Loading...
Chapter 44 of 64
东坡易传
"Gou," the woman is strong; do not take her as a wife.
The Commentary says: "Gou" means encounter — the yielding encounters the firm. "Do not take her as a wife" means she cannot be with one for long.
"Gou" is an encounter that results in union, but not one of mutual delight or true accord. Hence such a woman "cannot be with one for long."
When Heaven and Earth encounter each other, all creatures become manifest and flourish.
"Gou" is the end of the Qian (Heaven) phase and the beginning of the Kun (Earth) phase, hence it is said "Heaven and Earth encounter each other." In terms of the four seasons, this corresponds to the month of Jian-wu (the fifth lunar month), the time when "all creatures become manifest and flourish." The Book of Changes says: "All things see one another in the hexagram Li (the Clinging)."
The firm encounters the central and correct, and the great path prevails throughout the world. Great indeed is the significance of the time of Gou!
"The firm" refers to the second line (Nine at the Second); "the central and correct" refers to the fifth line (Nine at the Fifth). The growth of the yielding: only after Nine at the Second disappears does the hexagram become Dun (Retreat), marking the loss of worthy ministers; only after Nine at the Fifth disappears does it become Bo (Peeling), marking the loss of the ruler. In the age of Gou, there is a ruler above and ministers below; for the gentleman who wishes to act, nothing is impossible. Hence it is said: "The firm encounters the central and correct, and the great path prevails throughout the world."
The Image says: Under Heaven there is Wind — this is the image of Gou. The sovereign, in accordance with this, issues his commands and proclaims them to the four quarters.
Wind blowing beneath Heaven — this is the image of the hexagram Gou. The sovereign emulates this image by issuing decrees and proclaiming them to all directions.
The Image says: "Attached to the metal brake" — the yielding path is held in check.
What is strong enough to restrain external things is called the "metal brake" (a metal stopping device), referring to Nine at the Second. The force of Initial Six is sufficient to capture all five yang lines, but the one it first encounters and unites with is Nine at the Second. Having already united with Nine at the Second, if it abandons him and moves toward the other yang lines, it will have no place to rest for the rest of its life. Therefore, cleaving to Nine at the Second is proper, bringing good fortune. Going elsewhere will bring misfortune. Initial Six is like the "lean pig." Though "lean," it cannot be trusted, because power lies within its grasp; if one lightly trusts it because of its "leanness," it will become agitated and uncontrollable.
The Image says: "The fish is wrapped up" — it is fitting that it not reach the guests.
"Fish" refers to Initial Six; "wrap" is the covering in which the fish cannot escape; "guest" refers to Nine at the Fourth. In the age of Gou, it is the time for the ruler to seek the people, not for the people to seek the ruler — therefore, those who are near and arrive first obtain them, while those who are far and arrive later do not. Whether or not it is a proper correspondence, there is a concern about blame, hence it is said "no blame."
The Image says: "One's movement is halting and difficult" — the movement is not yet constrained.
If we regard Initial Six of Gou as Upper Six of Guai (the Hexagram of Resolution), then Nine at the Third of Gou corresponds to Nine at the Fourth of Guai; hence their Image texts are identical. What Nine at the Third calls "the buttocks" refers to Initial Six. Initial Six is a yielding line that advances by eroding the firm lines; dwelling among multitudes of yang lines yet sharing the same essence with the yin that erodes yang, it naturally moves "haltingly and with difficulty." Nine at the Fourth of Guai pulls downward to restrain the ram of Initial Nine, hence the flaw of "hearing without discernment." Nine at the Third has none of this, so though there is danger, there is no great blame — and the Image says "the movement is not yet constrained."
The Image says: The misfortune of "no fish" — it is because one is far from the people.
Having already lost the people, rising up to contend for them will result in misfortune.
The Image says: Nine at the Fifth "contains brilliance within" — it is central and correct. "Something falls from Heaven" — the will does not abandon the mandate.
The "metal brake," the "wrap," and the "branched tree" all refer to Nine at the Second. The "pig," the "fish," and the "melon" all refer to Initial Six. The "branched tree" is the medlar tree (gouqi), the humblest of trees. "Wrapping the melon" means containing and securing it. A melon vine only settles once it has something to climb on; without something to cling to, it will climb upward seeking everywhere, stopping at nothing. If it happens to encounter a tall tree, it cannot be suppressed — so one gives it a medlar tree, which secures and encompasses it. Wherever the medlar tree reaches, the melon vine can reach. Nine at the Fifth is the governing line of Gou. It knows that the momentum of Initial Six will inevitably erode all yang lines until it is spent, so it entrusts Initial Six to Nine at the Second. What Nine at the Second can reach marks the boundary of what Initial Six can reach. Gou is the hexagram of the growth of yielding yin. Nine at the Fifth, with his utmost yang virtue, is still able to prevail over it — hence "containing brilliance within." Whenever yin contains yang within it, it is called "brilliance." Yin growing to diminish yang is the mandate of Heaven. To have the means to prevail over it — this is the will of the human. The gentleman does not abandon human will because of the Heavenly mandate. Therefore the will of Nine at the Fifth is firm. Then what is fated must fall from Heaven — this means that at the utmost reach of human endeavor, even Heaven cannot prevail against it.
The Image says: "Encountering through the horns" — at the highest point exhausts and brings regret.
One who is extremely firm and dwells in the uppermost position is the "horn." "Encountering through the horns" means going to meet unions by way of horns. To take the horns as the vessel of encounter is something no creature desires to meet with. Though the petty man cannot unite with it, the gentleman also has no way to enter. Hence "regret, no blame."
The essence of the Gou hexagram lies in the critical threshold where "the yielding begins to arise while the firm path still reigns." Su Shi's interpretation centers on a key tension: Initial Six, though faint and weak in appearance, harbors an irreversible trajectory of growth. Like the "lean pig" that appears weak yet truly possesses the power to stir and leap, one cannot disregard it for its "leanness." Nine at the Second, as the "metal brake," is the crucial governing force, capable of "wrapping" Initial Six from the closest proximity, drawing it into a controlled sphere. Nine at the Fifth, as the master of the hexagram, commands the whole situation with the virtue of "containing brilliance," holding firm to the conviction that "when one's human reach is utmost, Heaven cannot prevail." The wisdom of this entire hexagram: in facing the unstoppable growth of yielding yin, the approach is not forced elimination, but a governance through tolerance, traction, and restraint exercised by firm, central, and correct power — transforming the vitality of "Heaven and Earth meeting" into the governing path of "the great way prevailing across all under Heaven."
Placed in the contemporary context, the Gou hexagram reveals the defining strategy in any organization or system when a force arises — the strategy of integrating strength that is yet fully fledged.
"A woman powerful — do not take her to wife" is not literally binding about marriage, but a voice of caution: when circumstance yields a new trend, a force of opportunity rises — though difficult to see, its advance may prove impossible to arrest; one must not "bind one's seat to it" before essential positions are consolidated. In modern corporate management, this corresponds to the emergence of nascent technologies, newly dominant competitors, or changeful internal factions. Neither affected blindness nor rush to total alignment with that emergence of strength can be a valid response.
The wisdom of "attached to the metal brake" lies in managing the new power through sustained coordinated institutions and rules over flexibility. Initial Six must be secured to Nine at the Second; this is without adjustment the matter: — the new development is restored toward the stable orbit of the existing framework. Looking at modern-day organizations, this invokes the mechanism of the "innovative breeding ground:" early-stage accommodations for a matter may develop, but all within a managed perimeter of control.
The opposition of "penned a net of fish" ends "fled with nothing in its coil" yields the conclusion that exact time is the commanding advantage for assimilation of singular currents. Nine at the Second maintains connection through "imminence with the minute, forming vital attachments," while Nine at the Fourth (entangled at exit reach) misses the chances. Concentrated insight: the earliest player who grabs, amalgamates, accommodates the new upflow of benefits reaps tremendous staying upon turn and aftermath positions.
"Securing one overgrowth in the womb such that single branches embracers weave it" is an astute figurative conceptualization of innovative cohesion management. The spring growth (visualized as Initial Six, a swiftly rising constraint) must gain around rails as it elaborates; otherwise to the utmost and totally in loco undeferential conquest. By reaching a standing bow — still unequal in heights to the competitors, which it essentially binds — to take from the vine its trajectory absolute. Thence instructions: cannot delegate things merely by strong grips against something unfamiliar rising; measure leads it to drift instead of rule loops fitting, anchoring its genesis. Such structure provides confinement integrated with dependency—th airspaces: it merges its order at such first due to nurture mechanisms of systemic allocation.
"Grants from height collapse - intent persists even under the abatement of fate—star is heavy, but the mind is determined — yanking clouds back yet its aim towers undisputed?" brings signature lessons of whole text at philosophical pitch: acknowledging futures naturally dark yet personhood keeps the future.
In their compact:**
Applications in Management Philosophy: Some researchers have applied the "soft encountering strong" model of the Hexagram Gou to modern organizational behavior studies, viewing it as a classic paradigm of "how weak forces seek space for survival within a strongly dominant structure."
Ecological Philosophy Interpretation: "Heaven and earth encounter each other, and all things come to fruition" has been invoked by contemporary ecological philosophers to illustrate that the union of yin and yang between heaven and earth serves as the ontological foundation for the flourishing of all beings, thereby offering classical Chinese intellectual resources for ecocentrism.
Perspectives in Comparative Philosophy: Su Shi's idea of "the will not abandoning fate" has been brought into comparison within the framework of the Stoic school's "conforming to nature without losing inner freedom," exploring the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western philosophies on the relationship between "fate and the will."