丰
GUA 55 · FENG
ABUNDANCE
Overall Image (大象)
Thunder and lightning, coming as one
Abundance
The noble young one, accordingly,
executes justice and carries out judgment▼
Overall Image (大象)
Thunder and lightning, coming as one
Abundance
The noble young one, accordingly,
executes justice and carries out judgment
Thunder and lightning at once means a little too close: a direct hit. Thunder leaps from the flame and the heat makes immediate movement, be it in or out of control. The boom brings it all too much to life. The roads of the busy society come alive from dawn until dark. The demands of the thriving economy press in against all of the options. Many are lost amidst the complex of rites which attend the advancing culture and its economy, but the young noble can still resolve conflicts and allocate force with strict precision, by giving structure to his vision and ignoring whatever he can. He cuts though confusion with force and clarity, direction and orientation.
Main Judgment (Abundance) (卦辞)
Fulfillment
The sovereign approaches this
Do not be anxious
It suits the sun to be at midday▼
Main Judgment (Abundance) (卦辞)
Fulfillment
The sovereign approaches this
Do not be anxious
It suits the sun to be at midday
To take full advantage of prosperous times, the lightning speed of the sovereign’s executive judgment is needed. Only a moment will pass between decisions and their execution. This is not a time for committees. Command cannot sit and ponder, or jabber on about ramifications. Today is the autocrat’s day, either to shine or else to prove himself dull. Of course, high noon means the sun is soon to decline, just as great wealth and power today become myth and momentum tomorrow. This is no reason not to jump at this chance. To mourn the fall before the glory is to get out of place with one’s timing and lose one’s presence of mind. What you wished for is here right now, and of course it’s a little too much. Most of the real world now might be no more than distraction, and choosing what to postpone or ignore means assessing things quickly for what they might be worth. This in its turn means clear and useful values. To not waste this day will mean sorting much of it out once it’s over, when one has time to be grateful for breath, and even a little decline in one’s rate of success, as relief from this storm of activity. To make the most, keep little.
Key Words (关键词)
Busyness, hustle, confusion, crowding, overcommitment; a culmination or zenith▼
Key Words (关键词)
Busyness, hustle, confusion, crowding, overcommitment; a culmination or zenith
Prosperity, affluence, riches, profusion, confusion, multiple choices, complexity Information or sensory overload; immediacy, urgency; maximum, peak, climax Call for dispatch, executive decision, selection, focus, summary or snap judgment Tunnel vision of daytime stars a.k.a. polarized light; curtains, tall buildings, maze Many demands on the attention, awareness narrowly apportioned, circumscription
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Kan-Li Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:First House, Cardinal Fire, Aries
element:Fire
Tarot
card:The Emperor
suit:Trump
Qabalah
note:He; Path between Tipareth and Geburah (Trad: Tp-Cm)
The Lines
11st • YangMeeting one’s match or superior
Even for a long week,* no harm is done
To continue has merit▼
1
1st • YangMeeting one’s match or superior
Even for a long week,* no harm is done
To continue has merit
55.1x Even for a long week, no error:
To exceed the long week (means) disaster
During the fast moving times, in the times of the greatest abundance, with urgencies everywhere, even a mere ten moments are precious in value. The prince wants his facts with their edges still sharp, his truths rough hewn and provisional, unpolished by winds of time. His people are on their feet and thinking, not down on their knees mouthing platitudes. Yet, in the midst of all of this, whatever demands there may be, when you meet a mate or a colleague, a mentor or partner to be, the priorities shift over here and leaves of absence are granted. You might miss one of each sacrifice,* but you fill voids where helpers should be, consolidate forces, gain recognition and learn some new tricks. You can’t rejoice thus forever, and outside the world keeps moving, but few are so important that the spirits can’t go for ten days without them.
22nd • YangSo abundant are their partition screens
At midday one may see the bushel constellation*
Going ahead brings suspicion and anxiety
To be true and express this
Is timely▼
2
2nd • YangSo abundant are their partition screens
At midday one may see the bushel constellation*
Going ahead brings suspicion and anxiety
To be true and express this
Is timely
55.2x Be true (and) express this:
Credibility helps to manifest the purpose
In prosperous times, tall walls are built, plush curtains hung, bright banners play in the breezes above. To some it’s as good as it gets. But all this distraction acts like a maze, the amazements are limits to vision: these amazing distractions do limiting things to the views. Things cast so many shadows that the midday sun is not seen. Life is so circumscribed, between the sky-high piles of work to be done, that up and down, or shortcuts through the curtains, are the only directions some can still take. These are not liked or trusted. Yet one must climb for broader views, or stay below chasing cheese. Smart ones run the maze well and wise ones know how to leave if they must. Common to both is working above suspicion. The others return to their business, unable to pay much attention. Trust is like having a high-level clearance.
33rd • YangSo abundant are their flowing banners
At midday one may see stardust
And break one’s right arm
Make no mistakes▼
3
3rd • YangSo abundant are their flowing banners
At midday one may see stardust
And break one’s right arm
Make no mistakes
55.3x (So) abundant (are) their flowing banners:
Ill-suited to important concerns
* Breaking one’s right arm:
In the end unfit for use
What once were empty spaces are now filled with life and its houses. The canopy of progress, and its undergrowth of hustle, casts such a shadow that little above can be seen now. Bright banners cover most of what’s left of the sky. We wished for this much to do and all these paths to choose from, but only have time for so much and still cannot tread more than one path at a time. An abundance of busyness forces the polarized view. There is something left of the stars above but to stare at these to light the way out means taking your eyes off the treacherous ground. Too much is afoot: not much will be carried out. The right arm at risk is not the spare, but the main one. The lights are useless as lanterns, and not much better as guides. The blind will learn to hear. If you still know which way is up, you will only need one more direction.
4 • Yang(Fan Yao* 36.4: enter left side, steal dark heart’s intentions)
So abundant are their screens
At midday one may see the bushel constellation
Or find their hidden leader*
Opportune▼
4
• Yang(Fan Yao* 36.4: enter left side, steal dark heart’s intentions)
So abundant are their screens
At midday one may see the bushel constellation
Or find their hidden leader*
Opportune
55.4x (So) abundant (are) their screens:
The position is not appropriate
* (At) midday (one may) see the bushel constellation:
The gloom has no vision
* Finding their hidden leader:
(An) opportunity (for) action
He used to know this place, before things grew so busy. He has spent enough time here and above to have an old mental map, both a north and an up, and a sense of the lay of a simpler land. Some of this information can still be carried out in the dark, or in the darkening cloak of activity. Good pupils will adjust to available light. This lets him make use of the pall, darkness now thrust upon him, transforming the confusing experience into more useful intelligence. He keeps to the shadows awhile, looking behind all the curtains and scenes, learning of the forces at work in the background, while under a cover of darkness, possessing what makes the maze useful, using even ignorance to best advantage. The dark, secret places are found. Now they shelter and guard young plans and designs, and a newer map is drawn of a brighter tomorrow.
55th • YangThe pattern emerges
Bringing reward and commendation
Promising▼
5
5th • YangThe pattern emerges
Bringing reward and commendation
Promising
55.5x Six fifth holds promise:
(Of) bringing rewards
Great change is at hand. Who is who or what is what, or even what needs to be done, resolves itself out of the fuzz like the stripes on a growing tiger. What was chaos in gold and black becomes stark relief. The new king asks clear, candid questions, and invites specific talents to court, and demands only relevant answers. And those fools around the old throne will get rid of the mush in their mouths or will be replaced by more competent men. A real command starts to delegate. Genius is task specific and its strength is the solving of problems. Retained for more general use, it only grows fat and lazy. When a change is resolved in the mind and clear resolutions are made, the sovereign’s new focus is more than a match for confusion. The unclear part of the shaman’s journey is over, mind is now unstuck. Now he assembles his insights.
6Top • YangSo rich are their dwellings
Screening away their own families
Peering through their doorways
Desolate in their want of others
Three years not seen face to face
Unfortunate▼
6
Top • YangSo rich are their dwellings
Screening away their own families
Peering through their doorways
Desolate in their want of others
Three years not seen face to face
Unfortunate
55.6x (So) rich (are) their dwellings:
(Having) soared to heaven’s threshold
* Peering through their doorways
Desolate in their want of others:
A consequence of concealment
Prosperity’s point was to get him up here and aloof, shed of the coarseness below. He was told he would mingle with angels. Attaining his dream of abundance, he has finally built his big, secure house way up high on the hill, with the tall wall around it, to screen himself off with his family from suspected thieves, such as time. His food and his fuel have to sneak in through the back door. He needs keys to get out and shoes to come in. At first it seems he truly might be in heaven, or hovering nearby. But three years alone start to alter his thinking. He watches his gate and notes that it never opens. No friends intrude, no angels, not even beggars or bandits. This is high’s down side: three years of mourning, missing the clamor and din, lost social savvy and skills, the laughter of children. Today he considers inviting some thieves.
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 55 begins on Page 390-398.
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