I CHING

43

Kuai / Breakthrough (Resoluteness) Parting

This hexagram signifies on the one hand a breakthrough after

a long accumulation of tension, as a swollen river breaks

through its dikes, or in the manner of a cloudburst. On the

other hand, applied to human conditions, it refers to the time

when inferior people gradually begin to disappear.

Their

influence is on the wane; as a result of resolute action, a

change in conditions occurs, a breakthrough. The hexagram

is linked with the third month (April-May).

THE JUDGMENT

BREAKTHROUGH. One must resolutely make the matter known

At the court of the king.

It must be announced truthfully. Danger.

It is necessary to notify one's own city.

It does not further to resort to arms.

It furthers one to undertake something.

Even if only one inferior man is occupying a ruling position in a city, he

is able to oppress superior men. Even a single passion still lurking in the

heart has power to obscure reason. Passion and reason cannot exist side

by side --therefore fight without quarter is necessary if the good is to

prevail.

In a resolute struggle of the good against evil, there are, however,

definite rules that must not be disregarded, if it is to succeed. First,

resolution must be based on a union of strength and friendliness. Second,

a compromise with evil is not possible; evil must under all

circumstances be openly discredited. Nor must our own passions and

shortcomings be glossed over.

Third, the struggle must not be carried on

directly by force. If evil is branded, it thinks of weapons, and if we do it

the favor of fighting against it blow for blow, we lose in the end because

thus we ourselves get entangled in hatred and passion. Therefore it is

important to begin at home, to be on guard in our own persons against

the faults we have branded. In this way, finding no opponent, the sharp

edges of the weapons of evil becomes dulled. For the same reasons we

should not combat our own faults directly. As long as we wrestle with

them, they continue victorious. Finally, the best way to fight evil is to

make energetic progress in the good.

The breakthrough is a symbol of what could not be contained.

Breakthrough also means to cut off a wicked person from a high place.

To take the case to the court means to expose the risks sincerely, that

is to say to analyze all the potential danger that the situation implies. To

notify the own city means to take conscience, to put on alert, to order the

own circle before acting.

Not to resort to weapons means to avoid unilateral methods. The crisis

must be resolved by common accord at the court, not by brute force. To

undertake something means to face the situation in a direct way, without

hesitation.

In another interpretation level, the elimination of evil forces is a task that

each man must accomplish in his own spirit.

THE IMAGE

The lake has risen up to heaven:

The image of BREAKTHROUGH.

Thus the superior man

Dispenses riches downward

And refrains from resting on his virtue.

When the water of a lake has risen up to heaven, there is reason to fear a

cloudburst. Taking this as a warning, the superior man forestalls a violent

collapse. If a man were to pile up riches for himself alone, without

considering others, he would certainly experience a collapse. For all

gathering is followed by dispersion. Therefore the superior man begins

to distribute while he is accumulating. In the same way, in developing his

character he takes care not to become hardened in obstinacy but to

remain receptive to impressions by help of strict and continuous

self-examination.

Such a state of crisis, as the exposed in this hexagram, is the result of a

serious misbalance. This is a warning to correct it.

Resting on one's virtue means a selfish attitude, and it will be avoided.

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning means:

Mighty in the forward-striding toes.

When one goes and is not equal to the task,

One makes a mistake.

In times of resolute advance, the beginning is especially difficult. We

feel inspired to press forward but resistance is still strong; therefore we

ought to gauge our own strength and venture only so far as we can go

with certainty of success. To plunge blindly ahead is wrong, because it is

precisely at the beginning that an unexpected setback can have the most

disastrous results.

To have mighty toes means to advance with the basic and elementary,

thus it is not made with enough force or it is not up to the situation.

Reality will prevail over the will.

Nine in the second place means:

A cry of alarm. Arms at evening and at night.

Fear nothing.

Readiness is everything. Resolution is indissolubly bound up with

caution. If an individual is careful and keeps his wits about him, he need

not become excited or alarmed. If he is watchful at all times, even before

danger is present, he is armed when danger approaches and need not be

afraid. The superior man is on his guard against what is not yet in sight

and on the alert for what is not yet within hearing; therefore he dwells in

the midst of difficulties as though they did not exist. If a man develops

his character, people submit to him of their own accord. If reason

triumphs, the passions withdraw of themselves. To be circumspect and

not to forget one's armor is the right way to security.

To be alarmed implies reasons to worry. To put on in guard to the

evening means possible attack and, also, not to be neglected, not to

give opportunity, to make sure.

Nine in the third place means:

To be powerful in the cheekbones

Brings misfortune.

The superior man is firmly resolved.

He walks alone and is caught in the rain.

He is bespattered,

And people murmur against him.

No blame.

Here we have a man in an ambiguous situation. While all others are

engaged in a resolute fight against all that is inferior, he alone has a

certain relationship with an inferior man. If he were to show strength

outwardly and turn against this man before the time is ripe, he would

only endanger the entire situation, because the inferior man would too

quickly have recourse to countermeasures. The task of the superior man

becomes extremely difficult here. He must be firmly resolved within

himself and, while maintaining association with the inferior man, avoid

any participation in his evilness. He will of course be misjudged. It will

be thought that he belongs to the party of the inferior man. He will be

lonely because no one will understand him. His relations with the

inferior man will sully him in the eyes of the multitude, and they will

turn against him, grumbling. But he can endure this lack of appreciation

and make no mistake, because he remains true to himself.

To be powerful in the cheekbones means a very rigid attitude, which can

originate some conflict with the associates (the other yang lines). On the

other hand, this line has a link with the top yin that will raise some

suspicion between the associates.

To walk alone under the rain and to get soaked means to have to

support some inconveniences by following the own way, but it is the

price that is to be paid to be loyal to one's own essence. To be

bespattered is surely an inconvenience, but it doesn't constitute a

serious problem rather a simple annoyance.

Nine in the fourth place means::

There is no skin on his thighs,

And walking comes hard.

If a man were to let himself be led like a sheep,

Remorse would disappear.

But if these words are heard

They will not be believed.

Here a man is suffering from inner restlessness and cannot abide in his

place. He would like to push forward under any circumstances, but

encounters insuperable obstacles. Thus his situation entails an inner

conflict. This is due to the obstinacy with which he seeks to enforce his

will. If he would desist from this obstinacy, everything would go well.

But this advice, like so much other good counsel, will be ignored. For

obstinacy makes a man unable to hear, for all that he has ears.

The skin symbolizes the sensibility, therefore, to have lost the skin of

the thighs represents the lack of orientation, and thus walking becomes

hard, because the same disorientation does not allow one a sure and

quick walk.

To be led as a sheep means to follow others, to be driven by those who

knows more and, this way, not to be strayed. But, apparently, his attitude

is obstinate, fool, for that reason, no matter how much he hears the

advice he won't believe it.

Nine in the fifth place means::

In dealing with weeds,

Firm resolution is necessary.

Walking in the middle

Remains free of blame.

Weeds always grow back again and are difficult to exterminate. So too

the struggle against an inferior man in a high position demands firm

resolution. One has certain relations with him, hence there is danger that

one may give up the struggle as hopeless. But this must not be. One must

go on resolutely and not allow himself to be deflected from his course.

Only in this way does one remain free of blame.

The weed represents the bad elements; therefore, to cut the weed with

resolution means not to allow them to grow, not to give them the

possibility to advance.

Six at the top means:

No cry.

In the end misfortune comes.

Victory seems to have been achieved. There remains merely a remnant

of the evil resolutely to be eradicated as the time demands. Everything

looks easy. Just there, however, lies the danger. If we are not on guard,

evil will succeed in escaping by means of concealment, and when it has

eluded us new misfortunes will develop from the remaining seeds, for

evil does not die easily. So too in dealing with the evil in own's own

character, one must go to work with thoroughness. If out of carelessness

anything were to be overlooked, new evil would arise from it.

Here reference is made to the fact that nobody collaborates to

culminate with a certain matter. This means lack of cohesion,

negligence, to abandon what had been determined as objective, thus, at

the end bad fortune will come, because it has been unconcluded what

has been begun.

Other authors, besides Wilhelm, think this line shows the end of the

inferior man, that is rejected by all the others yang lines.