I CHING

63

Chi Chi / After Completion Already Fording

This hexagram is the evolution of T'ai PEACE (11). The

transition from confusion to order is completed, and

everything is in its proper place even in particulars. The

strong lines are in the strong places, the weak lines in the

weak places. This is a very favorable outlook, yet it gives

reason for thought.

For it is just when perfect equilibrium

has been reached that any movement may cause order to

revert to disorder. The one strong line that has moved to the

top, thus effecting complete order in details, is followed by

the other lines. Each moving according to its nature, and thus

suddenly there arises again the hexagram P'i, STANDSTILL

(12).

Hence the present hexagram indicates the conditions of a

time of climax, which necessitate the utmost caution.

"In dealing with this lineal figure, king Wên was thinking of

the condition of the kingdom, at length at rest and quiet. The

vessel of the state has been brought safely across the great

and dangerous stream.

The distresses of the kingdom have

been relieved, and its disorders have been repressed.

Does anything remain to be done still? Yes, in small things.

The new government has to be consolidated. Its ruler must,

without noise or clamour, go on the perfect what has been

wrought, with firmness and correctness, and ever keeping in

mind the instability of all human affairs. That every line of

the hexagram is in its correct place, and has its proper

correlate is also supposed to harmonize with the intimation

of progress and success." James Legee translation.

THE JUDGMENT

AFTER COMPLETION. Success in small matters.

Perseverance furthers.

At the beginning good fortune.

At the end disorder.

The transition from the old to the new time is already accomplished. In

principle, everything stands systematized, and it is only in regard to

details that success is still to be achieved. In respect to this, however, we

must be careful to maintain the right attitude. Everything proceeds as if

of its own accord, and this can all too easily tempt us to relax and let

things take their course without troubling over details. Such indifference

is the root of all evil. Symptoms of decay are bound to be the result.

Here we have the rule indicating the usual course of history. But this rule

is not an inescapable law. He who understands it is in position to avoid

its effects by dint of unremitting perseverance and caution.

This means that what has been made should be accompanied until

achieving stabilization. This is a warning not to neglect what has been

summed up.

THE IMAGE

Water over fire: the image of the condition

In AFTER COMPLETION.

Thus the superior man

Takes thought of misfortune

And arms himself against it in advance.

When water in a kettle hangs over fire, the two elements stand in relation

and thus generate energy (cf. the production of steam). But the resulting

tension demands caution. If the water boils over, the fire is extinguished

and its energy is lost. If the heat is too great, the water evaporates into

the air. These elements here brought into relation and thus generating

energy are by nature hostile to each other. Only the most extreme

caution can prevent damage. In life too there are junctures when all

forces are in balance and work in harmony, so that everything seems to

be in the best of order. In such times only the sage recognizes the

moments that bode danger and knows how to banish it by means of

timely precautions.

As a boiling caldron must be tended with care to obtain proper results,

thus in this time all the involved people must take care to preserve the

achievement from declination.

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning means:

He breaks his wheels.

He gets his tail in the water.

No blame.

In times following a great transition, everything is pressing forward,

striving in the direction of development and progress. But this pressing

forward at the beginning is not good; it overshoots the mark and leads

with certainty to loss and collapse. Therefore a man of strong character

does not allow himself to be infected by the general intoxication but

checks his course in time. He may indeed not remain altogether

untouched by the disastrous consequences of the general pressure, but

he is hit only from behind like a fox that, having crossed the water, at the

last minute gets its tail wet. He will not suffer any real harm, because his

behavior has been correct.

This means to contain the advance, not pressing forward for more

achievements. It is time to stop, not to continue, because there are

things to repair and to put in order before.

Wheels are the means to move, thus here there are an additional mean

of insufficient power or damaged means.

Six in the second place means:

The woman loses the curtain of her carriage.

Do not run after it;

On the seventh day you will get it.

When a woman drove out in her carriage, she had a curtain that hid her

from the glances of the curious. It was regarded as a breach of propriety

to drive on if this curtain was lost. Applied to public life, this means that

a man who wants to achieve something is not receiving that confidence

of the authorities which he needs, so to speak, for his personal

protection. Especially in times "after completion" it may happen that

those who have come to power grow arrogant and conceited and no

longer trouble themselves about fostering new talent.

This as a rule results in office seeking. If a man's superiors withhold

their trust from him, he will seek ways and means of getting it and of

drawing attention to himself. We are warned against such an unworthy

procedure: "Do not seek it." Do not throw yourself away on the world,

but wait tranquilly and develop your personal worth by your own efforts.

Times change. When the six stages of the hexagram have passed, the new

era dawns. That which is a man's own cannot be permanently lost. It

comes to him of its own accord. He need only be able to wait.

The carriage represents what goes in course, what is on the road. The

woman, a yin element, here is a symbol of weakness act. The curtain

that gets lost means to be exposed, to attract attention. The seven days

represent a cycle in which everything will be gradually ready for one.

The woman who loses the curtain of her carriage also means anxiety,

little patience, to want to stand out quickly. But the own time should be

awaited because the conditions will be given seven days later.

Nine in the third place means:

The Illustrious Ancestor

Disciplines the Devil's Country.

After three years he conquers it.

Inferior people must not be employed.

"Illustrious Ancestor" is the dynastic title of the Emperor Wu Ting of the

Yin dynasty. After putting his realm in order with a strong hand, he waged

long colonial wars for the subjection of the Huns who occupied the

northern borderland with constant threat of incursions.

The situation described is as follows. After times of completion, when a

new power has arisen and everything within the country has been set in

order, a period of colonial expansion almost inevitably follows. Then as

a rule long drawn-out struggles must be reckoned with. For this reason, a

correct colonial policy is especially important. The territory won at such

bitter cost must not be regarded as an almshouse for people who in one

way or another have made themselves impossible at home, but who are

thought to be quite good enough for the colonies. Such a policy ruins at

the outset any chance of success. This holds true in small as well as large

matters, because it is not only rising states that carry on a colonial

policy; the urge to expand, with its accompanying dangers, is part and

parcel of every ambitious undertaking.

This line illustrates a hard and expensive enterprise. The three years

symbolizes one period, a cycle of long disputes. The triumph can be

achieved, but not without high costs ("He was exhausted", says

Confucius). This stabilization time should be consolidated with capacity

without leaving room for low or mediocre attitudes that can make lose

the great effort.

Six in the fourth place means:

The finest clothes turn to rags.

Be careful all day long.

In a time of flowering culture, an occasional convulsion is bound to

occur, uncovering a hidden evil within society and at first causing a great

sensation. But since the situation is favorable on the whole, such evils

can easily be glossed over and concealed from the public. Then

everything is forgotten and peace apparently reigns complacently once

more. However, to the thoughtful man, such occurrences are grave

omens that he does not neglect. This is the only way of averting evil

consequences.

This line can be read in two different ways. In some versions, the

heading in the following way is expressed: "the most beautiful clothes

become rags." In other, the line says: "somebody that uses rags to

cover the hole of its boat." Both cases introduce the idea of the rags like

significant axis in common. The most beautiful clothes become rags

refers to a disappointment which has been in evidence and it is not

really like it is presented. That somebody uses rags to cover the hole of

its boat refers to the fact of not really using what it is necessary to use to

correct an inconvenience, but rather something which is just used;

although it serves as substitute, it is not reliable nor it guarantees and

that, besides engendering risk, can unchain a fatality, mainly because

the idea of the hole in the boat gives a sinking image; that is to say, it is

a patch without bringing no poise. With the result that it should be

vigilant, because it is neither something resistant nor lasting. Both

readings seem to be two sequences of only one plot, since somebody

who uses rags to cover the hole of its boat would be the first phase,

when reality hides and nobody knows the truth about what is really going

on. On the other hand, the most beautiful clothes become rags would be

the second phase, when things are known; for that reason, they lose

their appearance and they are shown as they are. In the first phase the

rags hide and, later, they leave to the light of their own nature. The rags

represent what is worn out, which no longer serves the obsolete and

mediocre thing.

Nine in the fifth place means::

The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox

Does not attain as much real happiness

As the neighbor in the west

With his small offering.

Religious attitudes are likewise influenced by the spiritual atmosphere

prevailing in times after completion. In divine worship the simple old

forms are replaced by an ever more elaborate ritual and an ever greater

outward display. But inner seriousness is lacking in this show of

magnificence; human caprice takes the place of conscientious obedience

to the divine will. However, while man sees what is before his eyes, God

looks into the heart. Therefore a simple sacrifice offered with real piety

holds a greater blessing than an impressive service without warmth.

This means that the positive effect is not achieved with mere

appearances, but by force of will doing as much as possible. Also, the

allusion to the east and the west of both fellows has the meaning of

opposed attitudes (usually the eastern neighbor is identified with the

brutal Tyrant of Shang, but the western neighbor with king Wên).

Six at the top means:

He gets his head in the water. Danger.

Here in conclusion another warning is added. After crossing a stream, a

man's head can get into the water only if he is so imprudent as to turn

back. As long as he goes forward and does not look back, he escapes this

danger. But there is a fascination in standing still and looking back on a

peril overcome. However, such vain self-admiration brings misfortune. It

leads only to danger, and unless one finally resolves to go forward

without pausing, one falls a victim to this danger.

Here it refers to the fact of not ending up a voyage, with the result that it

is spoken of somebody with the water covering him up to the head. The

water covering his head means not to be up to the circumstance, not to

be able to culminate what has been started. It also indicates negligence

and suffocating situation.