Unearthing the Changes

Jian 蹇, “Lame” (Hexagram 39)

蹇利西南不利東北利見大人貞吉

初六往蹇來譽

六二王臣蹇蹇匪躬之故

Lame: Beneficial to the southwest, not beneficial to the northeast. Beneficial to see the great man. Determining: auspicious.

First Six: Going lame, coming praised.

Six in the Second: The king’s ministers so lame, it is not their person’s fault.

Nine in the Third: Going lame, coming back.

Six in the Fourth: Going lame, coming in succession.

Nine in the Fifth: Greatly lame, friends come.

Top Six: Going lame, coming firmly. Auspicious. Beneficial to see the great man.

Jie 繲, “Disentangled” (Strip 37)

至

至九四繲其拇

Disentangled1

Beneficial to the southwest. There is no place to go. His coming in return. Auspicious. There is someplace to go. Early² auspiciousness.

First Six: There is no trouble.

Nine in the Second: Hunting capturing three foxes and obtaining a yellow arrowhead. Determining: auspicious.

Six in the Third: Carrying³ on the back and riding,⁴ brings robbers to arrive.⁵

Nine in the Fourth: Disentangling his⁶ thumb.

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¹ For jie 繲, “to wash,” both R and M read jie/xie 解, “to cleave apart, to separate,” or xie, “node.”

² The Shuo wen gives

as the ancient form of su

, now usually written 夙, “early,” the reading of R. M, on the other hand, gives su 宿, “to overnight.”

³ For

, R reads fu 負, “to carry on the back.”

⁴ For

, both R and M read cheng 乘, “to drive (a chariot); to ride in, on.”

⁵ In both R and M, this line ends with the words zhen lin 貞吝, “determining: distress” (in M, lin is written, as commonly in that manuscript, 閵).

⁶ For qi 其, “his,” R reads er 而, “your,” whereas M also reads qi, “his.”

Jie 解, “Released” (Hexagram 40)

Released: Beneficial to the southwest. There is no place to go. His coming in return: auspicious. There is someplace to go. Early auspiciousness.

First Six: There is no trouble.

Nine in the Second: Hunting capturing three foxes and obtaining a yellow arrowhead. Determining: auspicious.

Six in the Third: Carrying on the back and riding, brings robbers to arrive. Determining: distress.

Nine in the Fourth: Releasing your thumb. Friends bring this trust.

Six in the Fifth: It is the nobleman who is released. Auspicious. There is trust in the petty man.

Top Six: The duke herewith shoots a hawk at the top of the high wall, bagging it. There is nothing not beneficial.

Guai 夬, “Resolute” (Strips 38–39)

38. 啻唬莫譽又戎勿卹九晶藏于頄又凶君子夬

An apprehensive scream.1 There are none to praise,² there are enemies. Do not worry.³

Nine in the Third: Wounded⁴ on the forehead. Again ominous. The nobleman is so resolute; moving alone⁵ he meets rain like⁶ a mist.⁷ There is danger.⁸ There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fourth: The raw meat offering⁹ has no sliced meat.¹⁰ His moving is belabored.¹¹ Losing¹² a sheep. Regrets gone. Hearing words that are unending.¹³

Nine in the Fifth: Purslane¹⁴ so resolute, in the middle of the road. There is no trouble.

Top Six: Forgetting¹⁵ to scream.¹⁶ In the middle¹⁷ it is again ominous.

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¹ For chihu 啻唬, perhaps “to scream,” perhaps “to babble,” R reads tihao 惕號, “nervously cry out,” whereas M reads yihao

號.

² For yu 譽, “praise,” both R and M read ye 夜, “night.”

³ Here and elsewhere in the text, for 卹, R reads xu 恤, “to worry; to sympathize” (M has xue 血).

⁴ For cang 藏, “to store; good,” R reads qiang 壯, “to injure,” whereas M reads chuang 牀, “bed.”

⁵ For 蜀, both R and M read du 獨, “solitary, alone.”

⁶ For ru 女 (i.e., 如), “to resemble,” R reads ruo 若, “to be like,” whereas M reads ru 如.

⁷ For 雺, which dictionaries give variously as wu, “fog, mist” (i.e., 霧), or as meng or mao, “dark” (i.e., 霿), both R and M read xu 濡, “wet.”

⁸ For li 礪, “danger,” both R and M read yun 慍, “anger, resentment.”

⁹ For zhen 誫, given in dictionaries as a variant of zhen 震, “thunder; to shake, to move,” R reads tun 臀, “haunches, thigh,” whereas M reads shen 脤, “raw meat offering.”

¹⁰ For fu 肤, “meat offering,” both R and M read fu 膚, usually “skin” but variously defined by Zheng Xuan as “sacrificial pork” or “sliced sacrificial meat.”

¹¹ For 緀疋, the received text reads ciqie 次且, usually understood as the unelaborated form of ziju 趑趄, “difficulty in walking.” M reads qixu 郪胥.

¹² For sang

(i.e., 喪), “to cause to disappear; to lose,” both R and M read qian 牽, “to lead with a rope, to draw.”

¹³ For zhong 冬 (i.e., 終), “end,” both R and M read xin 信, “to trust, to believe, trustworthy.”

¹⁴ For xianlu 莧

, “purslane,” R reads xianlu 莧陸, clearly the same word (六 and 陸 are interchangeable) but which has been variously interpreted. The Shanghai manuscript, adding a “grass” (艹) signific as it does, would seem now to show the antiquity of the meaning “purslane.”

¹⁵ For wang 忘, “to forget,” both R and M read the simple negative wu 无, “not to have,” an obvious transformation of the more ancient negative wang 亡.

¹⁶ For hu

, “to call out, to scream,” both R and M read hao 號, “to call out, to yell.”

¹⁷ For zhong 中, “middle,” R reads zhong 終, “end,” whereas M gives 冬, read there as zhong, “end.”

Guai 夬, “Resolute” (Hexagram 43)

夬揚于王庭孚號有厲告自邑不利即戎利有攸往

初九壯于前趾往不勝為吝

九二惕號莫夜有戎勿恤

九三壯于頄有凶君子夬夬獨行遇雨若濡有慍无咎

九四臀无膚其行次且牽羊悔亡聞言不信

九五莧陸夬夬中行无咎

上六无號終有凶

Resolute: Raised up in the king’s courtyard. A captive screams. There is danger, announced from the city. Not beneficial to approach enemies; beneficial to have someplace to go.

First Nine: Wounded in the front foot. Going: not victorious. It is distress.

Nine in the Second: An apprehensive scream. In the evening and night there are enemies. Do not worry.

Nine in the Third: Wounded on the forehead. It is ominous. The nobleman is so resolute: Moving alone and meeting rain, if wet he will get steamed up. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fourth: Buttocks without flesh. His movement is halting, pulling a sheep. Regrets gone. Hearing words that are not believable.

Nine in the Fifth: Purslane so resolute, in the middle of the road. There is no trouble.

Top Six: There is no scream. In the end it is ominous.

Kou 敂, “Hitting” (Strips 40–41)

A woman is wounded.² Do not use to take a woman.

First Six: Tied to a metal brake. Determining: auspicious. There is someplace to go. Seeing: ominous. A skinny pig is captured, pacing nervously.³

Nine in the Second: The sack⁴ has fish. There is no trouble. Not beneficial to have audience.⁵

Nine in the Third: The raw meat offering has no sliced meat.⁶ His motion is belabored.⁷ Danger. There is no great trouble.

Nine in the Fourth: The sack does not have fish. Stopping:⁸ ominous.

Nine in the Fifth: With white millet plant⁹ ensacking a gourd,¹⁰ containing¹¹ a pattern. There is concern¹² from heaven.

Top Nine: Hitting their horns. Distress. There is no trouble.

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¹ For kou 敂, “to hit,” R reads gou 姤, in the received Yi jing tradition usually understood as “to meet.” Elsewhere in the hexagram text, M reads gou 狗, “dog” (at the place of the hexagram name, the manuscript is defective), whereas the Mawangdui manuscript Xi ci 繫辭 reads variously gou 坸, “dust, dirt,” or simply gou 句, “hook.” This last character was doubtless the original character, which was then later elaborated differently by different scribes.

² For cang 藏, “to store; good,” both R and M read qiang 壯, “to wound, to injure.”

³ For shi shu 是蜀, R reads zhizhu 蹢躅, “to pace back and forth nervously,” whereas M gives shishu 適屬.

⁴ Here and elsewhere throughout this hexagram, for tuo 橐, “sack,” R reads bao 包, “to wrap” (M gives fu 枹, “drumstick”).

⁵

is an archaic form of the graph 賓, which is the reading of both R and M.

⁶ For this phrase, see notes 9 and 10 of Guai 夬, “Resolute” hexagram (p. 112).

⁷ For [緀]疋, R reads ciqie 次且, usually understood as the unelaborated form of ziju 趑趄, “difficulty in walking.”

⁸ For yi 已, “to stop,” R reads qi 起, “to arise,” whereas M reads zheng 正, “upright.”

⁹ For qi 芑, “white millet,” R reads qi 杞, “willow,” whereas M gives ji 忌, “jealous.”

¹⁰ For 苽, which is also the reading of M and for which dictionaries give two readings, gu, “Zizania latifolia, an edible water plant,” and gua, “gourd, melon” (i.e., 瓜), the received text reads gua 瓜, “gourd, melon.”

¹¹ For

, both R and M read han 含, “to contain, to enclose, to hold within.”

¹² For you

(i.e., 憂), “worry, concern,” R reads yun 隕, “to fall,” whereas M gives xun 塤.

Gou 姤, “Meeting” (Hexagram 44)

Meeting: A girl is strong. Do not use to take a girl.

First Six: Tied to a metal brake. Determining: auspicious. There is someplace to go. Seeing: ominous. A skinny pig is captured, pacing nervously.

Second Nine: The wrapper has fish. There is no trouble. Not beneficial to have audience.

Nine in the Third: Buttocks without flesh, his motion is stopped up. Danger. There is no great trouble.

Nine in the Fourth: The wrapper has no fish. Arising: ominous.

Nine in the Fifth: With willow leaves wrapping a gourd, containing a pattern. Something falls from heaven.

Top Nine: Locking their horns. Distress. There is no trouble.

Cui

, “Roaring” (Strip 42)

The king enters² into the temple.³ Beneficial to see the great man. Receipt. Beneficial to determine. Using the great ox sacrifice.⁴ Beneficial to have someplace to go.

First Six: There is trust, unending. You are disordered⁵ and then⁶ roaring like a tiger, once grappling⁷ it in⁸ laughter. Do not worry. Going: there is no trouble.

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¹ For cui

(i.e., 啐), “to drink; to scream,” R reads cui 萃, “to gather together,” and M reads zu 卒, “to end; to die.” After the hexagram name, R includes the word heng 亨, “receipt,” though according to the Jingdian shiwen the texts of Ma Rong, Zheng Xuan, Lu Ji 陸績, and Yu Fan 虞翻 did not include it. Neither does it appear in M.

² For ge

(i.e., 格), “to enter,” R reads 假 (M gives the unelaborated form jia 叚), usually read jia but in contexts such as this read ge, “to enter.”

³ For

, both R and M read miao 廟, “temple”; the Shuo wen gives 庿 as an ancient form of miao, and 宀 and 广 are functionally equivalent.

⁴ After “use a great ox sacrifice,” both R and M include the word ji 吉, “auspicious.”

⁵ For

, which the Ji yun 集韵 gives as an ancient form of luan 亂, “disorderly, chaotic,” R reads luan 亂, whereas M gives ru 乳, “to suckle.”

⁶ For nai 廼, both R and M read nai 乃, “your; then.” Ordinarily, this substitution would be entirely unproblematic, but since this phrase contains two instances of the word, written differently, it may well mean that the scribe intended them to be understood differently.

⁷ For

, R reads wo 握, “to grasp, to grapple” (M gives the unelaborated form wu 屋).

⁸ For yu 于, “in,” R reads wei 為, “to do; to be,” though M also reads yu 于.

Cui 萃, “Gathering” (Hexagram 45)

萃亨王假有廟利見大人亨利貞用大牲吉利有攸往

初六有孚不終乃亂乃萃若號一握為笑勿恤往无咎

Gathering: Receipt. The king enters into the temple. Beneficial to see the great man. Receipt. Beneficial to determine. Using the great ox sacrifice: auspicious. Beneficial to have someplace to go.

First Six: There is trust, unending, then disordered and then gathered. A scream once grasped becomes laughter. Do not worry. Going: there is no trouble.

Six in the Second: Prolonged auspiciousness. There is no trouble. Trusting then it is beneficial therewith to make a vegetarian offering.

Six in the Third: Gathered, sighing. There is nothing beneficial. Going: there is no trouble. A little distress.

Nine in the Fourth: Greatly auspicious. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fifth: Gathered in positions. There is no trouble. Not trusting. Prime long-term determination: regrets gone.

Top Six: Sobbing, snivel and snot. There is no trouble.

Kun 困, “Bound” (Strip 43)

… beneficial herewith to sacrifice.

Top Six: Bound by wild grapevines,1 by cut² …³ This is called “Slipping.⁴ Regrets and again regrets.” Campaigning: auspicious.

____________

¹ For

蘲, R reads gelei 葛藟 (M gives helei 褐纍), “Vitis flexuosa, wild grape.”

² For yi

(i.e., 劓), “to cut off the nose; to cut,” R reads nie 臲, understood as part of a compound word niewu 臲卼, “to rock, to sway.”

³ The character at this point on the bamboo strip has been effaced and cannot be read. The corresponding character in R is wu 卼, part of the compound niewu 臲卼, “to rock, to sway.” M reads er tuan 貳掾, the meaning of which is not immediately evident.

⁴ For 迖, “slippery, to slip,” R reads dong 動, “to move.” In M, the corresponding character, though placed after, rather than before, the word hui 悔, “regret,” is yi 夷, “calm, even.”

Kun 困, “Bound” (Hexagram 47)

Bound: Receipt: Determining: for the great man auspicious. There is no trouble. There are words that are not believable.

First Six: The buttocks bound by the tree trunk: entering into the dark valley, for three years not seeing him.

Nine in the Second: Bound by wine and food. The country of the scarlet kneepads comes. Beneficial herewith to make offering and sacrifice. Campaigning: ominous. There is no trouble.

Six in the Third: Bound by stone, stuck in the brambles: entering into his palace, and not seeing his wife. Ominous.

Nine in the Fourth: Coming so slowly, bound by a bronze cart. Distress. There is an end.

Nine in the Fifth: Cutting off the nose and foot. Bound by the crimson kneepads, and then slowly having release. Beneficial herewith to sacrifice.

Top Six: Bound by wild grapevines, tripping. This is called “Moving, regrets.” There are regrets. Campaigning: auspicious.

Jing 汬, “Well-Trap” (Strips 44–45–46)

Changing the city, not changing the well. There is no loss, there is no gain. Going and coming in succession. Almost² arrived, still do not³ dip⁴ from the well, breaking its pitcher. Ominous.

First Six: The trap is exposed⁵ and not edible. The old trap is without a catch.

Nine in the Second: The trap is watery,⁶ shooting the boar.⁷ They are⁸ tattered⁹ to shreds.¹⁰

Nine in the Third: The well is shaded¹¹ and not edible. It makes my heart stopped up.¹² It can be used¹³ to draw from. The king is bright, together receiving its blessings.

Six in the Fourth: Trapped wild animal.¹⁴ There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fifth: The well is clean;¹⁵ the cold spring is drinkable.

Top Six: The well is shaded.¹⁶ Do not cover¹⁷ it. There is trust. Prime auspiciousness.

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¹ Here and throughout this hexagram, for 汬, which the Shuo wen gives as the ancient form of jing 阱 (also written as 穽), “trap,” both R and M give jing 井, “well.”

² For 气, which should not be confused with the simplified form of qi 氣, “air,” the received text gives qi 汔, “exhausted; almost.” M gives

³ For the imperative negative wu 毋, “do not,” both R and M give the declarative negative wei 未, “not yet.”

⁴ For

, the meaning of which is unclear, R writes yu 繘, “rope of a well, to dip water from a well,” whereas M gives ji 汲, “to dip water.”

⁵ For

, for which Pu Maozuo suggests pu 普, “bright; to expose,” whereas Chen Wei, “Shangbo jian Cong zheng Zhou Yi jiaodu,” 5–6, suggests ti 替, “discarded, defiled, dirty,” both R and M give ni 泥, “muddy.”

⁶ For yu 浴, the primary meaning of which now is “to bathe” but which seems in Warring States manuscripts to have a special meaning of a “watercourse,” R reads gu 谷, “valley,” whereas M reads du 瀆, “canal, river.”

⁷ For

, which is unattested but the “pig” or “boar” signific of which is clearly evident, R reads fu 鮒, “sardine, silver fish,” and M gives just the phonetic element fu 付. Since it does not make sense to me how one would “shoot” tiny silver fish at the bottom of a well, it seems to me that here 汬 should best be understood as jing 阱 or 穽, “trap,” the contents of which are a type of animal that could be shot, such as a wild boar.

⁸ For the simple copula wei 隹, “to be,” R reads weng 甕, “water pitcher,” whereas M also gives the copula wei, written as 唯.

⁹ For bie 襒, “tattered (clothes),” both R and M read bi 敝, “broken, battered.”

¹⁰ For lü 縷, “yarn; worn to shreds,” R reads lou 漏, “to leak,” whereas M reads gou 句, “hooked, hooked implement,” and F reads lü 屢, “frequent, quickly.”

¹¹ For jiu 朻, “drooping tree,” the received text reads xie 渫, “to clean; to disperse; to leak,” whereas M gives

¹² For

, R reads ce 惻, “pained, sorrowful,” and M reads sai 塞, “to block up, dam.”

¹³ For yi 以, “to use,” both R and M read yong 用, “to use.”

¹⁴ For

, the meaning of which is unclear, R reads zhou 甃, “brick well wall, to brick,” whereas M reads jiao 椒, “pepper tree, pepper.” As noted in chapter 2, Park, “Shanghai Museum Zhouyi Manuscript,” 238, suggests that words written in Chu script with the “rat” signific (shu 鼠) are typically written in Qin script (and thus in the received script) with the 豸 signific, usually indicative of some sort of wild animal. Although this meaning would be anomalous within the line statements of this hexagram, which seem to describe the nature of the well or trap, it strikes me as a possible interpretation, and I therefore present it for comparative purposes.

¹⁵ For

, R reads lie 洌, “clean water, cold water,” whereas M reads li 戾, “curved, transverse, perverse,” or lie, “broken.”

¹⁶ For jiu 朻, “drooping tree,” both R and M read shou 收, “to collect, to gather.”

¹⁷ For mo 寞, “silent, still,” both R and M read mu 幕, “cover; to cover.”

Jing 井, “Well” (Hexagram 48)

井改邑不改井无喪无得往來井井汔至亦未繘井羸其瓶凶

The Well: Changing the city, not changing the well. There is no loss, there is no gain. Going and coming in succession. Upon arrival, also not yet dipping the well, breaking its pitcher. Ominous.

First Six: The well is muddy and not drinkable. The old well is without a catch.

Nine in the Second: The well is deep, shooting the silverfish. The pitcher is battered and leaking.

Nine in the Third: The well leaks and is not drinkable. It makes my heart pained. It can be used to draw from. The king is bright, together receiving its blessings.

Six in the Fourth: The well is bricked. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fifth: The well is frigid; the cold spring is drinkable.

Top Six: The well is received; do not cover it. There is trust. Prime auspiciousness.

Ge 革, “Rebellion” (Strip 47)

用黃牛之革六二攺日乃革之征吉亡咎九晶征凶革言晶就又孚

Rebellion

On an exorcism1 day then trust. Prime long-term determination.² Beneficial to determine. Regrets³ gone.

First Nine: Strengthening⁴ using a yellow ox’s hide.

Six in the Second: On an exorcism day then overthrow it. Campaigning: auspicious. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Third: Campaigning: ominous.⁵ Overturning the words thrice approached, there is trust.

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¹ Here and in the Six in the Second line, for yi 攺, which Pu Maozuo says means “to drive off ghosts and dispel curses,” R reads si 巳, “the sixth of the earthly branches.”

² For yong zhen 永貞, “determination about the long-term,” both R and M read, as formulaic in hexagram statements, heng 亨, “receipt.”

³ For

, both R and M read, as does the manuscript in all other cases of this formula, hui 悔, “regret.”

⁴ For

, which is the standard ancient form of gong 巩, “to enclose,” the received text reads gong 鞏, “to strengthen,” whereas M reads gong 共, “joint, together.”

⁵ After zheng xiong 征凶, “campaigning: ominous,” R includes the formula zhen li 貞厲, “determining: danger” (M also includes zhen 貞 but is defective thereafter).

Ge 革, “Rebellion” (Hexagram 49)

Rebellion: On a si day then trust. Prime receipt. Beneficial to determine. Regrets gone.

First Nine: Strengthening using a yellow ox’s hide.

Six in the Second: On a si day then overthrow it. Campaigning: auspicious. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Third: Campaigning: ominous. Determining: danger. Overturning words thrice approached, there is trust.

Nine in the Fourth: Regrets gone. There is trust. Changing the mandate: auspicious.

Nine in the Fifth: The great man changes like a tiger. Not yet prognosticating, there is trust.

Top Six: The nobleman changes like a leopard, the petty man overturns his face. Campaigning: ominous. Determining about residence: auspicious.

Gen 艮, “Stilling” (Strips 48–49)

his back,1 not capturing his body; walking into his court, not … … his toe. There is no trouble. Beneficial to determine about the long-term.

Six in the Second: Stilling his foot:² not raising³ his cut flesh, his heart is not racing.⁴

Nine in the Third: Stilling his eyes,⁵ splitting his pregnancy.⁶ Danger. It pains⁷ the heart.

Six in the Fourth: Stilling his torso.⁸

Six in the Fifth: Stilling his cheeks.⁹ Words have sequence.¹⁰ Regrets gone.

Top Nine: Generous stilling. Auspicious.

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¹ For pi 伓, “very,” R reads bei 背, “back,” whereas M reads bei 北, “north.”

² For zu 足, “foot,” R reads fei 腓, “shin,” whereas M reads fei 肥, “fat.”

³ For sheng 陞, “to ascend,” R reads zheng 拯, “to hold aloft; to rescue,” whereas M reads deng 登, “to raise.”

⁴ For ji 悸, “to be startled, for the heart to race,” both R and M read kuai 快, “happy, at ease; fast.”

⁵ For

, which the Yu pian 玉篇 reads as “to open the eyes,” R reads xian 限, “waist, midsection.”

⁶ For

, which perhaps should be read as yin 胤, “inheritance; pregnancy; continuous,” R reads yin 夤, “respectful; continuous; spinal meat,” whereas M reads

, which may be a miswritten form of fei 肥, “fat.”

⁷ For tong 同, “same,” R and both M and F read xun 薰, “Coumarouna odorata; fragrant; to smoke; to warm.” Perhaps the manuscript’s tong 同 should be understood as tong 恫, “sadness, to pain the heart.”

⁸ For gong 躬, “body,” R reads shen 身, “torso, body,” whereas M also reads gong, “body.” In R, this line includes the formula wu jiu 无咎, “no trouble,” though M does not include it.

⁹ For

, R reads fu 輔, “cheek,” whereas M reads 輔 and F reads fu 父.

¹⁰ For

, both R and M read xu 序, “sequence.”

Gen 艮, “Stilling” (Hexagram 52)

Stilling his back, not capturing his body; walking into his court, not seeing his person. There is no trouble.

First Six: Stilling his foot. There is no trouble. Beneficial to determine about the long-term.

Six in the Second: Stilling his calf: not grasping his cut flesh, his heart is not happy.

Nine in the Third: Stilling his midsection, carving his spinal meat. Danger. Smoking the heart.

Six in the Fourth: Stilling his torso. There is no trouble.

Six in the Fifth: Stilling his cheeks. Words have sequence. Regrets gone.

Top Nine: Generous stilling. Auspicious.

Jian 漸, “Progressing” (Strip 50)

A woman returning. Auspicious. Beneficial to determine.

First Six: The wild goose progressing to the bank.1 For the young son: danger. There are words unending.²

Six in the Second: The wild goose progressing to the slope,³ drinking and eating so happily.⁴ Auspicious.

Nine in the Third: The wild goose progressing to the hill: the husband campaigning does not return, the wife is pregnant but⁵

____________

¹ For

, which depicts water flowing between two banks, R reads gan 干, usually understood as a shortened form of an 岸, “bank (of a stream)” but which is sometimes understood as “creek” (i.e., jian 澗), whereas M reads yuan 淵, “whirlpool, watery depths.”

² For bu zhong 不冬 (i.e., 終), both R and M read wu jiu 无咎, “there is no trouble.”

³ For ban

, “slope (of a hill),” R reads ban 磐, “boulder,” whereas M reads ban 坂, “slope (of a hill).”

⁴ For

, almost certainly an elaboration of kan 侃, “happy, carefree,” R reads kan 衎, “happy, contented,” whereas M reads yan 衍, “extensive, large.”

⁵ For er 而, “and,” both R and M read bu 不, “not.” I suspect that the scribe here has mistakenly added an extra line to this graph, changing 不 to 而, two graphs that in Chu script are very similar and often confused.

Jian 漸, “Progressing” (Hexagram 53)

Progressing: A woman returning. Beneficial to determine.

First Six: The wild goose progressing to the bank. For the young son: danger. There is talk, there is no trouble.

Six in the Second: The wild goose progressing to the boulder: drinking and eating honk-honk. Auspicious.

Nine in the Third: The wild goose progressing to the hill: the husband campaigning does not return, the wife is pregnant but does not give birth. Ominous. Beneficial to ward off bandits.

Six in the Fourth: The wild goose progressing to the tree, and now getting its roost. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fifth: The wild goose progressing to the mound: the wife for three years is not pregnant, in the end nothing defeats her. Auspicious.

Top Nine: The wild goose progressing to the hill, its feathers can be used for the headdress. Auspicious.

Feng 豐, “Fullness” (Strips 51–52)

51. 九晶豐其芾日中見芖折其右肱亡咎九四豐其坿日中見

Nine in the Third: Full is its lushness:1 In the middle of the day seeing herbs,² breaking his right arm. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fourth: Full is its increase:³ In the middle of the day seeing the Dipper, meeting his Yi ruler. Auspicious.

Six in the Fifth: A grassy⁴ pattern. There is celebration and praise.⁵ Auspicious.

Top Six: Full is its lushness:⁶ Increasing his house, guarding⁷ his gate.⁸ Empty⁹ its being without a person, for three years not visible. Ominous.

____________

¹ For 芾, read either as fu, “lush,” or fei, “tiny,” R reads pei 沛, “large; fast; marshland,” whereas M reads fan 薠, “a type of wild grass,” and the Jingdian shiwen cites several other variants: pei 旆, “pennant, flag”; wei 韋, “a flaying knife; hide”; and the Zi Xia zhuan as also giving 芾, understood as “small” (i.e., fei).

² For zhi 芖, R reads 沬, “small star,” whereas M reads

, perhaps wei, “spice herbs.”

³ Here and in the Top Six line, for fu 坿, “mound, to mound, to increase,” R reads bu 蔀, “reed curtain, thatch roof,” whereas M gives pou 剖, “to cut.”

⁴ For lai

, the received text reads lai 來, “to come.”

⁵ For yu 懙, “to stroll,” R reads yu 譽, “to praise,” whereas M reads ju 舉, “to elevate, to recommend.”

⁶ For fu 芾, “lush,” both R and M read wu 屋, “room.”

⁷ For gui 閨, “doorway, room, to guard a door,” R reads kui 闚, “to peer (through a door),” whereas M also reads gui 閨.

⁸ For hu

, which is the ancient form of hu 戶, “window; gate,” both R and M read hu 戶.

⁹ For

, for which Pu Maozuo suggests the reading que

, “empty,” R reads qu 闃, “empty,” whereas M gives

Feng 豐, “Fullness” (Hexagram 55)

Fullness: Receipt. The king approaches it. Do not worry. It is appropriate for the middle of the day.

First Nine: Meeting his mate’s ruler. Though it be a week, there is no trouble; Going: there is elevation.

Six in the Second: Full is his curtain: In the middle of the day seeing the Dipper. Going one gets suspicion and illness. There is trust propelling approval. Auspicious.

Nine in the Third: Full are his thickets: In the middle of the day seeing the darkness, breaking his right arm. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Fourth: Full is his curtain: In the middle of the day seeing the Dipper, meeting his Yi ruler. Auspicious.

Six in the Fifth: A coming pattern. There is celebration and praise. Auspicious.

Top Six: Full is his room: Curtained his house, peering into his gate. Lonely that there is no person, for three years not visible. Ominous.

Lü

, “Traveling” (Strip 53)

Little receipt. Determining about traveling: auspicious.

First Six: The traveler is emaciated.1 This² is the praise³ that he has taken.

Six in the Second: The traveler approaches the camp:⁴ Embracing his goods,⁵ and obtaining a young servant’s determination.⁶

Nine in the Third: The traveler burns his camp, losing his young servant. Determining:⁷ danger.

Nine in the Fourth: The traveler

____________

¹ For lei

, “sick, emaciated, broken,” both R and M read suosuo 瑣瑣, “shredded; small, humble.”

² For ci 此, “this,” R reads si 斯, “this,” whereas M also reads ci 此.

³ For yu 懙, to stroll; praise,” R reads zai 災, “disaster,” whereas M reads huo 火, “fire” (doubtless short for zai 災).

⁴ For

, both R and M read ci 次, “to lodge, to overnight, camp.”

⁵ For

, perhaps the archaic form of xian 涎, “to drool,” R reads zi 資, “goods,” whereas M reads ci 茨, “thatch, to build a house of thatch.”

⁶ Neither R nor M includes the possessive particle zhi 之 before the word zhen 貞, “to determine.”

⁷ The manuscript includes a duplication mark after the character zhen 貞, but it must be extraneous here.

Lü 旅, “Traveling” (Hexagram 56)

Traveling: Little receipt. Determining about traveling: auspicious.

First Six: The traveler so hesitant. This is the disaster that he has taken.

Six in the Second: The traveler approaches the camp: Embracing his goods, and obtaining a young servant’s determination.

Nine in the Third: The traveler burns his camp, losing his young servant.

Determining: danger.

Nine in the Fourth: The traveler in place: Obtaining his goods and axe, our hearts are not happy.

Six in the Fifth: Shooting a pheasant, one arrow misses. Ending with a praising mandate.

Top Nine: The bird burns its nest: The traveling man first laughs and later screams, losing an ox at Yi. Ominous.

Huan

, “Dispersing” (Strips 54–55)

Receipt. The king enters into² the temple.³ Beneficial to see the great man.⁴ Beneficial to ford the great river.⁵

First Six: Whipping⁶ the horse,⁷ strongly.⁸ Auspicious. Regrets gone.⁹

Nine in the Second: Dispersing and running¹⁰ from his place.¹¹ Regrets gone.

Six in the Third: Dispersing his person. There is no trouble.¹²

Six in the Fourth: Dispersing his crowds. Prime auspiciousness. Dispersing his¹³ mounds. It is not what I¹⁴ had thought.

Nine in the Fifth: Dispersing his great scream. Dispersing his place. There is no trouble.¹⁵

Top Nine: Dispersing his blood, ridding¹⁶ and changing¹⁷ it out.

____________

¹ For

, the main element of which would seem to be yuan 爰, “to change,” R reads huan 渙, “to disperse,” whereas the Mawangdui Xici manuscript reads huan 奂, “numerous; colorful.” Other occurrences of the graph in this hexagram do not include the bottom 廾 element.

² For yu 于, “at, in,” R reads you 有, “to have,” whereas M also reads yu 于.

³ As on strip no. 42, for

, both R and M read miao 廟, “temple.”

⁴ Neither R nor M includes the phrase li jian da ren 利見大人, “beneficial to see the great man.”

⁵ Both R and M end the hexagram statement with the formula li zhen 利貞, “beneficial to determine.”

⁶ For

, which is somewhat unclear, R reads zheng 拯, “to raise up; to help,” whereas M gives zheng 撜. It should be noted that Pu Maozuo reads the manuscript’s graph directly as zheng 拯, whereas Li Ling reads it as zheng 整, “to make orderly,” seeing zheng 正 where I see zhi 止 and taking it as the phonetic element of the graph, so as to read the word as a phonetic loan for zheng, “to help.”

⁷ R begins this line statement with the word yong 用, “to use,” though, like the Shanghai manuscript, M does not have it either.

⁸ For zang 藏, “good,” R reads zhuang 壯, “strong, firm.” M does not have any graph here.

⁹ The received text does not include this phrase hui wang 悔亡, “regrets gone.”

¹⁰ For zou 走, “to run,” R reads ben 奔, “to flee,” whereas M reads ben 賁, an alternative writing of ben 奔.

¹¹ For

, which in Chu script represents the word chu 處, “place,” R reads ji 機, “trigger,” whereas M reads jie 階, “stairway; to ascend; rank.” The reading of R probably derives from an original ji 机, “table” (not to be confused with the modern simplified writing of ji 機, “trigger,”), or ji 几, “armrest.”

¹² For jiu 咎, “trouble,” here, which is also the reading of M, R reads hui 悔, “regret.” It should be noted that this jiu was added between the characters for wang 亡, “there is no,” and liu 六, “six,” doubtless in the course of proofreading the manuscript.”

¹³ For qi 其, “its, their,” R reads you 有, “to have” (M is defective).

¹⁴ For tai 台, which in Spring and Autumn and Warring States documents has a meaning of “I, my,” R reads yi 夷, “man of the east; even, calm,” and M reads di 娣, “younger sister; secondary consort,” whereas the Jingdian shiwen quotes the text of Xun (Shuang) as reading di 弟, “younger brother.”

¹⁵ The main portion of this line statement reads rather differently in both R and M; to illustrate the differences, I herewith show the three texts:

R:	涣汗其大号涣王居无咎 Dispersing sweat, he greatly cries out, dispersing the king’s residence; there is no trouble.
M:	涣其肝大号涣王居无咎 Dispersing his liver, a great cry, dispersing the king’s residence; there is no trouble.
S:	其大唬其 Dispersing his great roar, dispersing his place.

¹⁶ For qu

, which the Han jian gives as an ancient form for qu 去, “to leave; to get rid of,” the reading of both R and M.

¹⁷ For yi 易, “to change,” R reads ti 逖, “distant; fearful,” whereas M reads the otherwise unattested

Huan 渙, “Dispersing” (Hexagram 59)

Dispersing: Receipt. The king enters the temple. Beneficial to ford the great river. Beneficial to determine.

First Six: Use to help with a horse’s strength. Auspicious.

Nine in the Second: Dispersing and racing to his support. Regrets gone.

Six in the Third: Dispersing his person. There are no regrets.

Six in the Fourth: Dispersing his crowds. Prime auspiciousness. Dispersing, there are mounds. It is not what the Yi think.

Nine in the Fifth: Dispersing sweat, he greatly cries out. Dispersing the king’s residence. There is no trouble.

Top Nine: Dispersing his blood, departing far out. There is no trouble.

Shao Guo 少

, “Lesser Surpassing” (Strip 56)

56. 取皮才

上六弗遇

之飛鳥羅之凶是胃亦

taking that1 in a pit.²

Top Six: Not meeting it but surpassing³ it. The flying bird is netted.⁴ Ominous. This is called also⁵ disaster and a curse.

____________

¹ For 皮, probably not to be read directly as pi, “skin,” R reads bi 彼, “that,” whereas M also reads 皮.

² Xue 坹 is the ancient form of xue 穴, “pit,” which is the reading of both R and M.

is the standard Chu-script form for guo 過, “to pass by, to surpass; mistake,” which is the reading of both R and M.

⁴ For luo 羅, “net,” R reads li 離, “net,” whereas M also reads luo 羅.

⁵ Neither R nor M includes this word yi 亦, “also.”

Xiao Guo 小過, “Lesser Surpassing” (Hexagram 62)

小過亨利貞可小事不可大事飛鳥遺之音不宜上宜下大吉

Lesser Surpassing: Receipt. Beneficial to determine. One can perform minor service, but cannot perform great service. The note left by the flying bird, is not appropriate for above but is appropriate for below. Greatly auspicious.

First Six: The flying bird brings ominousness.

Six in the Second: Surpassing his grandfather, and meeting his grandmother; not reaching to his lord, but meeting his minister. There is no trouble.

Nine in the Third: Not surpassing it but defending against it, following and now hurting it. Ominous.

Nine in the Fourth: There is no trouble. Not surpassing it but meeting it. Going: danger. One must take warning. Do not use to determine about the long-term.

Six in the Fifth: Dense clouds do not rain from our western suburbs. The duke shoots a stringed arrow, taking that in a pit.

Top Six: Not meeting it but surpassing it. The flying bird fastens in it. Ominous.

This is called disaster and a curse.

Ji Ji 既

, “Already Across”1 (Strip 57)

57. 勿用六四需又衣

冬日戒九五東

殺牛不如西

之酌祭是受福吉上六需其首礪

Ought not use it.

Six in the Fourth: Awaiting² having a jacket in rags.³ To the end of the day be warned.

Nine in the Fifth: The eastern neighbor’s killing of an ox is not as good as the western neighbor’s wine libation,⁴ this⁵ receives blessings. Auspicious.⁶

Top Six: Awaiting⁷ his head. Danger.

____________

¹ For the name of the hexagram, although it does not occur in the fragment of the hexagram text preserved in the manuscript, in the Six in the Third line of Wei Ji 未

, “Not Yet Across,” hexagram (strip no. 58), the companion hexagram to this one, the word that features as the name of the hexagram reads

, which in R reads ji 濟, “to ford; across.” By analogy, the name of this hexagram should use the same otherwise unattested character, which probably should be read as the same word ji, “to ford; across.”

² For xu 需, “to await,” R reads ru 繻, “colored silk; silk token,” whereas M gives ru 襦, “shirt.”

³ For

, which perhaps should be read as xu 絮, “coarse silk; lining of clothes,” R reads ru 袽, “rags, tatters,” whereas M reads 茹, “vegetables, roots; soft.”

⁴ For zhuo 酌, “wine toast, libation,” R reads yue 禴, “vegetarian offering,” whereas M reads zhuo 濯, “to wash; great.”

⁵ For shi 是, “this,” both R and M read shi 實, “really.”

⁶ Both R and M also include the pronoun qi 其, “his; its,” after the verb shou 受, “to receive.” On the other hand, M agrees with the Shanghai manuscript in including the word ji 吉, “auspicious,” at the end of the line, whereas the received text does not include it.

⁷ For xu 需, “to await,” both R and M read ru 濡, “wet, damp.”

Ji Ji 既濟, “Already Across” (Hexagram 63)

Already Across: Receipt. A little beneficial to determine. At first auspicious, in the end chaotic.

First Nine: Dragging its wheel, wetting its tail. There is no trouble.

Six in the Second: The wife loses her screen: Don’t chase it, and in seven days you will get it.

Nine in the Third: The High Ancestor attacked the Devil-Land, in three years conquering it. The little man ought not use it.

Six in the Fourth: The clothing has a jacket in tatters. To the end of the day be warned.

Nine in the Fifth: The eastern neighbor’s killing an ox is not as good as the western neighbor’s meager offering in fully receiving its blessing.

Top Six: Wetting its head. Danger.

Wei Ji 未

, “Not Yet Across” (Strip 58)

Nine in the Second: Sinking² its wheel. Determining: auspicious. Beneficial to ford the great river.³

Six in the Third: Not yet across.⁴ Campaigning: ominous. Beneficial to ford the great river.

Nine in the Fourth: Determining: auspicious. …

____________

¹ For lin 閵, the name of a bird, R reads lin 吝, “distress,” whereas M also reads lin 閵 (its standard way of writing lin, “distress”). Of four other instances of the word lin, “distress,” in the manuscript, all are written as 吝, and this instance would not seem to be due to the idiosyncrasy of one scribe or the other since those other four cases divide evenly between the two copyists (on strips 1 and 26, copied by the second copyist, and strips 28 and 41, copied by the first copyist).

² For

, which is otherwise unattested and here only partially preserved (the strip is split in half lengthwise here) but which seems to be composed of a “stone” and “meat” over “water,” R reads ye 曳, “to pull, to drag,” whereas M reads tuo 扡, “to pull, to drag.”

³ Neither R nor M includes this phrase.

⁴ For 淒, both R and M read ji 濟, “to ford, to cross.”

Wei Ji 未濟, “Not Yet Across” (Hexagram 64)

Not Yet Across: Receipt. The little fox completes the crossing, wetting his tail. There is nothing beneficial.

First Six: Wetting his tail. Distress.

Nine in the Second: Dragging its wheel. Determining: auspicious.

Six in the Third: Not yet across. Campaigning: ominous. Beneficial to ford the great river.

Nine in the Fourth: Determining: auspicious. Regrets gone. Zhen herewith attacks the Devil Country, in three years having an award in the great kingdom.

Six in the Fifth: Determining: auspicious. There are no regrets. The nobleman’s radiance. There is trust. Auspicious.

Top Nine: There is trust in drinking wine. There is no trouble. Wetting his head. There is trust losing this.