64 - Wei Chi - Before Completion

An occasional discussion on the I Ching - Part 64 of 64

Let's start at the end.

How do you mean?

This series you've proposed on the I Ching.  Let's start at the end and work our way back to the beginning.

Why?

Why not?

It seems backwards.  Plus, there is no beginning or end of the I Ching, anyway - it's a continuum.  More importantly, it's an oracle - it's consulted so one might learn from any given commentary at any time - each hexagram depicting an archetypal situation pertinent to the querent at that particular moment..

So?  You can start at the beginning, the end, or choose them randomly but at least if you start at the end, when people read it in blog format, assuming you get all the way to #1, it will flow logically from 1 through 64.

Alright.  Plus, #64, "Before Completion" seems as good a place to start as any since it "indicates a time when the transition from disorder to order is not yet completed."

The image conveyed by this hexagram is Fire over Water.

That would seem to be a pretty precarious condition - one that can't endure for long.  It brings to mind the BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.

For me too - at least literally.  But beyond the visual connotation there is a procedural dimension that connotes bringing order out of chaos - an order that is associated with achieving a specific goal that can be used to focus people's attention and energies on cooperating.

It seems like a pretty daunting challenge to corral upwardly flaming fire and downwardly flowing water - the two entities are by nature contradictory.

Precisely.  That's why the I Ching advises that one "must first investigate the nature of the forces in question and ascertain their proper place."

Hu?

Well, let's think of two persons - one fiery, easily excitable, and emotional and the other cool, easy-going, and rational.

Sounds like a lot of couples I know.

Ha - well, that would suggest that they've managed to ascertain their respective places in the relationship, assuming it's enduring.  So, in relationships, two divergent personalities may complete one another and find unity (order) rather than combat each other (at least not all of the time!)  The I Ching suggests that:
                     "...one must separate things in order to unite them.  One must put them into
                      their proper places as carefully as one handles fire and water, so that they
                      do not combat one another."

So they can see each other for who they really are and appreciate their strengths and weaknesses perhaps?

Sure, and so that they don't consume each other and evaporate into nothingness!  The I Ching warns that if one attempts to force the situation, harm results.

The trick then is to use a third party who can view both positions from an objective vantage point and understand both perspectives.  It sounds like the hexagram for a moderator, marriage counselor, or diplomat.

Or a leader who is attempting to coordinate divergent perspectives and keep everything from going up in smoke before unity and order are achieved.

But it's a hopeful hexagram - not one that implies failure, correct?

Right, it "implies a time in which at first disorder prevails, then finally order."  It suggests that there is a process and attitude appropriate to achieving success.  The commentary on individual lines (from the bottom to the top) explains:

1. Timing is everything - don't rashly attempt to force the situation for if the time is not right, you will fail.
2. Recognizing that the time is not right, we wait patiently, remain steadfast, and persevere.
3. The timing is right, but one needs allies and a change in perspective before undertaking the challenge.
4. The time has come - one must resolutely silence misgivings and complete the transition.
5. Success - a new time has come, "all the more glorious by contrast with the misery of the old."
6. Celebration, but be careful not to lose your head because things change!

It is noted that this hexagram "represents a gradual transition from a time of ascent past a peak of culture to a time of standstill."  And, as "every end contains a new beginning" one should not be drunkenly complacent and oblivious to what is happening around you.

(Editor's note - for posts labeled "I Ching," all quotations will be to the Richard Wilhelm translation, 3rd Edition, Princeton University Press, 1967 unless otherwise indicated).