Mensionization Complementation, I Ching, Meanings of Words and Phrases This is an on-going project of M-Comp to present the various words and phrases you will encounter while studying the I Ching. This page will be continually updated as new western interpretations of Chinese terms are obtained. If you know of an I Ching term that can be expressed meaningfully in English, or can supply an addendum to any of the other words or phrases please submit it to me by email. After each term or phrase I include the source from which it originated, this includes published works or one's individual interpretation. All are welcome. [Charlie Higgins] Advancing to the south - Going or advancing forward [Wilhelm]. An Army pitches camp on the left - The rule for moving an army is such that one wants to keep high ground at his right and back, thus there will be no error [Lynn]. Army - concerns the masses of people [Lynn]. Ascending the steps of a stair - Symbolic of ease of advance [Wilhelm]. Bird with drooped wings - Slight injury or wound [Legge]. Birds in the field - Plunderers and invaders, parties attacking for plunder [Legge]. Biting off of the nose - Vanishing of smell; the person is not covetous [Wilhelm]. Bearing up under orders - When one lives in a world governed by obstacles and yet obtains a position for himself is due to employing the utmost constancy or "bearing up under orders." [Lynn] Blood - Whenever mention is made of blood, it means that yin and yang have wounded each other. They do not resonate together [Lynn]. Bronze Ceremonial Vessel - Emblem of nobility and rank [Lynn]. Carriages transport corpses - If an army has too many leaders, it will result in misfortune. Carrying - Refers to a line below carrying the one above. Yin carrying a yang line indicates congruity or harmony. A yang carrying a yin line iindicates incongruity or conflict. [Lynn] Change - Change is the conversion of a yielding line into a firm one. This is termed progress [Wilhelm]. What is brought about by the interaction of innate tendency of things and their counter tendencies to spuriousness - things as they really are and their tendency to become what they are not [R. Lynn]. Climb the nine hills - retreat to a height inaccessible to the threatening forces of danger [Legge]. Cock - Time's watchman [Wilhelm]. Contention - Not being being pleasant and at ease in talking to others (affable) [Lynn]. Cow - Symbol of docility and gentleness [Legge]. Cow with a calf - Symbol of fertility [Wilhelm]. Crossing the great stream - Undertaking hazardous enterprises; encountering great difficulties; a task where great effort is required [Wilhelm]. Dark Yellow - A symbol of the dark Heaven and the Yellow Earth [Wilhelm]. Dispersive Ground - Where troops tend to break rank and run away (Officers and men long to return to their homes) [Lynn]. Dragon - Superior man, Characteristic of Heaven; highest dignity and wisdom; sovereignty and agehood; dynamic arousing force (Wilhelm). Earthenware vessel - A plain unadorned character (Legge). Metaphor for one's capacity for sincerity [Lynn]. East - The place where a man receives orders from his master (Wilhelm). Eighth month - The coming of yin (Seventh month is the coming of yang) [Wilhelm]. Earth - The force which converts HEAVEN'S form to material entities [Lynn]. Family relationship - The family relationship within the lines of the hexagram are (Wilhelm): Top Line - Father Bottom Line - Son 5th Line - Husband 2nd Line - Wife, Mother 5th Line - Brother 3rd Line - Brother 4th Line - Brother's Wife 2nd Line - Brother's Wife Fields - Metaphor to indicate broad and distant places. [Lynn] Finding the yellow gold - Disposed to leniency [Wilhelm]. Flying Dragon - If one is to set forth in motion, he must ride a flying dragon. [Lynn]. Furthering - Literally, creating that which accords with the nature of a given being [Wilhelm]. Furthers one to see the great man - to put oneself under the leadership and guidance of a man that is equal in wisdom and mettle to the situation [Wilhelm]. Furthers one to cross the great stream - If one sets forth, he would gain meritorius achievement. When someone imbued with the virtue of pure yang obtains the chance to move forward, he will prevail in whaterver he sets out to do [Lynn]. Forceful Man - Description for someone whos is stern and resolute [Lynn]. Going beyond his gate - Searching for superior associates [Wilhelm] Good fortune / Misfortune - When the trend of action is in harmony with the law of the universe and tao . Involve images respectfully of failure or success. Depends upon the phrases of the lines. [Lynn] Great Expansion- The term for that which no term is possible. As we cannot lay hold of it and name it, we think of it in terms of the ultimate point to which we can extend things [Lynn]. The Great Extreme, the inifnite no-thing from which all things are formed [Legge]. The infinite void that contains the singularities that are the vestiges of existence [Higgins]. Great Havings - A state of prosperity and abundance, opulence, wealth, affluence [Wilhelm]. Great Man - Man of wisdom from whom to seek advice, Sage [Legge]. The Noble man, one worth of being a soverign. Fitness to see the great man lies only in the second and fifth lines [Lynn] Gua - Hexagram [Lynn]. Hawk on a high wall - An inferior in a high position who is powerful and hindering [Wilhelm]. He bears his shame - His position is not appropriate. [Lynn] Heaven - a cosmic order that is impersonal, unconscious and purely mechanistic [Lynn]. The term for form; a phenomonial entity, strength and dynamism [Lynn]. Hexagram - [gua] The six line image obtained from divination by the yarrow stalk or coin method. One of sixty-four generic conditions or life situations. The hexagram deals with 'portions of time' and the lines are concerned with the states of change that are brought about by these portions or moments in time. They suggest either obstruction or ease, action or stillness, growth or disolution, danger, tension, or ease, relaxation and good fortune or misfortune [Lynn- paraphrase]. Hidden Dragon - If one is to remain in repose, he rides a hidden dragon [Lynn]. One whos is resolute in his unwillingness to be uprooted. One that remains concealed and does not show himself [Lynn]. Hide of a yellow cow - Yellow is the proper color and a cow is the symbol of docility; refrain from doing anything for the time being [Wilhelm]. Horns - symbol of threatening strength [Wilhelm] Horse - Symbol of tirelessness and swiftness [Lynn]. Humiliation - If a trend is right at the start and one becomes indifferent and arrogant he can slip into misfortune [Lynn] Hsiang [Legge] - The bigrams, the Old Yin, Old Yang, Young Yin and Young Yang [Legge]. Inner -The lower trigram. Indicates 'staying still' or remaining [Lynn]. Jade - Symbol for spotless purity and firmness [Lynn]. Judgement - (guachi or tuan) The underlying principle of the hexagram as a whole. The body and substance of a hexagram and its controlling principle. Sums up the concept of an entire hexagram [Lynn]. Keeping the toes still - Halting before one has even started movement [Wilhelm]. Level and smooth path - Free from dangerous obstacles. [Lynn] Line 1 - Beginning, Intuttion, Instinct. [Lynn] Line Texts - Addresses the states of change [Lynn]. Lower Garment - Symbol of humility (Legge). Making and Transformation - Growth and Decay (Legge). Mean - The middle line of a trigram. The second and fifth lines of a trigram [Lynn] Months - The hexagrams ascribed to the months are (Wilhelm): Jan-Feb (Hex # 19) Feb-Mar (Hex # 11) Mar-Apr (Hex # 34) Apr-May (Hex # 43) May-Jun (Hex # 1) Jun-Jul (Hex # 44) Jul-Aug (Hex # 33) Aug-Sep (Hex # 12) Sep-Oct (Hex #20) Oct-Nov (Hex # 23) Nov-Dec (Hex # 2) Dec-Jan(Hex # 24) No Blame - The error is not the fault of the person; one is in a position to correct one's mistakes [Legge]. Indicates success at repairing transgressions. [Lynn]. Northern Region - "To lie under arms; and meet death without regret:-this is the energy of northern regions, and the forceful make it their study" [Confucius]. . North - The place where a man reports on what he has done [Wilhelm]. Northwest - Region of advance [Wilhelm]. Obstruction - Hinderance or blockages. One beyond himself - The ruler, King, most notably Line 5 of the hexagram [Wilhelm]. Outer - The upper trigram. Indicates a 'going forth' [Lynn]. Perseverance furthers - Continued consistency in doing right [Wlhelm] Piebald Horse - One that has teeth like a saw and that can eat tigers and leopards. Promotes a sense of strength and vigor [Lynn]. Pigs & fishes - Least intelligent of all animals and most difficult to influence [Wilhelm]. Pledges of money and arrows - In civil court cases, each party brought arrows as pledges; in criminal cases each party brought gold as pledges [Wilhelm, Lynn]. Position - Safety or danger. These are the line numbers. Positions 1 through 6. Line 1 and 6 represent the beginning and ending of the situation and therefore are not considered in positioning. Lines 2, 3, 4, and 5 respond to position. Where a line is situated in a hexagram [Lynn]. Red or vermilion knee covers - worn by rulers, scarlet knee covers were worn by nobles [Legge]. Remorse - Recognizing one's path is in error and changing directions; if the trend has been wrong and one changes course in time he can still achieve good fortune [Wilhelm]. Involves images of sorrow and worry; addresses the small faults involved [Lynn] Resonance - Mutual response, Lines 1 &4, 2 & 5, and 3 & 6 resonate together. Actions of Change. Mutual response between the lines means they have resonance if one line is a yin and the other is a yang. This indicates a mutual harmony and gives a positive correlation between the two lines. Things with the same tonality resonate together yet they do not have the same pitch [Lynn]. Retiring tail - hurrying away (Wilhelm) Return - Women say of their getting married they 'are returning'. [Lynn] Riding - A line above riding on the one below. Yin riding on a yang indicates incongruity or tension. A yang line riding on a yin indicates congruity or harmony [Lynn]. Sequence - Succession of the hexagrams. Orderly sequece of the hexagrams. [Lynn]. Seventh month - The coming of yang. (Eighth month is the coming of yin) [Wilhelm]. Sheep - Outwardly weak and inwardly stubborn [Wilhelm]. Southern Regions - "To show forbearance and gentleness in teaching others; and not to revenge unreasonable conduct:-this is the energy of southern regions, and the good man makes it his study [Confucius]. South - Where one begins work or activity [Wilhelm]. Southwest - Region of retreat; the time in which tensions and complications begin to be eased; place of work and fellowship [Wilhelm]. Strength in the toes - advancing [Wilhelm] Strong & Weak - Images of the lines of a hexagram [Legge]. Provides images of day and night [Lynn]. Spirit - Subtle presence and operation of Tao [Lynn]. Sublime - Head, origin, great [Wilhelm]. Subsist on old virtue - Subsist on the salary and rank of the virtuous of former days, i. e. be content with the position inherited from one's forebears [Lynn]. Superior and Inferior - A ranking that depends upon the position of a line. Tao - It is a name for non-being. It is the reciprocal process of yin and yang. It is that which pervades everthing and that from which everything derives. As it operates silently and is without substance, it is not possible to provide images of it. [Lynn] Teeth of a castrated hog - Although a castrated hog has tusks, he cares little to use them [Wilhelm]. Ten Years - Seems to be a round number for a long time; it is a full cycle of time [Wilhelm-Legge]. Thicket of thorns - Metaphor for a prison [Wilhelm]. Those who wade the rivers - Refers to those beyond the pale of even rudimentary civilization [Lynn]. The most aboriginal of people. [Higgins] Three foxes - worthy men [Wilhelm]. Three Powers - Heaven, Earth and Man. The binary positions [Lynn]. Threefold commendation - First commendation is conferral of a bronze ceremonial vessel, second commendation is the conferral of clothing, third commendation is the conferral of horses and carriage. With three conferral and three commendations, the honor involved is perfectly realized [Lynn]. Thrice conveyed to him - Appointment to command and not any rewards; command given to him exclusively with full confidence from the King [Wilhelm]. Transformation - Transformation is the conversion of a firm line into a yielding one. This is retrogression [Wilhelm]. Treading on the tail of a tiger - Expressing a situation or condition that is hazardous [Legge]. Waiting in the courtryside - One does not risk engaging himself in difficult matters. One takes care of regular business at hand, enemies are at a great distance [Lynn]. Waiting on the Sands - There on the sands, one is close to danger, but not so close that he is oppressed by danger and far, but not so far that he will be too late for the moment when it happens. Although it might slightly involve rebuke, in the end there will be good fortune [Lynn],. Waiting on the Mud - One is oppressed with difficulties here, if he wishes to advance by doing so will attract enemies. To aviod defeat he must take the utmost caution [Lynn]. Waters - Assembled multitudes of men [Legge]. West - The Tao of Heaven rotates to the west [Lynn]. Wine and Food - Metaphor for the good fortune one derives because of adherence to the mean and of being straight with moral integrity [Lynn]. Wood over the bull's horns - A symbol of extraordinary precaution [Wilhelm]. Yao - Hexagram or trigram line [All]. Yarrow Stalks - Achillea Millefolium (Milfoil). Stalks used in divination to produce the lines of the hexagrams [Lynn]. Yellow Arrow - Yellow ( Correct measure and mean in confronting the enemy); signifies a straight course [Wilhelm].