I Ching

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dragon: The dragon is feared and revered as the embodiment of change. Winter comes when it retires underwater to hibernate, and spring comes when it rouses again and rises into the sky. See also Introduction, here.

hinge of things: Cheng (正) becomes a key philosophical term in Confucius, where it means “rectify,” as in his principle of the rectification of names. This translation tries to get at a more primitive conceptual level, where “rectification” suggests returning to the “hinge of things.”

heart-sight clarity: Te (德) becomes a key philosophical term in early Taoist and Confucian thought, where it translates as “integrity.” In fact, it is the Te of the Tao Te Ching: The Classic of Way and Integrity. There it means “Integrity to Way,” in the sense of “abiding by the Way,” or “enacting the Way.” Here in the I Ching, a deeper etymological translation seems more appropriate.

tender assent … steely as a mountain in cloud: These phrases recur often (translating 柔 and 剛), sometimes referring to yin and yang hexagram lines respectively, sometimes referring to yin and yang as the cosmic principles those lines represent: yin and yang. And often, they refer to both together.

shaman-flower sticks: Dried yarrow stalks traditionally used for consulting the I Ching.

inevitable unfurling of things: 命 in its more philosophical sense (it also means simply “command” or “mandate,” as in the Mandate of Heaven described here) is usually translated “fate” or “destiny.” But such concepts imply that events are predestined by some kind of fate or outside force. In the Taoist cosmology of the I Ching, with its perennially generative present, events are “destined” only in the sense that the ten thousand things unfold according to their own nature.

grain of things: The common meaning for 文 is civilized, cultivated, elegant, etc. But this meaning derives from an older and deeper concept that seems more applicable in the I Ching world: the ripples and streaks in rock or seashells, wood or water. Or, in the largest sense, the patterns of the Cosmos: such things as the patterns of stars, seasons, life and death, the diverse array of the ten thousand things. Hence, the patterns of civilization are an integral part of the patterns of the Cosmos. And so, “the grain of things.”

yang … yin: The two complementary cosmic principles, male and female, whose dynamic interaction produces the process of change.

within … without: In addition to their literal meanings, within and without can refer to the bottom and top trigram respectively.

Presence: In Taoist thought, Presence became a foundational philosophical concept. Presence is simply the empirical universe, which the ancients described as the ten thousand living and nonliving things in constant transformation; and Absence is the generative emptiness from which this ever-changing realm of Presence perpetually emerges. This is a later concept, growing out of the generative cosmology of the I Ching, where it is explicitly suggested in the Contentment hexagram (in which contentment seems not unlike Absence), the one other appearance of the term Presence (here). But as happened so often in the ever-evolving ways of reading the I Ching’s mysterious language, the book came to be read through this cosmological framework. Indeed, it had already happened with Wang Pi’s seminal commentary, in the note to here.

Celestial Lord: Shang Ti, the monotheistic deity of the Shang dynasty. See Introduction, here.

Emperor T’ai … Bowhand Mountain: Bowhand Mountain is where the Chou nation was founded by Emperor T’ai, also known as Tan-fu (literally “True-Father”), who was the grandfather of Emperor Wen (see Introduction, here). The story is described in this passage from the Book of Songs (#272, “Sprawl”):

heart-mind: In ancient China, there was no fundamental distinction between heart and mind: the term 心 connotes all that we think of in the two concepts together. This range of meaning often blends into the technical use of 心 in Taoism and Ch’an Buddhism, where it means consciousness emptied of all content, or perhaps consciousness as empty awareness. The recurring terms “empty mind” and “no-mind” emphasize this meaning. And at this fundamental level, mind is nothing other than Absence (wu), the pregnant emptiness from which all things are engendered (see note to here). All of this is already anticipated in this I Ching passage. See also Introduction, here.

In return itself, you can see the very heart-mind of all heaven and earth: For more on this remarkable sentence, see Introduction, here. Here is the commentary on this line written by Wang Pi (226–249 C.E.), a profound Taoist thinker and author of the most influential commentary on the I Ching:

Return means turning back to the source-tissue, and that source-tissue is the very heart-mind of all heaven and earth itself. Whenever activity ceases, stillness begins; but there’s no opposition between stillness and movement. Whenever words end, silence begins; but there’s no opposition between silence and words. It’s like this even if the vastness of all heaven and earth is rich with the ten thousand things, rich with the activity of thunder and the movement of wind as they sweep the ten thousand transformations turning through their seasons. The tranquility of Absence, that is the source-tissue. It’s only because activity ceases for us in our everyday earthly lives that we can see the heart-mind of all heaven and earth. If Presence were the heart-mind of all heaven and earth, how could different kinds of things come to exist?

oracle-bones: Flat tortoise plastrons (ventral shells) and ox scapulae that were incised with questions and used in divination practices during the Shang dynasty.

ch’i: Ch’i is often described as the universal breath-force; but understood more fully, it is a continuous generative source, the matter and energy of the Cosmos seen together as a single breath-force surging though its perpetual transformations. Yin and yang are its complementary female and male principles, whose dynamic interaction produces the process of change.

Ancestral Mother: According to one legend, this Ancestral Mother was essentially Lady She-Voice, who gave birth to humankind, for whom see Introduction, here.

Emperor Wen: Wen (“cultured”) is the legendary emperor who set the stage for the overthrow of the Shang dynasty by his son Emperor Wu (“martial”). He is also, according to legend, author of the earliest linguistic levels of the I Ching. See Introduction, here.

Lord Winnow: Lord Winnow (Chi) was an advisor to the last Shang dynasty emperor, who was notoriously tyrannical. For his sage advice, Winnow was thrown into prison. After the Chou replaced the Shang, Winnow became a valued advisor to the Chou emperor.

lost horse: This could also be the horse-star, which regularly disappears and then reappears. Hence: “Don’t chase the lost horse-star: it will return on its own.”

Emperor T’ai … Bowhand Mountain: See note to here.

emperors T’ang and Wu: Celebrated emperors from early China. T’ang (regnant 1766–1753 B.C.E.) overthrew the Hsia dynasty, which had become corrupt and tyrannical, and founded the Shang dynasty. Wu (see Introduction, here) overthrew the Shang when it became tyrannical, founding the Chou.

Cauldron: A cauldron (鼎) was a huge bronze cooking pot often used for rituals. It had three or four legs, to hold the pot above a fire; “ears,” which were handles for moving it; and metal rings on the lid to lift it off. Usually decorated with stylized animal motifs and text, cauldrons were an indicator of imperial power and authority.

miles: “Mile” translates li, which is about a third of a mile.

A girl come home in marriage: Represents the human incarnation of the generative moment in the cosmological process that drives all change: the intermingling of yin (female) and yang (male), earth and heaven.