The Circulation of Change/Yi
The Four Forces of Change
Yuan Heng Li Zhen
The Xici Zhuan says:
易有四象，所以示也。
Change possesses four formless semblances, as a result there is revelation.
And:
乾知大始，坤作成物。
Qian manages substantial initiating,
Kun assists things in developing.
乾以易知，坤以簡能。
Qian uses Change for realization and management,
Kun uses simplicity for capacity and capability.
The Dao De Jing says (40):
反者道之動；弱者道之用。天下萬物生於有，有生於無。
The action of dao is to revert. The function of dao is to reduce.
Returning is dao's motion; Reducing is dao's function.
The myriad phenomena descended of heaven originate from something; something originates from nothing.
䷀ 乾 Qian says:
元亨利貞
Yuan Heng Li Zhen
䷁ 坤 Kun says:
元亨利牝馬之貞 Yuan Heng Li Female Horse's Zhen
Yuan Heng Li and Zhen describe the cycling of energy according to the four semblances. There is an initiation, a maturation, a culmination, and a completion. Energy expands, creates, culminates, and returns from whence it came.
This means we can associate them like so (as Shao Yong and Liu Yiming do):
- ⚎ Minor Yang as related to Yuan (Wood / Growth)
- ⚌ Major Yang as related to Heng (Fire / Development)
- ⚍ Minor Yin as related to Li (Metal / Culmination)
- ⚏ Major Yin as related to Zhen (Water / Consolidation and Return to potential)
What stands out here is how the first three (Yuan, Heng, Li) all involve elements of yang-ness, while Zhen involves yin-ness.
From above, we know that Kun's yin-ness assists things in developing by employing the simplicity of innocence to nurture its capacity in carrying things forward.
And, we know that the nature of dao is to revert and reduce, and is found at the root of creation, abiding in emptiness.
What the Yi is communicating here is the importance of the feminine's role in accomplishing Zhen. The qualities of yin are necessary to accomplish the completion of the cycling of energy auspiciously.
The Xici Zhuan says:
是故，阖户谓之坤；辟户谓之乾；一阖一辟谓之变；往来不穷谓之通；
Consequently,
Closing up the doorway speaks of kun (the embodiment of all yin);
Opening the doorway for use and development speaks of qian (the embodiment of all yang);
This closing up, this breaking open, speaks of alternation;
And:
夫易，廣矣大矣，以言乎遠，則不禦；以言乎邇，則靜而正；以言乎天地之間，則備矣。
However we look at Change, it is vast, it is great,
Speaking in relation to reaching far, conforms to nonresistance,
Speaking in relation to simply being right here, conforms to stillness and uprightness;
Speaking in relation to heaven and earth's spacious measurements, conforming to having thoroughly provided for.
夫乾，其靜也專，其動也直，是以大生焉。
However we look at Qian [the embodiment of all yang-ness],
Its stillness is due to being entirely concentrated on focused compaction,
Its activity is due to straightening so as to meet things head on, directly, Consequently greatness originates in this.
夫坤，其靜也翕，其動也闢，是以廣生焉。
However we look at Kun [the embodiment of all yin-ness],
Its stillness is due to gathering together in closing itself,
Its activity is due to opening itself up to development and expansion,
Consequently its vastness originates in this.
From this we come to understand how Qian and Kun's Yang-ness and Yin-ness alternate between two states - activity and passivity.
- Yang-ness in passivity is a storage of potential energy waiting to be released.
- Yang-ness in activity is a straightforward release of energy pushing forth.
- Yin-ness in passivity is closed and condensed.
- Yin-ness in activity is opened and in opening is able to taking and nurture with its capacity.
What is important to understand in this is how Yang-ness and Yin-ness are always together. If Yang is moving forward, it means yin must be receiving it and accommodating its advance at some level. That level may be small or large. There may be expenditure that is not received in one way, but leaks out in another way. There may be openness that yearns but receives only that which it does not seek. The more truly they grasp each other in alignment, the more potential they have for creating and developing.
From this we arrive at the notion that Yang-ness activates and opens Yin-ness, and Yin-ness completes Yang-ness. This is a concept at the core of Chinese medicinal theory.
And finally we come to the recognition that the "alternation" of change is the opening and closing of the door that yang and yin are negotiating together.
Thus is revealed the nature of the cycling of energy.
Now may be discussed in detail the nuances of Yuan Heng Li Zhen.
Yuan 元 Beginning Development
Yuan is our source, our prime, our beginning. Without Yuan's function there is no start, no birth and youthful development, no energy to work with in the other stages.
Hexagram 24 Line 1 has Yuan. It is good for beginning something.
When we have Yuan's Beginning Development indicated in the hexagrams, there is the ability to initiate things and develop their early growth.
This is the season of Spring and the phase of Wood. (February March April) There is a return of energy and a rebirth.
With Yuan, Xing 性 emerges.
Heng 亨 Gathering Maturity
Heng expands from our birth and we grow. We fill in. We become. We open up and develop and mature. This is the stage that comes before the moon is full. We are not capitalizing on our growth yet, we are manifesting and developing its maturity first so that it can then be able to achieve its life purpose.
This is where we step into our power and learn to work with it.
Before there is a battle, the troops must be trained and marched into position. Before there is a harvest, there must be watering the crops and caring to their needs. Before one uses leverage, first one thoroughly establishes its potential.
Where we have Heng's Gathering Maturity indicated in the hexagrams, there is the ability to work with the empowering of things so that they may ripen into their full potential.
This is the season of Summer and the phase of Fire. (May June July) There is an awakening of energy as it pervades throughout.
With Heng, Ming 命 emerges.
In going along with Liu Yiming's interpretation of this as a sequence of stages of development, it becomes easy to see how the base of that which is able to be eaten, enjoyed, sacrificed, and offered, comes of its maturation - its ripening into readiness. Unripe, unprepared, uncooked food, is not yet developed into a state where it can be consumed. My sense is that 亨 is the development that leads to the stage of maturation and readiness for something to be 享 consumed, offered, and enjoyed, as it is now 亯 prepared as a container with something in it.
This in turn connects with how it came to be understood as extending throughout - whens something matures, it develops and grows and evolves into becoming - this is its ripeness slowly pervading throughout its whole. An apple begins as a nub at the end of a flower, and as it ripens it grows and matures, changing color until its maturation is completed, and then it can be offered, as the tree releases it to carry its seeds onward. But this offering and release is more related to the next stage - what happens when something has achieved its maturity and so may be be put into its advantageous use. Heng relates to the stage of Gathering Maturity.
Li 利 Advantageous Culmination
Li capitalizes on maturity to accomplish something. A word that relates to something having an advantage, and to the edge of a blade. The edge of a blade is where it has the advantage. Li is the function of gaining the natural edge of something. This is where things naturally converge and culminate.
The Li of a fruit is to ripen and fall from the tree. This is the culmination of its development, and it can continue on to achieve its purpose in parting from the tree and delivering its accomplishment.
The Li of a joint is to bend. The Li of a roof is to shelter. The Li of a stove is to cook. The Li of a writing assignment is to be graded or published. The Li of a scorpion is to sting.
Where we have Li's Advantageous Culmination indicated in the hexagrams, there is the ability to further the purposes of things and make accomplishments.
This is the season of Autumn and the phase of Metal. (August September October) Energy matures and capitalizes on its function in its final act before returning. The harvest is collected and stored up for the winter.
With Li, Ming is able to accomplish something. Ming lays out the substance of destiny. Accomplishing destiny is the neutralization of Ming's curriculum. Thus, Li provides the means for accomplishing and neutralizing Ming. However, in order to completely accomplish one's Ming, one must allow the culmination of one's energy to a unified state that may return to the whole.
This relates to the culmination of beingness and the culmination of the development of virtuous-power.
In cultivation work this relates with the third eye and achieving the concentration of spiritual light. This is how we 'see' the 'Great Person', our higher self. This is why Li is always associated with 'seeing the Great Person'.
It is easy to make the connection in how gaining an edge, or using an edge, is where something is beneficial or advantageous. What is important in our sequence here is to recognize how this connects to the maturation of something. It is when something is ripe and matured, that it can be used for full advantage. It is when the edge has been sharpened that it can be used to cut. It is when the student has learned the material well, that they can apply it to its advantage.
Zhen 貞 Aligning Toward Completion
Zhen is how we align with the whole.
Determining and affirming about the proper path forward that allows us to completely return the cycling of energy back to where it started.
With Zhen, we align our Xing to return, and in our alignment we are able to determine if we still have Ming to work out as a part of our spiritual curriculum, which is ever evolving as we Yuan and Heng and Li. This is why Zhen is so important. A circle that is not carefully drawn will not have its ends meet up. So we have the determining of Aligning Toward Completion.
With Zhen, we folow the lead of the dao. Notably, it is the female horse's, the mare's Zhen that enables Yin to accommodate the completion of yang. Thus the qualities of yin-ness are exemplified in the operation of Zhen. Listening is vital for us to sense the way to return.
This is the season of Winter and the phase of Water. (November December January) Energy consolidates and returns to potential. Layer by layer learning how to consolidate and return until one reaches the dao where it abides in emptiness.
This is then questioned: If we are divining, we are attempting to determine something. And then we get a divination result. Why would the result tell us that something is "利貞", "advantageous to determine", when we just determined? Wouldn't it be "advantageous determination" instead?
The important thing to understand here is that the divination is showing us the type of change we are presently navigating. Sometimes it will say that determining is inauspicious. Sometimes it will say that it is advantageous. The result of the divination is not showing us an outcome, but showing us where we stand within change. Sometimes, we are about to cross a road, and we are told "it is beneficial to determine carefully to bring advantageous culmination to its conclusion". Other times we are told that determining how to complete something is inauspicious, because perhaps we are looking a gift horse in the mouth (to check for bad teeth - but a gifted horse (or a car in modern times) is quite a boon, so why risk insulting the giver?). Or perhaps we are not in a stage of development where it is proper to bring things to a conclusion or make a judgment on something. Like a student presuming to know what something means before the teacher has fully revealed the material.
So here I agree with Shaughnessy's "determining" or "affirming", and we can see how these relate to the evolution of the meaning of 貞 over time to become something about being upright, correct, chaste, honorable, respectable, etc.
Further, we can see how in the sequence of our four forces, this determining is what aligns with the completion of something. It brings the advantageous culmination home. It is like the offering having been conceived of, produced, gifted, and received. It is like the fruit having been born, ripened, parted from the tree, and its seed having been received by the earth. So that the next cycle can begin later on.
Yuan Heng Li Zhen in the Wen Yan Zhuan
The Wen Yan Zhuan (opens in a new tab), one of the Ten Wings (opens in a new tab), or Ten Commentaries of the Yi Jing, is where we see one of the oldest surviving statements about Yuan Heng Li Zhen:
「元」者，善之長也；
「亨」者，嘉之會也；
「利」者，義之和也；
「貞」者，事之幹也。
君子體仁足以長人，嘉會足以合禮，利物足以和義，貞固足以幹事。
君子行此四德者，故曰「乾、元、亨、利、貞」。
"Yuan" is that which is favorable for its causing to grow;
"Heng" is that which is auspicious for its gathering together;
"Li" is that which is right and proper for its resonant balancing with;
"Zhen" is that wherein an affair has its root.
Noble people embody human empathy enough to accomplish causing to grow the nurturing of people,
auspiciously gather together enough to accomplish ritual ceremonies,
advantageously culminating things enough to accomplish resonant balance with what is right and proper,
determining with certainty enough to accomplish the root of affairs.
Noble People are those who act with these four virtues, therefore it says: "Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen".
Understanding the above four already is helpful for translating this statement with clear meaning. Legge or Shaughnessy both have translations that do not capture the cyclical meaning here. And indeed it is easily not found, unless one knows what to look for. Then it is clear.
For Yuan, 長 Zhang is the key word and means to grow, develop, increase, swell, but more specifically, to cause to grow, to raise, cultivate, nurture. It also has a meaning similar to the Yuan we are relating it with, "of principal importance, first in status, eminent." Thus we can see that we must not confuse it merely with 'growth' here, but of the primacy of growth. The first stages of growth where something goes through becominginess and is nurtured. It relates to early development; youth.
Heng's 嘉會 auspiciously gathering together at first does not fully connect. Certainly we can see that after a fruit has grown, it ripens. After the ingredients are gathered into a pot, they can be cooked. But it is the explanation wherein there is enough gathering together to accomplish ritual ceremonies, that we see that something needs to have ripened to the state where it can BE offered into ritual. So it is very much helping us to see that this gathering together is the stage of preparation of what is needed before there can be a ritual ceremony or an offering.
Li's 和義 proper accord here at first is perhaps seen just as harmoniously attuning with something, but why would it be proper or right? Shaughnessy has "harmony of proprieties". He 和 means to harmonize, accord with, be attuned to; bring into harmony, balance, temper (congruence, concordance, compatibility); agreeable, conciliatory. So this is not just harmony, but the act of being in harmony, getting into harmony, of creating the balance and the accord. The attuning of. The creating balance with. So here our advantageous culmination relates to bringing things into balance. Thus we can see how this relates with the notion of accomplishing Ming's mandate of destiny. The equalizing of cause and effect requires balancing.
Zhen here is clear from the start in relation to getting to the root of affairs. But this meaning is easily missed if one is not seeing it as the cyclical process.
Scholars have attempted understanding of these four terms over and over again, ever inching closer. Thankfully, the cyclical pattern creates an easy road forward for aligning with what is meant. All of the terms and their meanings, past and present, can thus be understood and reasoned out. And thus applied to the intended cyclical meaning of the Zhou Yi.
In the end, it turns out to be rather simple.
The Female Horse's Aligning Toward Completion.
牝馬之貞
Here this phrase at the beginning of hexagram 2's Kun, helps to link the yin principle to 貞 zhen's aligning toward completion. It is not just determining, it is determining via receptivity, toward the completion of a goal.
In herds of wild horses, studies show that the stallion will tend to guide the herd by pushing from behind, using its yang-ness. However, it is the female horses that tend to guide the herd toward water, grazing, and safety. They do this not by trying to get others to following them, but simply by listening to what is needed for the herd, and moving toward it when they sense it. Then the herd follows.
Sometimes it is said that the 'lead mare' is the one who does this leading. However the study (opens in a new tab) shows that other mares can also lead in this way. My sense is that the heard develops the ability to follow those who are found to have good alignment. We can also understand this in the question: how does a school of fish or a flock of birds know how to turn as one? Because they are empty enough to respond as one. When one part moves, all parts move. When they are receptive, and all focused on this receptivity, they all move as one.
This quality of listening to the needs of the herd and matching to what one hears in reality captures the essence of the meaning of Zhen.
In alchemical cultivation, one of the first stages involves accumulation. This is in some ways difficult. As we navigate societal demands, we tend to do a lot of yang-ing. We send our energy into the world and out of ourselves. Looking and listening internally may not be easy. Women often find this stage of cultivation easier, as the yin-ness of the feminine reproductive system accommodates receptivity well. Meanwhile the masculine struggles with this as its yang-ness is poised to eject and it struggles to contain itself and nurture receptively.
These are generalizations - the quality of yang-ness or yin-ness is what is measured, especially in an era where we are learning that being human is a balance of yin-ness and yang-ness.
What is important here is the realization that yang-ness alone struggles to find completion. Caffeine can only take one so far before one inevitably requires replenishment from surrendering to sleep. In a society that highly values yang-ness over yin-ness, this principle is one of the most important to have understanding about. Rather than going to sleep at the last moment, we can Zhen about the gradual winding down of our day easing away from screens, letting our minds become empty, meditating, and so on. In this way one may really merge with the nourishment of surrendering to yin-ness.
In Chinese medicine, insomnia is related to excess yang-ness that cannot be embraced by one's yin-ness. This is what happens when firmness allows itself to become brittle and is a sign that yin-ness needs replenishment.