既济
GUA 63 · JI4 JI
ALREADY COMPLETE
Overall Image (大象)
Water positioned over the flame
Already complete
The noble young one, accordingly, contemplates sorrows
and so prepares to maintain against them▼
Overall Image (大象)
Water positioned over the flame
Already complete
The noble young one, accordingly, contemplates sorrows
and so prepares to maintain against them
Water over a flame: a precarious but useful arrangement, if this can be maintained. Too much flame and the water dries up, but with too much water the fire goes out. Picture such a condition: clarity meets its best challenge, the mind and the world fit for a time. The setup is done, but only the past remains perfect. Success will never endure, although care will double its life. Up ahead is the least excitement, a balance maintained with light touches and no more exciting big swings. The steadiest state is dynamic, and done is only a point within the process, where things start falling apart. The birds fly south while the weather is still fine, moving a little ahead of the end.
Main Judgment (Already Complete) (卦辞)
Fulfillment is minor
But rewarding to persist
At the beginning, promise; by the end, disorder▼
Main Judgment (Already Complete) (卦辞)
Fulfillment is minor
But rewarding to persist
At the beginning, promise; by the end, disorder
The bulk of the work is finished now, the shop is cleaned up and dismantled, helpers are dismissed. Working on the finishing touches, the fine grit takes longer to polish, and the last bit of progress is hardest to see. No more big chunks on the floor: we are down to small shavings and dust. It is time to fuss and fret, or to sell the thing, or smash it and move on. The work now gets its first coat of wax. Even a rigorous wisdom allows time for satisfaction, even some pride. But right in the middle of this, the scratches begin to appear. We’ll guard against what we think are inferior forces, like a universe bent on entropy. But perfection is an unstable state. The system left to itself falls apart. The work’s incompleteness was what kept it going; its finishing starts the decay. The building has turned from verb into noun. The real adventure is over now. Nostalgia for our vanishing pasts, outlived motives and selves, belongs to a world already eaten by time. Change is such that perfect or done is only a kind of fare well. Beauty is sad in this way. Thus are the first of the flaws made part of a tapestry’s weave, and scattered leaves of fall, the best part of the best kept gardens.
Key Words (关键词)
Achieving order or perfection, finalizing, wrapping up, follow-up, winding down▼
Key Words (关键词)
Achieving order or perfection, finalizing, wrapping up, follow-up, winding down
Final or finishing touches, loose ends; holding gains against diminishing returns Completion begins the maintenance, and decay; safeguarding prior achievements Epilogue, appendix, anticlimax, segue, afterthought; issues of past and perfection Momentum in decay; memory, retrospective, reminiscence, nostalgia, hindsight Final steps of the crossing, culmination, denouement, residuum, losing dynamism
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:Sol in Water
planet:Sun
element:Water
Tarot
card:Six of Cups
suit:Cups
Qabalah
note:Tipareth in Briah
sphere:Tipareth
The Lines
11st • YangBraking those wheels
Soaking one’s tail*
No harm done▼
1
1st • YangBraking those wheels
Soaking one’s tail*
No harm done
63.1x Braking those wheels:
Deserving no harm
The driver succeeds in crossing the water and cuts loose his horses to graze on the farther shore. But in his hurry to rest here, he underachieves a bit. He brakes a little too soon and gets stuck in the mud. This is more work than expected, but at least he has made it across. It is past time to make great mistakes: even disasters are small. So what is a little backsliding? He loses a point for his dismount. Transitions from movement to rest are not made in instants. When at last he’s across the half-frozen stream, the brave, young fox is exhausted, and anxious to rest. As he flops himself down on the far shore, he learns that his tail was only almost across. This tail takes hours to dry, but to dry it mid-stream would have been worse. Our loose ends and remaining details sometimes take half of the work. The way likes to tease final form.
22nd • YangThe matron loses her carriage’s veil
To not pursue this
Means seven days to gain▼
2
2nd • YangThe matron loses her carriage’s veil
To not pursue this
Means seven days to gain
63.2x Seven days to gain:
By taking the middle path
Her new carriage still has that new carriage smell. All else remains constant. But this missing detail blows itself out of proportion. The lady must travel in a conspicuous imperfection, in less than the perfect style, exposed to the crude stares and gruesome desires of common, everyday people. The weaver claims to be too busy to cater to such small items, but he might have time to fill the order next week, when he can fit a small thing into his schedule. It only took seven days to build the entire carriage! If she comes undone in the head, she will show her neighbors that she is not a lady and the folks will have a whole week of comic relief. The lazy weaver will tease her if she stays home fretting and fuming. Dignity might best be shown by moving on. Success in small matters might not be much, but in small matters failure is worse.
33rd • Yang(Fan Yao* 03.3: pursuing the deer unprepared, lost in the woods)
The illustrious ancestor* subjugated barbarian country
It took three years to conquer them
Lesser people were not at all useful▼
3
3rd • Yang(Fan Yao* 03.3: pursuing the deer unprepared, lost in the woods)
The illustrious ancestor* subjugated barbarian country
It took three years to conquer them
Lesser people were not at all useful
63.3x Three years to conquer them:
Exhausting
Like the stories tell it, Gao Zong attacked the Gui Fang, land of the Devils. He made a legend in the process; some day he might be a myth. But while alive he was flesh, exhausted flesh doing dangerous work, taking twice the effort expected, and costing him years of his life. Nor could he quit when done, as devils love to regroup. All that remains is history and lessons. He no longer hurts, or aches for his family at home. Now that this is over and done with, the reality of it all faded, folks still tell the story, and like comparing themselves to the heroes, faring so well in their dreams. The kids play with Wu Ding* dolls now. Stories don’t tell the smell of the blood, or the pain of a sword in the belly, but to understand the lessons, some of that urgency felt then will need to be recaptured. Competence and fitness were taught in that curriculum.
44th • YangThe silk jacket will wear into caulking rags
Throughout the day be on guard▼
4
4th • YangThe silk jacket will wear into caulking rags
Throughout the day be on guard
63.4x Throughout the day on Guard:
There are reasons for uncertainty
His boat is finished and ready to sail on even the stormiest waters. He climbs aboard at the launching, clad head to toe in the finest silk garments. And right by his side is his old friend Doubt, that pesky old pessimist, getting all excited at the smallest gray clouds, running around inspecting for leaks, moaning creaky duets with the rigging. But Doubt will earn his passage here. The whole second half of eternity lies in wait to ruin this boat. Time will indeed do horrible things, both to new boats and to these fine, silk garments. And when that time finally arrives, that lovely silk jacket of his will make a fine rag to plug up a leak in the hull. Entropy is the law, plan for it, and prepare to recycle. Knowing things change is more useful knowledge than hoping they’ll stay the same. With our contingency plans, we progress in more dimensions.
55th • YangThe eastern neighbor sacrifices cattle
Yet this is not equal to the western neighbor’s
modest spring offering*
The genuine received their blessings▼
5
5th • YangThe eastern neighbor sacrifices cattle
Yet this is not equal to the western neighbor’s
modest spring offering*
The genuine received their blessings
63.5x The eastern neighbor sacrifices cattle:
This is not equal to the western neighbor’s timing
* The genuine received their blessings:
The good fortune (has) completely arrived
The neighbor in the east sacrifices his best ox. The ceremony performed could not have been any more perfect. But still he can find no peace. The neighbor in the west, meanwhile, offers just two small baskets of grain, using the rite’s shorter form, and he grins like a fool until fall. On the face of this, it doesn’t seem fair, but there is no justice lost here. The eastern neighbor has shown the great spirits just how much he can spare, and then how much more he is willing to take. These do not lead to great satisfaction, even though he says please. The western neighbor sees things the other way round. He is offering out of last year’s harvest and is saying thank you instead. East is where the day begins and west is where it ends. The time already completed is better suited to gratitude, for blessings already received. Sacrifice isn’t for taking.
6Top • YangSoaking one’s head
Serious▼
6
Top • YangSoaking one’s head
Serious
63.6x Soaking one’s head (is) serious:
(But) how could this continue?
If he’s already across, then what is he still immersed in? Is that farther shore just not different enough? Does he now recount the steps of his crossing, rejoicing again in his better maneuvers, trembling again at all his close calls? This is not really across, but still in over his head, immersed in what was and what might have been, alive in a past worth a memory, but unable to swim, row or dwell there forever. There’s much more to do or have done here than simply to cross the great stream. The reasons for crossing are still up ahead, and looking backwards like this keeps him but halfway there, with no more objectives in sight. Living fills up a mind, reliving saturates one. Yes, old man, sir, we have already heard this story, a hundred times told in the tavern. But still more impressive is how you avoid our question: After that what did you do?
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 63 begins on Page 438-446.
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