解
GUA 40 · JIE
RELEASE
Overall Image (大象)
Thunder and rain create
Release
The noble young one, accordingly, pardons transgressions
And is broad-minded regarding offenses▼
Overall Image (大象)
Thunder and rain create
Release
The noble young one, accordingly, pardons transgressions
And is broad-minded regarding offenses
The tension builds up to its high point, but then it must let go. Thunder shakes the sky loose with laughter, clearing the air and returning the world to normal. The seed pods swell up and burst. The rainbow trailing the thunderhead sees all the stress and tension forgiven. One’s self-destructive enemies, by definition, destroy themselves. Unsustainable behavior extinguishes itself. The danger itself will promote an escape. The causes of these go away. Things will get more tense and complex until all the right factors are present. Then, when timing is right, suddenly things come together. Judges pardon mistakes and misdeeds. Resentment is not a transcendent approach.
Main Judgment (Release) (卦辞)
Worthwhile west to south
Without a place to go
One’s coming return is promising
If there is a place to go
To be prompt is promising▼
Main Judgment (Release) (卦辞)
Worthwhile west to south
Without a place to go
One’s coming return is promising
If there is a place to go
To be prompt is promising
The archer tenses his bow and takes aim, the readied arrow just flies. The sorcerer gathers excitement and locks this into his image of what is to be, but then his spell must cast itself. Holding on to this tension interferes with its release. The timing will be the final addition. Now is the time to let go. Resentment and blame are burdens on all those who hold them, so forgiveness is given for their sake and benefit, not for the one forgiven. We ought to just walk away from our sacrifice, and not keep possession of how great or worthy it was, or doubts about its greatness or worth. The spirits already know just what to do. If what remained to be done has already been done, to linger on things which cannot be altered, or to hunt down the results is untimely. All you can do is to put the factors together, combine or blend them in proper proportions and exercise a patient restraint until that magical moment when the world and you both want to go the same way. The archer who hangs on to his arrow misses the point completely. So does the artist who will not let go of his art, and parents who will not say yes to their children. You have done the best you can.
Key Words (关键词)
Delivery, deliverance, discharge, follow through, liberation, relief, emancipation▼
Key Words (关键词)
Delivery, deliverance, discharge, follow through, liberation, relief, emancipation
Loosen, disentangle, extricate, forgive, pardon, allow, let go, free, release, slacken Explain, clarify, synthesize, reconcile, temper, transcend, alleviate, dissolve, undo Release arrows; casting (3rd step of a spell: tense, aim, release); be done, move on Begin anew; clean break with past, absolve; culmination, sublimation; untie knots Both forgiveness and permission; options opening; redemption, not salvation (#59)
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Xun-Zhen Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Ninth House, Mutable Fire, Sagittarius (note archery ref.’s)
element:Fire
Tarot
card:Temperance
suit:Trump
Qabalah
note:Samech; Path between Tipareth and Chesed (Trad: Ys-Tp)
The Lines
11st • YangNo blame▼
1
1st • YangNo blame
40.1x Firmness (and) flexibility have a common boundary here
(In) the meaning of no blame
Error, when viewed from its most useful angle, is another kind of intelligence. It is a usable sort of knowledge, but not a thing that you want to have stuck in your heart or your mind, else resentment repeats the same sentiment over and over again. This gets in the way of release and forgiveness, gumming up the next round of changes. It is not that humans should not be held to account for their errors. But we do seek the best ways to outgrow them. Fixing blame is just fixing a thing against changes, to lock up the past, or else drag it with us. If something is done, it will not be done better. We want instead to own our imperfections, and then use our property rights to correct them. One on the middle path can use all situations; if off center, things on the far side are too far out of our reach. In balance we can make the best of the bad.
22nd • YangOn the hunt, taking three foxes
Claiming the golden arrow
Persistence is timely▼
2
2nd • YangOn the hunt, taking three foxes
Claiming the golden arrow
Persistence is timely
40.2x Nine second’s persistence (is) promising:
Finding the middle path
His training with bow and arrow was a way to center and focus his mind, to go to the heart of the matter. He trained his aim to be true. But this did not work only in theory. Out in the field, he has a day worth recording. He finds both the zone and the flow - the flights of the arrows are seen in the sighting. He brings the three foxes home with three shots and the lord awards him the arrow of bronze. Of course this arrow is about the worst thing to hunt with, and it’s not that much better for targets. This thing is no more than a symbol, to commemorate this day. If he is not careful, it could come to symbolize the day he could never let go of. But an ace, three times over, should know this already. Then let him convert the honor to confidence, rather than pride, then the foxy, thieving, cunning sneaks will not regain their advantage.
33rd • YangShouldering baggage while riding
Inviting robbers to approach
Persistence is embarrassing▼
3
3rd • YangShouldering baggage while riding
Inviting robbers to approach
Persistence is embarrassing
40.3x Shouldering baggage while riding:
And further, inviting derision
* Of our own accord to encourage hostility -
Given this, who is to blame?
An upstart in this new, richer world, he carries the same ragged, wanderer’s pack on his back, while driving his fancy, new carriage. Newly well-to-do, he gives up none of his past, as if to show others how far he has come, so he will not drop his old baggage. His recent good fortune may not be ill-gotten, but he does risk it being ill-held. The bandits will gladly deliver him, release him from all these new burdens, if he will not let go of the old ones himself. Sometimes the things that we’ve been and done, and all of the people we used to be, will want to go with us through life, with all that we ever possessed in tow. This makes for a dismally slow procession. Yet we have traits running counter to this: even when moving to much larger homes, most of us know the relief that we feel in choosing which of our piles to let go of.
44th • YangRelease your big toe*
When companions approach, trust them▼
4
4th • YangRelease your big toe*
When companions approach, trust them
40.4x Release your big toe:
Still not (in) the proper stance
The young archer’s aim might be superb, but something is wrong with his stance. He has fumbled his otherwise excellent shot by catching his toe in the bowstring. The positions assumed by the archers are not like those poses and postures carried through time by rituals. Every part of a stance has a meaning and translates into aim. These have been tested and trued for thousands of years, and while it might be true that refinements might lurk undiscovered, most of these alternate options have now been tried and let go of. The aim is the thing, and means should assist, not intrude. Here at least he can trust the social norms, and the friends who now rush to his aid. Three quivers of bull’s eyes will command more respect than doing one’s very own thing. All of the fancy maneuvers just cannot forget to stand on inelegant ground.
55th • YangThe noble young one, in bondage, still has freedoms
Promising
Holding true among the common people▼
5
5th • YangThe noble young one, in bondage, still has freedoms
Promising
Holding true among the common people
40.5x The noble young one (still) owns freedoms
(Which) the common people retreat (from)
Deliverance is a triumph, and this part is easy to bear. But whether it unchains the people, liberates the mind, opens the heart, saves the soul or frees the spirit, it will leave you facing enormous unknowns, not the thing for faint-hearted people. Others don’t want the unknowns. If one would be free of the others, simply tell them that deliverance is self-devised, that salvation is a question of diligence. The others will flee in great haste to the safety of their entanglements. Freedom lies in the attitudes. Sleep under a tree in the mountains and you are camping, sleep under a tree in the park and you are homeless. The unfree are unfree wherever they go, especially on vacation. The free are always free, even in chains or in prison. How optional is their suffering? They simply volunteer to be where they are, then they depart from there.
6Top • YangThe duke takes aim at the raptor atop the
high battlement’s peak
Success at this means nothing cannot be turned to advantage▼
6
Top • YangThe duke takes aim at the raptor atop the
high battlement’s peak
Success at this means nothing cannot be turned to advantage
40.6x The duke takes aim at the raptor
In order to be free of the obstinate
The raptor alights up on the high wall, hardened to purpose and looking for plunder, flaunting the way that he holds those below in his spell. The duke strings his bow and awaits the right time. The highest point of the predator’s arrogance makes one focal point the aim of all senses. The tension it created has transferred itself to the string. Timing and circumstance fire the shaft. There is no pardon or lenience here. Time itself has called for this liberation. It had to take care of itself, the result was much too compelling. Once the pieces were all in place it was only a matter of time, and a duke to be time’s servant. Life is under the shadow no more. The raptor, once plucked, looks a lot like a chicken: a really nasty, inedible chicken. Of course this is not just a fowl, but the symbol at the center of focus, and the excuse to stay unfree.
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 40 begins on Page 300-308.
Help improve this resource
Spot a typo or have a suggestion? We'd love to hear from you.