Hexagram 4 蒙 - MENG / YOUTHFUL FOLLY

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Trigrams

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• Above Gèn, Keeping Still, Mountain
• Below Kǎn, The Abysmal, Water

This hexagram points to youth and folly in two distinct ways. The upper trigram, Gèn, has the mountain as its image, while the lower, Kǎn, is represented by water. A spring emerging at the foot of a mountain serves as a clear image of inexperienced youth. Furthermore, the attribute of the upper trigram is keeping still, while that of the lower is the abyss or danger. Halting in hesitation before a dangerous abyss symbolizes the helpless folly of youth.

However, both trigrams also contain the exact pathway to overcoming this initial ignorance. Water is an element that flows onward by inherent necessity. When a spring gushes forth, it does not know where it will ultimately go. Yet, through its steady, persistent flow, it completely fills up every deep hollow that blocks its progress, and success is achieved.

The Judgment

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Youthful Folly has success. It is not I who seek the young fool, The young fool seeks me. At the first oracle I give an answer. If he asks two or three times, it is importunity. If he importunes, I give no answer. Perseverance furthers.

Folly is nothing terrible in youth; it can still achieve success. However, one must find an experienced teacher and approach them in the correct manner. This requires, first of all, that the youth recognizes their own inexperience and actively seeks out a master. Only this humility and genuine interest guarantee the openness needed to learn, which shows itself in respectful recognition of the teacher.

Therefore, the teacher must wait quietly until approached. They should not offer instruction uninvited; only in this way can teaching occur at the right time and in the right manner.

The answer a teacher provides to a student’s questions must be clear and definite, like the answer an oracle-seeker wishes to receive. It must be accepted as a resolution of doubt and a final decision. Distrustful or thoughtless further questioning merely importunes the teacher and is best met with silence, just as the oracle gives only one answer and fails when faced with testing, doubtful questions.

When perseverance is added, not letting up until everything is mastered step by step, a beautiful success is assured. The hexagram thus provides counsel for both the teacher and the student.

The Image

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A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain: The image of Youth. Thus the superior man fosters his character by thoroughness in all his actions.

The spring begins to flow and overcomes stagnation by filling up all the hollow spaces in its path. In the same way, the path to building character lies in thoroughness, which skips nothing but fills all gaps gradually and steadily like water, thus moving forward.

The Lines

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Six at the beginning means:

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To develop the fool, It is furthering to apply discipline to the person. The fetters should be removed. To go on thus brings humiliation.

Law stands at the beginning of education. Inexperienced youth tends to treat everything casually and playfully at first. Therefore, the seriousness of life must be shown to them. A certain self-discipline, enforced through strict training, is beneficial. Those who play with life never find their way. However, discipline must not degenerate into mere drill. Continuous drill humiliates and paralyzes one’s inner strength.

Nine in the second place means:

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Bearing fools in mildness brings good fortune. Knowing how to treat women brings good fortune. The son is equal to the tasks of the household.

This represents a person who has no external power but possesses the necessary spiritual strength to bear the responsibility resting upon them. They have the inner superiority and strength to tolerate the shortcomings of human folly with mildness. This same attitude applies to women, historically regarded as the weaker sex; one must know how to accommodate and acknowledge them with a certain chivalrous forbearance.¹ Only through this combination of inner strength and external restraint can one assume leadership over a larger social body and achieve genuine success.

Six in the third place means:

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You must not choose a maiden Who, when she sees a man of bronze, Loses control of herself. Nothing is furthering.

A weak, inexperienced person striving upward easily loses their individuality when they encounter a strong personality in a high position whom they slavishly imitate. They resemble a maiden who throws herself away upon meeting a strong man. One should not be welcoming toward such a dependent approach; responsiveness would benefit neither the youth nor the educator. It is due to a maiden’s dignity to wait until she is courted. In both cases, it is undignified to offer oneself, and it is unwise to accept such an offer.

Six in the fourth place means:

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Entangled folly brings humiliation.

For youthful folly, nothing is more hopeless than getting entangled in empty illusions. The more stubbornly it clings to such unrealistic fantasies, the more certainly it brings humiliation upon itself. Confronted with this narrow-minded folly, an educator often has no choice but to leave the youth to their own devices for a time, not sparing them the humiliation that arises from their behavior. This is often the only way to save them.

Six in the fifth place means:

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Childlike folly brings good fortune.

An inexperienced person who seeks instruction with childlike humility and lack of pretension is on the right path. For anyone who submits to a teacher free from pride will surely find advancement.

Nine at the top means:

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In punishing folly, it does not further to commit excesses. It furthers only to prevent excesses.

Under certain circumstances, an incorrigible fool must be punished. Those who will not listen must feel the consequences. This punishment differs from the initial shock or discipline applied at the beginning. However, punishment must never be inflicted in anger; it must be restricted to an objective defense against unjust violations. It is never an end in itself but serves only to restore orderly conditions.

This applies both to education and to governmental measures against a population guilty of excesses.² State intervention must always remain purely defensive, with the sole objective of restoring public safety and peace.

Reference links

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• Hexagram look-up table
• Advanced hexagram correspondence table