time, all selfish separatist tendencies are excluded, and no mistake is made. The same idea also arises from the fact that in the present case it is two strong lines (the fourth and the fifth) that bring about the gathering together, whereas in the former case one strong line (the fifth) stands in the midst of weak lines. The two trigrams making up the hexagram are the same two that appear in K’uei, OPPOSITION (38), that is, the two younger daughters, Li and Tui.

However, it is not the material gifts that count, but sincerity of feeling, and so all goes well in the end.The " Transformed Hex" describes the future situation, after the lines have changed, and if you follow the advice the I Ching has given. Thus the hexagram is intended to designate an objective situation to which one must become accustomed, not a subjective attitude. If a man were to pile up riches for himself alone, without considering others, he would certainly experience a collapse. If we wish to know what anyone is like, we have only to observe on whom he bestows his care and what sides of his own nature he cultivates and nourishes. The two trigrams indicate the attitude proper to such exceptional times: the symbol of the trigram Sun is the tree, which stands firm even though it stands alone, and the attribute of Tui is joyousness, which remains undaunted even if it must renounce the world.

The mind has been closed to the outside world in sleep; now its connections with the world begin again. The original impulses of the heart are always good, so that we may follow them confidently, assured of good fortune and achievement of our aims. While THE WELL relates to the social foundation of our life, and this foundation is likened to the water that serves to nourish growing wood, the present hexagram refers to the cultural superstructure of society. This hexagram signifies on the one hand a break–through after a long accumulation of tension, as a swollen river breaks through its dikes, or in the manner of a cloudburst. The way to study the past is not to confine oneself to mere knowledge of history but, through application of this knowledge, to give actuality to the past.The magic tortoise is a creature possessed of such supernatural powers that it lives on air and needs no earthly nourishment. The third UK edition of this work in the publisher's original cloth binding, with the original unclipped dust wrapper. It has exerted a living influence in China for 3,000 years, and interest in it rapidly spreads in the West. To plunge blindly ahead is wrong, because it is precisely at the beginning that an unexpected setback can have the most disastrous results. Sometimes undeserved misfortune befalls a man at the hands of another, as for instance when someone passes by and takes a tethered cow along with him.