Hexagram 43 夬 - GUÀI / BREAKTHROUGH (RESOLUTENESS)
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Trigrams#
- Above: Duì, the Joyous, the Lake
- Below: Qián, the Creative, the Heaven
This hexagram signifies a breakthrough after a long accumulation of tension, much like a swollen river bursting through its dikes, or a sudden cloudburst. Applied to human affairs, it marks a time when inferior forces are finally fading away. Their influence is on the decline, and a resolute action brings about a decisive change in circumstances. This hexagram is associated with the third month (April-May).
The Judgment#
Breakthrough. One must resolutely make the matter known at the king’s court. It must be announced truthfully. Danger! One must notify one’s own city. It is not beneficial to resort to arms. It is beneficial to undertake something.
Even if only a single inferior person holds a ruling position in a city, they can oppress the superior people. If even a single passion nests within the heart, it can cloud the reason. Passion and reason cannot coexist; therefore, an absolute struggle is necessary if the good is to prevail. However, there are specific rules for this resolute struggle to eliminate evil, and they must not be ignored if one wishes to succeed.
Resoluteness must be based on a combination of strength and friendliness.
Compromise with what is bad is impossible; it must be openly discredited under all circumstances. Likewise, one’s own passions and shortcomings must not be whitewashed.
The struggle must not be conducted directly through force. Wherever evil is branded, it looks for weapons. If you do it the favor of fighting it blow for blow, you will get the short end of the stick, because you will become entangled in hatred and passion yourself. Therefore, it is essential to start with your own house: to be personally on guard against the very faults that have been condemned. In this way, the weapons of evil blunt themselves when they find no adversary. Similarly, one’s own faults must not be fought directly. As long as you wrestle with them, they will always remain victorious.
The best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in what is good.
The Image#
The lake has risen to heaven: The image of Breakthrough. Thus the superior person dispenses wealth downward And refrains from resting on his virtue.
When the water of the lake has risen to heaven, a cloudburst is to be feared. The superior person takes this as a warning and takes timely measures to prevent a violent collapse. Anyone who wishes to hoard wealth solely for themselves, without thinking of others, will certainly experience a collapse. For all gathering is followed by scattering. Therefore, the superior person scatters while gathering. Likewise, in developing character, he is careful not to stiffen into obstinacy, but remains impressionable through continuous, strict self-examination.
The Lines#
Six at the beginning means:#
Mighty in the forward-stepping toes. If one goes forward and is not equal to the task, One makes a mistake.
In times of resolute advancement, the very beginning is particularly difficult. One feels enthusiastic about moving forward. However, the resistance is still very strong. Therefore, it is necessary to gauge one’s own strength and only engage as far as success is certain. Blind aggressiveness leads to trouble, because an unexpected setback right at the beginning can have the most disastrous consequences.
Nine in the second place means:#
A cry of alarm. Arms at evening and at night. Fear nothing.
Readiness is everything. Resoluteness is inseparably linked with caution. If one is careful and deliberate, there is no need to be startled or agitated. By remaining vigilant at all times before danger appears, one is armed when danger approaches and has no need to fear. The superior person is on guard against what cannot yet be seen, and anxious about what cannot yet be heard; therefore, he dwells in the midst of difficulties as if they were no difficulties at all. If one develops character, people yield of their own accord. When reason triumphs, the passions withdraw on their own. Being deliberate and not forgetting one’s armor is the right way to safety.
Nine in the third place means:#
Being mighty in the cheekbones brings misfortune. The superior person is firmly resolved. He walks alone and falls into the rain. He gets splashed, and people murmur against him. No blame.
The situation one finds oneself in is ambiguous. While everyone else is engaged in a resolute struggle against the inferior element, you alone maintain a certain relationship with an inferior person. If you were to show yourself outwardly strong and turn against him before conditions are ripe, you would jeopardize the entire situation; the inferior person would then take premature counter-measures. The task of the higher person here is exceedingly difficult. He must be inwardly firmly resolved and, while interacting with the inferior person, keep himself free from any participation in his baseness. In doing so, he will naturally be misunderstood. People will think he belongs to the party of the inferior person. He is completely lonely because nobody understands him. His relationship with the inferior person defiles him in the eyes of the crowd, and people turn against him murmuring. But he bears the misunderstanding and makes no mistake, because he remains true to himself.
Nine in the fourth place means:#
There is no skin on the thighs, And walking proves difficult. If one let oneself be led like a sheep, Remorse would disappear. But if one hears these words, One will not believe them.
One suffers from inner restlessness, making it impossible to remain in one’s place. One wants to push forward at all costs and meets insurmountable obstacles. Thus, one is in inner conflict with one’s situation. This comes from the obstinacy with which one wants to enforce one’s own will. If one were to give up this obstinacy, everything would go well. But this advice, like so many good counsels, will be ignored. For obstinacy ensures that although one has ears, one does not hear.
Nine in the fifth place means:#
In the face of weeds, firm resoluteness is needed. Walking in the middle remains free from blame.
Weeds always grow back and are difficult to eradicate. Likewise, the struggle against an inferior person in a high position requires firm resoluteness. One is in a relationship with him, and as a result, there is a fear that one might give up the struggle as hopeless. But this must not happen. One must resolutely carry on and not allow oneself to be deflected from the path. Only in this way does one remain free from blame.
Six at the top means:#
No alarm call! In the end, misfortune comes.
Victory seems to have been won. Only a remnant of evil is left, and the time has come for its resolute eradication. Everything looks quite easy. But that is precisely where the danger lies. If one is not on guard, evil manages to escape by hiding, and once it has escaped, new misfortune arises from the remaining seeds; for evil does not die easily. One must also do a thorough job with the evil in one’s own character. If one were to leave anything behind through carelessness, new trouble would grow from it.
Reference links#
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