The I Ching or Book of Changes (140 page)

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BOOK: The I Ching or Book of Changes
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1
. This phrase, “Keeping his stopping still” (
kên ch’i chih
), is a textual mistake persisting from Wang Pi’s time [A.D. 226-249]; it should read as the Judgment has it: “Keeping his back still” (
kên ch’i pei
). A comparison of the older explanations makes this evident.
1
. [“Yielding” in the German, but this is assumed to be a slip of the pen. See
here
, n. 1.]
1
. Literally, “the maiden who passes into ownership.”
2
. [See
here
.]
3
. [See
here
.]
4
. [A writer of the Ch’ing dynasty. The work named is an explanation of the
I Ching
.]
1
. [Literally, “perseverance.”]
2
. [In the outer trigram Li.]
1
. Cf. the modern theories on the nature of suggestion.
2
. [For a discussion of the cyclic signs or time divisions, see
here
. There this sign is listed as the seventh, therefore “eighth” must be assumed to be a slip.]
1
. [See
here
.]
2
. [Another possible rendering here is “encourage one another.”]
1
. [See the explanation of this line
here
.]
1
. The
Chou I Hêng Chieh
[see
here
, n. 4] gives another interpretation. There the two words are read together as meaning pig-fishes, i.e., dolphins: “Dolphins originate in the ocean (Tui) and warn boats (Sun) when a wind is coming up. They are reliable harbingers of storm, hence the symbol of inner truth. The approaching wind is heralded by definite signs, causing the dolphins to rise to the surface. Thus inner truth is the means of understanding the future.”
The idea is very ingenious, except for the fact that the Book of Changes goes back to a time when the ocean was still unknown to the Chinese.
2
. [As the symbol of the west and of autumn, the place and time of death.]
1
. By movement or change a yielding line develops out of a strong line, and a strong line out of a yielding line.
2
. [Judgment and Commentary on the Decision.]

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