Upper trigram: Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
Lower trigram: Chên The Arousing, Thunder
The Judgement
Innocence. Supreme success.
Perseverance furthers.
If someone is not as he should be,
He has misfortune,
And it does not further him
To undertake something.
The Image
Under heaven thunder rolls:
All things attain the natural state of innocence.
Thus the kings of old,
Rich in virtue, and in harmony with the time,
Fostered and nourished all beings.
The Lines
These texts apply only for the lines that were marked, when the hexagram was cast. Note that the lines are counted from the bottom up.
The bottom line marked means:
Innocent behavior brings good fortune.
The 2nd line marked means:
If one does not count on the harvest while plowing,
Nor on the use of the ground while clearing it,
It furthers one to undertake something.
The 3rd line marked means:
Undeserved misfortune.
The cow that was tethered by someone
Is the wanderer's gain, the citizen's loss.
The 4th line marked means:
He who can be persevering
Remains without blame.
The 5th line marked means:
Use no medicine in an illness
Incurred through no fault of your own.
It will pass of itself.
The top line marked means:
Innocent action brings misfortune.
Nothing furthers.
The interpretations above and comments below are from Richard Wilhelm's version of the I CHING.
Comments on the Hexagram
Ch'ien, heaven is above; Chên, movement, is below. The lower trigram
Chên is under the influence of the strong line it has received form above,
from heaven. When, in accord with this, movement follows the law of
heaven, man is innocent and without guile. His mind is natural and true,
unshadowed by reflection or ulterior designs. For wherever conscious
purpose is to be seen, there the truth and innocence of nature have been lost.
Nature that is not directed by the spirit is not true but degenerate nature.
Starting out with the idea of the natural, the train of thought in part goes
somewhat further and thus the hexagram includes also the idea of the
fundamental or unexpected.
The Judgement
Man has received from heaven a nature innately good, to guide him in all his
movements. By devotion to this divine spirit within himself, he attains an
unsullied innocence that leads him to do right with instinctive sureness and
without any ulterior thought of reward and personal advantage. This
instinctive certainty brings about supreme success and 'furthers through
perseverance". However, not everything instinctive is nature in this higher
sense of the word, but only that which is right and in accord with the will of
heaven. Without this quality of rightness, an unreflecting, instinctive way of
acting brings only misfortune. Confucius says about this: "He who departs
from innocence, what does he come to? Heaven's will and blessing do not go
with his deeds."
The Image
In springtime when thunder, life energy, begins to move again under the
heavens, everything sprouts and grows, and all beings receive for the creative
activity of nature the childlike innocence of their original state. So it is with
the good rulers of mankind: drawing on the spiritual wealth at their
command, they take care of all forms of life and all forms of culture and do
everything to further them, and at the proper time.
The Lines
The bottom line marked
The original impulses of the heart are always good, so that we may follow
them confidently, assured of good fortune and achievement of our aims.
The 2nd line from the bottom marked
We should do every task for its own sake as time and place demand and not
with an eye to the result. Then each task turns out well, and anything we
undertake succeeds.
The 3rd line from the bottom marked
Sometimes undeserved misfortune befalls a man at the hands of another, as
for instance when someone passes by and takes a tethered cow along with
him. His gain is the owner's loss. In all transactions, no matter how
innocent, we must accommodate ourselves to the demands of the time,
otherwise unexpected misfortune overtakes us.
The 4th line from the bottom marked
We cannot lose what really belongs to us, even if we throw it away.
Therefore we need have no anxiety. All that need concern us is that we
should remain true to our own natures and not listen to others.
The 5th line from the bottom marked
An unexpected evil may come accidentally from without. If it does not
originate in one's own nature or have a foothold there, one should not resort
to external means to eradicate it, but should quietly let nature take its course.
Then improvement will come of itself.
The top line marked
When, in a given situation, the time is not ripe for further progress, the best
thing to do is to wait quietly, without ulterior designs. If one acts
thoughtlessly and tries to push ahead in opposition to fate, success will not be
achieved.
Further Reading
Here I add some perspectives on this hexagram, as well as other methods to read its meaning, in additon to what Richard Wilhelm derives from it above.
Meaning of the Trigrams Combined
Each hexagram combines two trigrams, making one the upper and the other the lower. The meaning of the hexagram is mainly derived from that combination. Here's what it means for this hexagram:
Heaven upon Thunder
This part of the text is being edited. It will be added shortly.
Compare to the Reversed Trigrams
It's common to compare a hexagram to the one where the lines are the opposite: a full line is broken and a broken line full. But I find it much more interesting to compare hexagrams with the trigrams reversed: the upper trigram becomes the lower, and the lower trigram becomes the upper. That deepens the understanding of the trigrams at work — when they're not identical. Click the image to see what it means for the two trigrams of this hexagram:
The hexagram with the trigrams reversed
Compare to the Reversed Lines
You can also compare this hexagram to its opposite according to the six lines, where each broken line is full, and vice versa. In some cases it leads to the same hexagram as the one where the trigrams are switched. Here is the hexagram with reversed lines (click it to get to its webpage):
Hexagram with opposite lines
Click the header to read more about the eight trigrams that are combined into the 64 hexagrams.
The 64 I Ching Hexagrams
An I Ching hexagram is composed of two trigrams. Each of the 64 hexagrams has its own name, meaning, and divinatory text. Here they all are, in the traditional order. Click on the image of an I Ching hexagram to get to its webpage.
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