贲
GUA 22 · BI
ADORNMENT
Overall Image (大象)
At the foot of the mountain is flame
Adornment
The noble young one, accordingly, clarifies numerous policies*
But does not presume to execute justice▼
Overall Image (大象)
At the foot of the mountain is flame
Adornment
The noble young one, accordingly, clarifies numerous policies*
But does not presume to execute justice
A glorious sight to the folks in the valley, but this glamorous light on the surface of things preempts and precludes the long vision. Only one side of this issue is lit, one only sees part of the surface. You see it with your own eyes; what pleases the eye is apparently true; how could appearances be deceiving? From this point of view, folks can be told nearly anything about the world beyond. Even the near is subject to tricks and plays of the light, the magician’s stock in trade. This is not to negate the beautiful, or local information: most of cultural thought is raised in small spaces. But deeper issues and critical precedents want the broader and longer perspectives.
Main Judgment (Adornment) (卦辞)
Satisfaction
A little worthwhile to have somewhere to go▼
Main Judgment (Adornment) (卦辞)
Satisfaction
A little worthwhile to have somewhere to go
Beauty and grace for most are glamour and cultural finery: folks pause when their eyes are caught by the evident, or according to local custom, be this a grand illusion or a small illumination. Adornment will play with the forms of glamour and sham. It can also have some quantum of substance, as with the arts of a culture. To know the small and nearby is a great thing: nearsight is a big part of vision. Perhaps the best example is a goat on the side of a mountain, stepping with consummate style, advancing one well-reckoned step at a time, adding up small successes and taking great care in distinguishing this crag from that. This gets him slowly up to the top where the truly grand vistas await. It is his nearsight that allows him to do this. If he knows where he stands the whole world is at his feet. But humanity seems to want to light up a little and stop there, taking comfort in what it thinks is the known, lying in comforting ways. When ethnics transcend ethnocentrics, they still can’t get past the anthropocentric. This may be a way of controlling the known, much like locking oneself in a box. Still, there is enough detail here to fill up the whole of a lifetime.
Key Words (关键词)
Dressing up, beautifying, decorating, embellishing; relation of form to content▼
Key Words (关键词)
Dressing up, beautifying, decorating, embellishing; relation of form to content
Elaboration, costumery, vanity, cosmetics, fashion, facade, veneer, posturing Refinement, style, grace, elegance, charm, class, etiquette, protocol, formality Nearsight, limited vision, myopia, glamour, fascination, sham, illusion, pomp Superficiality, public image, fancy surfaces; proximity’s effect on apparent size Aesthetics, beauty way, highlighted substance; the cultural artifact as substance
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Gen-Dui Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Tenth House, Cardinal Earth, Capricorn
element:Earth
Tarot
card:The Devil
suit:Trump
Qabalah
note:Ayin; Path between Malkuth and Yesod (Trad: Hd-Tp)
The Lines
11st • YangAdorning those feet
Dismissing the carriage and walking▼
1
1st • YangAdorning those feet
Dismissing the carriage and walking
22.1x Dismissing the carriage and walking:
On principle, declining to ride
It will keep him up on his toes, so to speak, to search for the simpler life and make a more humble progress. Who should he try to impress? He walks a mile first in his own shoes, getting sure-footed and grounded. Remember when you were little and you finally got the shoes that almost walked for you, and suddenly you could jump twice as far? Pedestrian approach indeed! So what if the quicker things now pass you by? Heaven meets earth at this surface of things, this is how humble it is. This may contribute little towards getting somewhere, but there are other ways to measure advancement. You are free to stand on your own two feet, to step off of the beaten path, or rely on the footholds you’ve found. Racing by misses much. Terra firma can teach you as much through your feet as the sages teach through your ears.
22nd • YangAdorning his beard▼
2
2nd • YangAdorning his beard
22.2x Adorning his beard:
To partake in a higher prosperity
He imposes upon his natural face, lending a grace to the beard on his chin, hacking away at prolific nature, hoping to uncover dignified form. The shears of the forces of civilization stand up against the old, wild ways. Is this the real you, or is this a mask? Is the genuine still in there somewhere, or does it fall to the floor? Is this like self-cultivation? Is he grooming himself for the good life? Will he now be invited to partake in superior pleasures? And if the shave won’t make the man, you bet your beard when nothing can. In some cultures the men will wear nooses and leashes tied around their necks, but some claim this is only men missing their beards. Should we feign interest in social affairs so that others feign interest in us? Should we pity the man clothing makes? Society grows like a beard: dignity lies in there somewhere.
33rd • YangSo elegant looking, as though dripping
With enduring persistence, promising▼
3
3rd • YangSo elegant looking, as though dripping
With enduring persistence, promising
22.3x (An) enduring persistence holds promise:
In the end nobody mocks this
He takes social graces as far as allowed, up in your face to get noticed. Glistening wet, almost dripping with grace: can he still be more than a drippy, frivolous fop? We think he can still be a man and be bubbly and oily, aesthete and affected, and keep his purple lace underwear. He may on occasion need to back up his choices, but this could help him build character. Gracious living, good fashion and charm are higher styles of life, and it’s certainly good to be sensitive. But much in the mind does not like its shallowness mocked and something deep in the gut deeply resents all these elaborate surfaces. And what’s the deal with plant genitalia? Flowers are there for bugs, so plants can have sex. How would you like it if you had the roots and they had the knives? The real beauty is not about beauty: it grows out of health.
44th • YangSo elegant looking, as if of pure white
A white steed, as if on wings
Not an adversary but a marital suitor▼
4
4th • YangSo elegant looking, as if of pure white
A white steed, as if on wings
Not an adversary but a marital suitor
22.4x Six fourth (is) properly positioned
(But) doubted
* Not an adversary (but) a marital suitor:
In the end, no question
He comes on with a dazzling grace here, clad in white, impeccably preened, just like a transcendent thought, on a winged horse, swift as the wind. The eyes need some time to adjust. There will of course be questions: what fuels these white-hot flames? The preacher might wear this same angel suit when leading his flock to the fleecing, the charlatan wears it too. All want something in the worst way, all are supposed to be lying like hell. Our fool really is different: he is in love and attempting to mate. He cannot help himself: he’s so nuts because these are what drive him. The whole of nature bears testament to the good grace of the mating dance, all the feathers and flowers and fur. It also drives much of the human economy, even where you can’t talk about it. This is what our fool flesh is heir to: life simply wants to grow larger.
55th • YangDressed up amidst hills and gardens
One’s gift bundle of silk is but a shabby remnant
Embarrassing
But in the end, promising▼
5
5th • YangDressed up amidst hills and gardens
One’s gift bundle of silk is but a shabby remnant
Embarrassing
But in the end, promising
22.5x Six fifth has promise:
There will be happiness
He lives a simple and frugal life, with good to do, if not not well-to-do. Upper class life feels foreign. You can live in the ornaments. Rules are different above. He feels too clean and misplaced. He hasn’t learned half of the gestures, but knows to take gasses outdoors. He knows the gift he brings is no treasure. He feels like a clown in these fine, borrowed clothes. Economy here means something entirely different. Appreciation as well. Poverty and simplicity are not the same thing, although they might share the same budget. He will not need to fake his humility. Life and style are not utterly meaningless here and the pleasantries make for some pleasantness. There is good and much work to be done here, which will find its way back down to the valley. He brings all he can up the hill, wrapped in this shabby silk offering.
6Top • YangPlain white elegance
No mistake▼
6
Top • YangPlain white elegance
No mistake
22.6x Plain white elegance is no mistake:
The top attains the goal
From down below in the valley the simple forms did not seem enough. From on top of it all the perspectives are different. Anything more than a simple, natural form just feels pretentious and silly. Simplicity too is a kind of a style. The white canvas hides all the colors of light, and so it contains all the paintings as well. Plainness is not just for hiding, as silence is not just for filling. Content does not need sham to be beauty: the highest sort of beauty hides barely inside the obvious, as the ordinary wipes off. Humanity’s long fall from grace was said to occur near the time when nakedness turned into shame, when wearing the sky became wicked, when right and wrong was draped over the world, when too much extraneous surface was gathered. Fear for the boundary came along with the boundary. Trash doesn’t belong up here on the peak.
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 22 begins on Page 192-200.
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