临
GUA 19 · LIN
TAKING CHARGE
Overall Image (大象)
Above the pool is earth
Taking charge
The noble young one, accordingly,
instructs and plans without exhaustion,
Accepts and secures the people without drawing boundaries▼
Overall Image (大象)
Above the pool is earth
Taking charge
The noble young one, accordingly,
instructs and plans without exhaustion,
Accepts and secures the people without drawing boundaries
The water table rises as the earth begins to thaw, the seeds grow damp and ready to open up. The sap is rising fast and the time to relax is quickly departing. Farmers are busy clearing and plowing their fields, laying the groundwork for summer and fall. Workers would be less inexhaustible were this not a seasonal thing, but they’ve had all winter to get themselves ready. Now needs have snuck up in a hurry and it’s time to get dirty and muddy and sweaty. The nobles have set their teams into motion, according to plans made beforehand, resources rise up to meet the occasion. It is not the time to manage the workers in detail: they coordinate and delegate from above.
Main Judgment (Taking charge) (卦辞)
The greatest fulfillment rewards persistence
To arrive in the eighth month* would be unfortunate▼
Main Judgment (Taking charge) (卦辞)
The greatest fulfillment rewards persistence
To arrive in the eighth month* would be unfortunate
If the best rewards persistence, wish for hard work instead of good luck. Aquifers rise, work wells up too, saturated with timeliness. The seed has had its long winter to sort out ideas for sprouting. As its day to get growing quickly approaches, any pause now has a purpose. Admiring the progress to date, so fit to the eighth month, is trouble in the twelfth. Overseers step back only to look for oversights. Could it be time to pause and admire the work, when no work is done yet? Actions should not be postponed. The farmer must stay a full step ahead of the vigorous weeds and stand in as wet nurse for clouds if the rains fail to come. Creative problem solving is not theoretical now, but intelligence on the run. Even to take a moment now means to look sideways for unseen solutions and trends, to find a way to put the world’s inertia to work and even make what is missing do tasks. Old successes only mean things learned and useful now: one is that you don’t know when the rains will come. Seed must be broadcast by then. The season’s promise taken for granted is empty. The success of the spring will be known in the fall, that of the leap in the landing.
Key Words (关键词)
To manage, preside, conduct, oversee, supervise, allocate, deploy; due diligence▼
Key Words (关键词)
To manage, preside, conduct, oversee, supervise, allocate, deploy; due diligence
Commitment, approach, engagement, assuming command, taking responsibility Accession, rising to the occasion, getting involved, going to work, undertaking Groundwork, prospect-us, preparation; ripe timing, moment at hand, imminence Warming up, intending to do, mapping out things to be done; rolling up sleeves Step up, gear up, tool up; implement, getting into position; on threshold, about to
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Sovereign Gua, 12th Moon (Jan)
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Venus in Earth
planet:Venus
element:Earth
Tarot
card:Seven of Pentacles
suit:Pentacles
Qabalah
note:Netzach in Assiah
sphere:Netzach
The Lines
11st • YangUnited in commitment
Persistence is promising▼
1
1st • YangUnited in commitment
Persistence is promising
19.1x United commitment’s persistence (is) promising:
Intending to advance correctly
The task ahead is enormous, but so are resources at hand. The scope is sufficient to make sense to gang up, organize forces and delegate tasks. This means making some new social group, an entity of sorts, but without any brains or a conscience. Responding to simple agreements to adapt their behavior and notions of good and right, members receive equipment and rations and booklets with rules and codes. The common resource and effort is pooled toward ends productive and righteous. The group has will and a purpose, notions useful as constructs, but these will have no living sentience, no sense, no self or mind of their own. Do not expect a smart group mind to coordinate the effort: this is only language. The one with the shovel is the real being here. When work is done, the group should disband for his sake.
22nd • YangUnited in commitment
Promising
Nothing cannot be turned to advantage▼
2
2nd • YangUnited in commitment
Promising
Nothing cannot be turned to advantage
19.2x United commitment (is) promising (and) without doubt
worthwhile:
Not yet accepting destiny
Many hands make the work easy. Many minds give it some depth. Sometimes the groups will not want this, as many want all of their members to serve the collective endeavor and to have no thoughts of their own. But today’s little gang knows better. This is not an alliance of cattle, nor a government from a great center, nor the hive with the huge, pregnant queen. They go side by side, with separate aims and choices, each with a vision of what lies ahead, unobstructed by leaders and plans. If they each have many options, than the many should have many more. Our causes make use of myths and ideas, but these tend to make foolish leaders. Groups should not try to be towers. They ought to be bushes, each branch with its seed. One doesn’t sow a field of grain by planting the seeds in one hole. Diversity means strong and stable.
33rd • YangSweet commitment
Not an orientation with merit
Following concern about this
Avoid errors▼
3
3rd • YangSweet commitment
Not an orientation with merit
Following concern about this
Avoid errors
19.3x Sweet commitment:
The position is not appropriate
* Following concern about this:
The errors will not be lasting
While those around him get up and go, he squats on his thoughts of next season, already tasting the fruits of the labor he now postpones. To let ourselves be driven a little by thought of rewards at the end is not a bad or unusual thing. But if these provide all the force for the movement, then any disincentive will come at the worst of all possible times. Spring should be moving enough. But wanting only the good stuff for free, or wanting to be rewarded just for being you, is getting a little ahead of and full of ourselves. There are bitter and bittersweet lessons ahead - sour, salty and savory too. Why want to start with dessert? Life needs exuberant movement, or it will not even feed dreams. Some people pay to get exercised. You cannot just plod along, using up last year’s health. Why not harvest some of this feeling now?
44th • YangComplete commitment
Without mistakes▼
4
4th • YangComplete commitment
Without mistakes
19.4x Complete commitment, without mistakes:
The position (is) appropriate
He is late in getting started, but this time was spent in good planning. Those who were watching him breathing and scratching his head now see him fall to the task with a consummate style, like a waterfall headed for ocean when the bottom drops out of the river. An artist takes what seems ages to center himself, even months in preparation, while ink and brush lie motionless. The paintings he makes might only take minutes, but they could bring enjoyment for centuries. Getting ready is part of the work. The time spent becoming not lazy, or not half-measured, or not frightened or not insecure is not. We could easily spend more time in approach than at work, covering the contingencies, getting the devil’s opinion, overthinking things through. But these creations rarely show genius or spark. There comes a time to get messy.
55th • YangInformed commitment
A great noble's necessity
Opportune▼
5
5th • YangInformed commitment
A great noble's necessity
Opportune
19.5x A great noble has this necessity:
Action in the center has this distinction
A great prince may surround himself with helpers more skilled than he is. He may appoint one who is more skilled at ruling. He knows where he ends, when to stop and let others begin. This is no cause for shame. In fact it will give him great face, with a great grin across it, to be smart enough to pass on tedious work. Authority can be skeptical and criticize itself without getting caught in a doubter’s paralysis, or confident and competent without getting caught up in terminal pride. The sage is not ashamed of being so finite and small: he will make his universe larger still, at every chance he can take. Humility is a great thing. It will keep the prince honest and hungry for good information, even if this data contains opposing views. What sort of leader does not want command of the truths? The center of power is there.
6Top • YangAuthentic commitment
Promising
Nothing wrong▼
6
Top • YangAuthentic commitment
Promising
Nothing wrong
19.6x Authentic commitment has promise:
The objective lies within
At the height of his royal magnificence, the king moves in disguise, in old sandals, through the districts of workers and peasants, stepping around the broken pots and people, breathing the gasses of garbage and sewers, visiting hostels, asylums and prisons, to learn how life is beyond the edge of his world, outside of his illusions, but within his power to change. He lends the royal ear to the talk about the town, even getting an earful of talk about his rule. The greatest challenge for most is to go on pretending and to fend off all news to the contrary. The greatest challenge of all is to carry the true thing forward and help the people learn to be sovereigns as well. If his power derives from their consent, why not help this grow better and brighter? This task might not be finished by summer: this is long-term commitment.
Reference in Original Text & Resources
This content is derived from Bradford Hatcher's THE BOOK OF CHANGES: Yijing, Word By Word.
Original text for Hexagram 19 begins on Page 174-182.
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