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Chapter 22 of 64
东坡易传
The Bi Hexagram (Hexagram 22) 🔥
Mountain over Fire, Gen above and Li below, symbolizes adornment and beautification.
Hexagram Statement: "Bi: Smooth progress. Small advantages in having somewhere to go." The way of adornment can lead to smooth progress, but it is only advantageous for small matters to proceed—not for grand undertakings.
The Commentary on the Hexagram Statement says: "Bi: Smooth progress" refers to yielding yin coming to adorn firm yang, hence smooth progress; firm yang divides and rises to adorn yielding yin, therefore it is said "small advantages in having somewhere to go." The interweaving of firm and yielding forms patterns—this is the pattern of Heaven; culture and enlightenment with restraint—this is the pattern of humanity.
If firm yang does not receive the regulating assistance of yielding yin, it cannot be smooth; if yielding yin does not depend on firm yang, it cannot go anywhere. Thus yielding yin adorns firm yang, and firm yang thereby achieves smooth progress; firm yang adorns yielding yin, and yielding yin thereby profits from going forward. "Qian" transforms into "Li," "Kun" transforms into "Gen"—these are the momentum and number of yin and yang. "Culture and enlightenment with restraint" is the virtue of "Li" and "Gen." Momentum and number are derived from Heaven; virtue is actualized in humanity.
The Book of Changes speaks of firm and yielding, coming and going, above and below, mutually exchanging—but the most prominent expression of this is in the Commentary on the Hexagram Statement of "Bi." Therefore scholars along this line eagerly investigate from which changed hexagram it originates, saying that "Tai" changes into "Bi"—this is a great delusion. One hexagram can change into sixty-three hexagrams—how could it change only into "Bi"? Scholars only know that "Tai" can become "Bi," but how would they know that "Bi" cannot become "Tai"? All instances in the Changes where firm and yielding exchange with each other originate from "Qian" and "Kun." "Qian" bestows one yang line upon "Kun," transforming one of its yin lines, thereby giving birth to the "three sons" hexagrams (Zhen, Kan, Gen)—each has one yang and two yin lines; whenever a "three sons" hexagram is said to have "firm coming," it indicates that this hexagram originates from "Kun," and "Qian" comes to transform it. "Kun" bestows one yin line upon "Qian," transforming one of its yang lines, thereby giving birth to the "three daughters" hexagrams (Xun, Li, Dui)—each has one yin and two yang lines; whenever a "three daughters" hexagram is said to have "yielding coming," it indicates that this hexagram originates from "Qian," and "Kun" comes to transform it. Therefore, all instances where "firm coming" or "yielding coming" are mentioned are hexagrams formed by the encounter of the "three sons" and "three daughters"; for hexagrams outside this category, such statements do not apply. There are six such hexagrams: the Commentary on "Gu" says "firm above and yielding below"; the Commentary on "Bi" says "yielding comes to adorn firm, dividing firm rising to adorn yielding"; the Commentary on "Xian" says "yielding above and firm below"; the Commentary on "Heng" says "firm above and yielding below"; the Commentary on "Sun" says "diminishing below to benefit above"; the Commentary on "Yi" says "diminishing above to benefit below." These six hexagrams happen to be the ones that take this approach.
Among the hexagrams formed by the encounter of "three sons" and "three daughters," there are eighteen in total—why then only take six of them here? The answer: The sages had many methods for forming hexagrams—sometimes they took their images, sometimes their lines, sometimes their changes, sometimes their firm-yielding mutual exchange. Taking the image: like "Heaven and water moving in opposition, litigation"; taking the line: like "Six in the third place: treading on the tiger's tail"; taking the change: like "Something in the jaw, called Biting Through"; taking firm-yielding mutual exchange: like the "Bi" hexagram. Firm-yielding mutual exchange is merely one of many methods for deriving hexagrams—when a hexagram employs this method, it is explained; when not, it is not explained. Why should this cause wonder?
The Commentary on the Hexagram Statement further says: Observe the patterns of Heaven to discern the changes of the seasons; observe the patterns of humanity to transform and perfect the world.
The Commentary on the Image says: Fire beneath the mountain is the image of "Bi." The noble person, inspired by this, illuminates the various governmental affairs with clarity, yet dares not decide legal cases hastily.
"Illuminating the various affairs" draws upon its clarity; "not daring to decide legal cases" draws upon its restraint.
Initial Nine: Adorning his toes, abandoning the carriage to walk on foot. The Commentary on the Image says: "Abandoning the carriage to walk on foot" — righteousness does not ride in the carriage.
The one who "adorns the firm" is Six in the Second Place. Initial Nine and Nine in the Third Place are those being adorned. From the perspective of Six in the Second Place, Initial Nine is its toes, and Nine in the Third Place is its beard. Initial Nine's proper counterpart is Six in the Fourth Place; the adornment of Six in the Second Place is not accepted by Initial Nine. The carriage is a tool for nourishing the toes and facilitating walking. Since Initial Nine is the toes, what Six in the Second Place uses to adorn Initial Nine is the carriage. Initial Nine preserves his purity to respond to the regard of Six in the Fourth Place—therefore righteousness does not ride in that carriage, but walks on foot instead.
Six in the Second Place: Adorning his beard. The Commentary on the Image says: "Adorning his beard" — rising together with the one above.
Six in the Second Place applies one yin line between the two yang lines: Initial Nine has a proper counterpart and does not accept; Nine in the Third Place has no counterpart and accepts. Accepting when having no counterpart is the correct path; therefore Six in the Second Place looks upward to adorn the beard of Nine in the Third Place. The beard depends on what is above and rises together with it.
Nine in the Third Place: Adorned, saturated, forever persevering brings good fortune. The Commentary on the Image says: The good fortune of "forever persevering"—ultimately no one can oppress him.
The proper counterpart of Initial Nine is Six in the Fourth Place, and Nine in the Third Place is near her; the proper counterpart of Nine in the Third Place is Six in the Second Place, and Initial Nine is near her. When one sees what is near and does not preserve correctness, one loses the proper counterpart. Thus, if Nine in the Third Place does not remain exclusively faithful to Six in the Second Place but diverts his attention to Six in the Fourth Place, then his proper counterpart Six in the Second Place will be oppressed by Initial Nine. The same principle applies to Initial Nine. Why? Because there is no mutual adornment relationship between them. From the perspective of Nine in the Third Place: the one who adorns me is Six in the Second Place; the one who saturates me is Six in the Fourth Place. I may obtain both, but it is auspicious to remain forever correct and faithful to Six in the Second Place.
Six in the Fourth Place: Adorned, yet plain; a white horse, winged as if flying. Not a bandit, but a marriage alliance. The Commentary on the Image says: Six in the Fourth Place occupies the correct position yet remains doubtful, because of proximity to Nine in the Third Place. "Not a bandit, but a marriage alliance" — ultimately no fault.
Six in the Fourth Place occupies a position of suspicion because of her proximity to Nine in the Third Place. Six in the Second Place applies her adornment to Initial Nine, yet Initial Nine preserves his purity—plain and unadorned. The reason Initial Nine preserves his purity is precisely for the sake of Six in the Fourth Place—how could Six in the Fourth Place not respond with purity? Therefore she cleanses her carriage and horses and wings her way to follow him; she regards Nine in the Third Place as a "bandit" and does not enter into "marriage" with him. These four figures (Initial Nine, Six in the Second, Nine in the Third, and Six in the Fourth), dwelling amid danger and doubt, amid conflict and contention, nonetheless ultimately escape the calamity of oppression—because Six in the Fourth Place has no point of impropriety.
Six in the Fifth Place: Adorning the hill garden; bolts of silk, meager and small; regret, yet ultimately good fortune. The Commentary on the Image says: The good fortune of Six in the Fifth Place—there is joy.
The "hill garden" is a remote and uncultivated place where no one dwells. Six in the Fifth Place has no counterpart below, and Nine at the Top comes to adorn her—therefore it is said "adorning the hill garden." Nine at the Top also has no counterpart; two people who are destitute and without a place to return can maintain each other with meager gifts for a long time. Therefore, although frugal, there is a good ending—how can this not be called fortune? If each has something in which they take mutual joy, then despite frugality, good fortune is attainable. "戋戋" (meager) means small and slight.
Top Nine: White adornment—no fault. The Commentary on the Image says: "White adornment, no fault"—Top Nine achieves his purpose.
When yielding yin adorns firm yang, it is going forward to attach itself to firm yang—adornment is subordinate to the person. When firm yang adorns yielding yin, it is yielding yin coming forward to attach itself—the person follows the adornment. When adornment subordinates itself to the person, adornment resides in the other; when the person follows adornment, adornment resides in oneself—this is the reason Top Nine "achieves his purpose." Firm yang exercises its will, and yielding yin obeys its command, allowing whatever adornment it pleases. Therefore it is said "white adornment." Nothing is better than white for receiving adornment.
Aesthetic Dimension: Contemporary scholars often approach from "white bi (plain adornment)" to discuss the theoretical origins of "simple beauty" and "plain beauty" in Chinese aesthetics. Zong Baihua, in Wandering in Aesthetics, repeatedly cites the Hexagram Bi, holding that the dialectical relationship between "Bi" and "white bi" constitutes the philosophical foundation of artistic conception in Chinese art.
Management Philosophy Dimension: Some studies apply the "civilization with restraint" (wenming yizhi) of the Hexagram Bi to corporate brand management, proposing a framework of "boundary management of ornamentation"—namely, that corporate image-building must be grounded in core competencies and bounded by ethical bottom lines, and that excessive packaging ultimately damages brand credibility.
Communication Studies Dimension: "Civilization with restraint" is reinterpreted in the contemporary media environment as an ethical principle of information dissemination: communication (the brightness of Li) must be subject to restraint (the stopping of Gen). Particularly in the age of social media, the wisdom of "stopping" lies in not disseminating unverified information and not breaching the bottom line of truth for traffic—this is precisely the modern extension of Dongpo's annotation on "not daring to judge rashly."