Outline of the Zhou Changes, Wang Bi

夫彖者，何也？統論一卦之體，明其所由之主者也。夫眾不能治眾，治眾者，至寡者也。夫動不能制動，制天下之動者，貞夫一者也。故眾之所以得咸存者，主必致一也；動之所以得咸運者，原必無二也。物無妄然，必由其理。統之有宗，會之有元，故繁而不亂，眾而不惑。

What is the tuan (彖, the Judgment)? It is a comprehensive discussion of the body of a hexagram, pointing out the host line on which that hexagram rests. Wang Bi’s starting point is this: the many cannot govern the many; what can govern the many must be the fewest one. Movement cannot restrain movement; what can restrain all movement under Heaven is that which constantly abides in the “One.” Therefore the reason the ten thousand things can exist together is that their sovereign returns to one; the reason they can operate together is that their origin has absolutely no second. Nothing among things is so without cause; each must follow the principle by which it is so. To gather them there is a patriarch; to assemble them there is an origin; therefore they are numerous without falling into disorder, many without falling into confusion. This is the first meaning of the whole Outline of the Zhou Changes: governing the many by the few, driving the many by the one. By “tuan” is meant the Tuan zhuan (彖傳, Commentary on the Judgment), the text that explains a hexagram’s name and its hexagram statement.

故六爻相錯，可舉一以明也；剛柔相乘，可立主以定也。是故雜物撰德，辯是與非，則非其中爻，莫之備矣！故自統而尋之，物雖眾，則知可以執一御也；由本以觀之，義雖博，則知可以一名舉也。故處璇璣以觀大運，則天地之動未足怪也；據會要以觀方來，則六合輻輳未足多也。故舉卦之名，義有主矣；觀其彖辭，則思過半矣！

Therefore although the six lines are crossed and mixed, one can raise a single line among them to clarify the whole hexagram; although firm and yielding lines ride upon and follow one another, one can establish a host line to fix the great meaning. Hence the Xici zhuan (繫辭傳, Appended Statements) says that in setting forth the ten thousand things, composing virtue, and distinguishing right from wrong, if it is not the line that occupies the center, there is no way to be complete. So if one seeks from the place of gathering, though things are many, one knows one can hold to a single root and drive them; if one observes from the origin, though the principles are broad, one knows one can sum them under a single name. Therefore standing upon the jade-pivot of the Northern Dipper and watching the great motion of the heavenly bodies, the movement of Heaven and Earth is no cause for wonder; grasping the pivot of assembly and watching what is to come, the ten thousand images of the six directions converging like spokes to a hub do not count as many. So when one raises the name of a hexagram, its principle already has a sovereign; when one further looks at its Judgment, thought has already passed more than halfway. The phrase “thought has already passed more than halfway” comes from the Xici zhuan; Wang Bi borrows it to show that the Judgment is the short path to the meaning of a whole hexagram.

夫古今雖殊，運國異容，中之為用，故未可遠也。品制萬變，宗主存焉；彖之所尚，斯為盛矣。夫少者，多之所貴也；寡者，眾之所宗也。一卦五陽而一陰，則一陰為之主矣；五陰而一陽，則一陽為之主矣！夫陰之所求者陽也，陽之所求者陰也。陽苟一焉，五陰何得不同而歸之？陰苟只焉，五陽何得不同而從之？故陰爻雖賤，而為一卦之主者，處其至少之地也。

Ages past and present differ, and the fortunes and forms of states also differ, yet the use of “holding the center” can never be left far behind. Kinds and institutions change in a thousand ways, yet there is always a patriarch among them; what the Judgment honors is precisely this, and it may be called at its height. The few is what the many value; the scarce is what the multitude takes as ancestor. If in a hexagram there are five yang and one yin, that one yin line becomes the host of the whole hexagram; if five yin and one yang, that one yang line becomes the host of the whole hexagram. For what yin seeks is yang, and what yang seeks is yin; if there is only one yang, how can the five yin lines not return to it together? If there is only one yin, how can the five yang lines not follow it together? Therefore although the status of a yin line is low, it can become the host of a hexagram, precisely because it occupies the place of the fewest. This is the complete argument of Wang Bi’s teaching of “one line as host”: the host does not lie in honor or lowliness, but in scarcity; the scarce is what the many return to, and the one is what can drive.

或有遺爻而舉二體者，卦體不由乎爻也。繁而不憂亂，變而不憂惑，約以存博，簡以濟眾，其唯彖乎！亂而不能惑，變而不能渝，非天下之至賾，其執能與於此乎！故觀彖以斯，義可見矣。

There are also Judgments that set aside the individual lines and speak only of the upper and lower two bodies; that is because the body of that hexagram does not in fact depend on any one line. Complex without needing to fear disorder, changing without needing to fear confusion, preserving the broad by the concise, assisting the many by the simple—probably only the Judgment can do this. Disorder cannot confuse it, change cannot alter it: if this were not the most hidden principle under Heaven, what else could reach this point? Therefore if one looks at the Judgment by this reasoning, the principle of a hexagram can appear. Here is supplied the exception to “one line as host”: in hexagrams of the Feng (豐, Abundance) type, the meaning of the hexagram is decided by the combination of the upper and lower two bodies, and one no longer names a particular line as host. This shows that Wang Bi’s teaching has its own measure and is not applied without distinction.

夫爻者，何也？言乎變者也。變者何也？情偽之所為也。夫情偽之動，非數之所求也；故合散屈伸，與體相乖。形躁好靜，質柔愛剛，體與情反，質與願違。

What is a line? It speaks of change. And what is change? It is what true feeling and false appearance bring about. The activity of true feeling and false appearance is not something that can be obtained by calculating numbers; therefore gathering and scattering, bending and stretching, these changes often run counter to the bodily form of the thing itself: what is restless in outer form happens to love quiet; what is yielding in essence happens to admire the firm; body and temperament are opposite, native quality and wish are at odds. The previous chapter spoke of the hexagram, which is the whole of a “time”; this chapter speaks of the line, which is the concrete of “change.” Wang Bi deliberately makes clear that the change of lines arises from human feeling, not from image and number; this is his first step in opposing the Han Change’s calculating of lines by number.

巧曆不能定其算數，聖明不能為之典要；法制所不能齊，度量所不能均也。為之乎豈在夫大哉！陵三軍者，或懼於朝廷之儀；暴威武者，或困於酒色之娛。近不必比，遠不必乖。同聲相應，高下不必均也；同氣相求，體質不必齊也。召雲者龍，命呂者律。故二女相違，而剛柔合體。隆墀永嘆，遠壑必盈。投戈散地，則六親不能相保；

The most ingenious calendrical computer cannot fix its numbers; the most sagely person cannot set down an unchanging statute for it; legal institutions cannot make it even; measures and balances cannot make it uniform. Must that which makes a person change always rely on a great force? A fierce general who can overawe the three armies may yet fear the ceremonies of the court; a strong man who can display martial force may yet be brought low by the pleasures of wine and lust. Those near in position need not be intimate; those far apart need not be at odds: like sounds answer one another, though the pitch need not be the same; like qi (氣) seeks like, though the bodily constitution need not be one. What can summon the clouds is the dragon; what can answer the pitch-pipes is the pipe. Therefore in Kui (睽, Opposition) the two daughters have different wills and turn from one another, yet firm and yielding can still form one body; a long sigh on a high terrace will certainly fill the distant ravine with its echo. When weapons are thrown down on ground of rout and one flees for life, even the six relations cannot protect one another. Wang Bi strings these analogies together to show that whether lines correspond or do not depends on the opening or blocking of feeling, not on nearness or farness of position.

同舟而濟，則吳越何患乎異心。故苟識其情，不憂乖遠；苟明其趣，不煩強武。能說諸心，能研諸慮，睽而知其類，異而知其通，其唯明爻者乎？故有善邇而遠至，命宮而商應；修下而高者降，與彼而取此者服矣！是故，情偽相感，遠近相追；愛惡相攻，屈伸相推；見情者獲，直往則違。故擬議以成其變化，語成器而後有格。

Crossing a river in the same boat, even hereditary enemies such as the men of Wu and Yue need not fear that their hearts differ. Therefore if one only recognizes the feeling, one need not worry that they are at odds and distant; if one only understands the purport, one need not expend force and display martial strength. To be able to delight the heart, to be able to refine thought, to see in opposition that they are of the same kind, to see in difference that they in fact communicate—the one who can reach this step is probably only the person who understands the meaning of the lines. Therefore there are cases of being kind to those nearby and having the distant come of themselves; of striking the gong tone and having the shang tone answer; of cultivating virtue below and having those above descend of themselves; of first giving to the other side and thereby obtaining this side’s submission. Thus true feeling and false appearance stimulate one another, far and near pursue one another, love and hate attack one another, bending and stretching push one another; the one who can see the feeling obtains something, the one who goes straight ahead without looking loses. Therefore one must go through “deliberation and comparison” before its change can be accomplished, just as a vessel is first completed and only then has a standard to speak of. “Deliberation and comparison accomplish its changes” comes from the Xici zhuan; Wang Bi borrows it to show that the movement of a line must first examine feeling.

不知其所以為主，鼓舞而天下從，見乎其情者也。是故，範圍天地之化而不過，曲成萬物而不遺，通乎晝夜之道而無體，一陰一陽而無窮。非天下之至變，其執能與於此哉！是故，卦以存時，爻以示變。

People do not know what is in fact acting as host, yet they are stirred and roused and the world follows: this is precisely because it has seen the feeling of things. Therefore the Changes can encompass the transforming nurture of Heaven and Earth without excess, can bend to complete the ten thousand things and leave nothing out, can penetrate the way of day and night without being confined to any form, and yin and yang alternate with change without end. If this were not the most extreme change under Heaven, what else could reach this point? Therefore it is said: the hexagram is used to preserve “time”; the line is used to display “change.” The last two sentences are the conclusion of the whole chapter, and also one of the guiding threads of Wang Bi’s study of the Changes: one hexagram is one configuration of time; the six lines are the various changes within that configuration of time; the two, one still and one moving, together make the complete method of reading the Changes.

夫卦者，時也；爻者，適時之變者也。夫時有否泰，故用有行藏；卦有小大，故辭有險易。一時之制，可反而用也；一時之吉，可反而凶也。故卦以反對，而爻亦皆變。是故用無常道，事無軌度，動靜屈伸，唯變所適。故名其卦，則吉凶從其類；存其時，則動靜應其用。尋名以觀其吉凶，舉時以觀其動靜，則一體之變，由斯見矣。夫應者，同志之象也；位者，爻所處之象也。

What the hexagram indicates is “time”; what the line indicates is the change that arises in accord with that time. Times have obstruction and openness, so a person’s use of the world is divided between taking office and withdrawing; hexagrams are small or large, so the statements of hexagrams and lines are dangerous or easy. An institution under one time can, when the time is changed, be used in reverse; the auspicious under one time may, when the time is changed, become inauspicious. Therefore hexagrams form pairs by being opposite and contrary, and their lines all change with them. Thus use has no fixed unchanging method, affairs have no track that never alters; whether to move or be still, to bend or stretch, one looks only at the direction change makes fitting. So when one raises the hexagram’s name, the auspicious and inauspicious are fixed by its kind; when one grasps its time, movement and stillness answer its function. Following the name to look at the auspicious and inauspicious, raising the time to look at movement and stillness, the change of the hexagram as a whole appears from this. What is called “correspondence” is the image of like aims; what is called “position” is the image of the place a line occupies. What follows enumerates the six groups of line-examples—correspondence, position, receiving and riding, far and near, inner and outer, first and top—and is the most systematic passage in the book on the method of the lines.

承乘者，逆順之象也；遠近者，險易之象也。內外者，出處之象也；初上者，終始之象也。是故，雖遠而可以動者，得其應也；雖險而可以處者，得其時也。弱而不懼於敵者，得所據也；憂而不懼於亂者，得所附也。柔而不憂於斷者，得所御也。雖後而敢為之先者，應其始也；物競而獨安靜者，要其終也。故觀變動者，存乎應；察安危者，存乎位；辯逆順者，存乎承乘；明出處者，存乎外內。

“Receiving and riding” (承乘) is the image of reverse and compliant—the yielding beneath the firm is receiving, the yielding above the firm is riding; “far and near” is the image of danger and ease; “inner and outer” is the image of taking office and withdrawing—the inner hexagram is withdrawal, the outer hexagram is going out; “first and top” is the image of end and beginning. Therefore though far apart one can still act, because one has obtained the corresponding line; though in danger one can still abide, because one has obtained the fitting time; weak and yet not fearing a strong enemy, because one has something to rest on; anxious and yet not fearing disorder, because one has something to attach to; yielding by nature and yet not worrying that one cannot decide, because one has something that drives; though behind, daring to go first, because one answers the beginning of the matter; the ten thousand things contend and one alone can be still, because one has seen the outcome of the matter. Therefore to observe change, look at “correspondence”; to examine safety and danger, look at “position”; to distinguish reverse and compliant, look at “receiving and riding”; to judge going out and staying in, look at “inner and outer.” These four sentences are the general formula for penetrating the lines; later discussion of line-positions for the most part does not go beyond their scope.

遠近終始，各存其會；闢險尚遠，趣時貴近。比復好先，乾壯惡首；明夷務闇，豐尚光大。吉凶有時，不可犯也；動靜有適，不可過也。犯時之忌，罪不在大；失其所適，過不在深。動天下，滅君主，而不可危也；侮妻子，用顏色，而不可易也。故當其列貴賤之時，其位不可犯也；遇其憂悔吝之時；其介不可慢也。觀爻思變，變斯盡矣。

Far and near, end and beginning, each has its time of meeting: to avoid danger, distance is best; to go toward an opportunity, nearness is prized. Bi (比, Closeness) and Fu (復, Return) take going first as good; Qian (乾, the Creative) and Dazhuang (大壯, Great Strength) on the contrary dislike contending to be first—“gan” here is the Qian hexagram; this text writes gan 干, a character commonly used in transmission. Mingyi (明夷, Darkening of the Light) is bent on hiding its brightness; Feng honors what is great and shining. The auspicious and inauspicious each have their time, which must not be offended; movement and stillness each have what is fitting, which must not be exceeded. If one offends the taboo of the time, the fault does not lie in the size of the affair; if one loses the measure one should follow, the error does not lie in how deep it goes. There are those who shake the world and slay a ruler and yet are not counted dangerous; there are those who only slight a wife and show a little color in the face and yet must not be treated lightly—because the times differ, the same action has an entirely different weight. Therefore when one is in a time of ranking honor and lowliness, the order of positions must not be offended; when one meets a time of worry, regret, and stinginess, even that slight boundary must not be slighted. Observe the lines and think on their change, and the principle of change is all in it. This passage most clearly shows what Wang Bi means by “the meaning of the time”: good and evil, great and small, are not fixed by the act itself, but by the time in which it stands.

夫象者，出意者也。言者，明象者也。盡意莫若象，盡象莫若言。言生於象，故可尋言以觀象；象生於意，故可尋象以觀意。意以象盡，象以言著。故言者所以明象，得象而忘言；象者，所以存意，得意而忘象。

The image is that which brings the idea out; words are that which make the image clear. To exhaust the idea, nothing is better than the image; to exhaust the image, nothing is better than words. Words are born of the image, so one can follow the words to observe the image; the image is born of the idea, so one can follow the image to observe the idea. The idea is exhausted by the image; the image is made manifest by words. Therefore words are used to clarify the image, and once one has the image one should forget the words; the image is used to keep the idea, and once one has the idea one should forget the image. This is the first layer of the chapter “Clarifying the Image”: words, image, and idea are a relation of tools that generate one another in layers; the value of the tool lies entirely in reaching the end, and once the end is reached the tool need no longer be kept.

猶蹄者所以在兔，得兔而忘蹄；筌者所以在魚，得魚而忘筌也。然則，言者，象之蹄也；象者，意之筌也。是故，存言者，非得象者也；存象者，非得意者也。象生於意而存象焉，則所存者乃非其象也；言生於象而存言焉，則所存者乃非其言也。然則，忘象者，乃得意者也；忘言者，乃得象者也。得意在忘象，得象在忘言。故立象以盡意，而象可忘也；重畫以盡情，而畫可忘也。

This is like the rabbit-snare being for the sake of the rabbit: once one has the rabbit one forgets the snare; like the fish-trap being for the sake of the fish: once one has the fish one forgets the trap—the language is from Zhuangzi, “External Things.” In this way, words are the snare of the image, and the image is the trap of the idea. Therefore one who clings to words has not truly obtained the image; one who clings to the image has not truly obtained the idea. The image is born of the idea, yet if one only keeps the image, what one keeps is already not the true image; words are born of the image, yet if one only keeps the words, what one keeps is already not the true words. Seen thus, the one who can forget the image is the one who truly obtains the idea; the one who can forget the words is the one who truly obtains the image. Obtaining the idea lies in forgetting the image; obtaining the image lies in forgetting the words. Therefore the Xici zhuan says the sages established images to exhaust the idea, and the image may be forgotten; they stacked the drawings of the hexagrams to exhaust true and false feeling, and the drawings may be forgotten as well. The four characters “obtain the idea and forget the image” are established from this, and are Wang Bi’s fundamental claim for sweeping away the Han study of image and number.

是故觸類可為其象，合義可為其徵。義苟在健，何必馬乎？類苟在順，何必牛乎？爻苟合順，何必坤乃為牛？義苟應健，何必乾乃為馬？而或者定馬於乾，案文責卦，有馬無干，則偽說滋漫，難可紀矣。互體不足，遂及卦變；變又不足，推致五行。一失其原，巧愈彌甚。從復或值，而義無所取。蓋存象忘意之由也。忘象以求其意，義斯見矣。

Therefore whatever can be reached by analogy of kind may be taken as its image; whatever accords with the meaning may serve as its verification. If the meaning lies in firmness and strength, why must it be a horse? If the kind lies in yielding and compliance, why must it be an ox? So long as a line accords with the yielding, why must it be Kun (坤) to be an ox? So long as the meaning answers to the firm, why must it be Qian to be a horse? Yet some people fix the horse upon Qian, and then, going by the text, demand the hexagram-image: the moment they see the word “horse” and there is no Qian in the hexagram, they invent all sorts of forced explanations, and false theories spread and grow, too many to record. When interlocking trigrams (互體) will not explain it, they bring in hexagram change; when hexagram change still will not, they push it onto the Five Phases (五行). Once the root is lost, the ingenuity grows ever more labored. Now and then they happen to make one place work, yet in principle there is nothing to take. All this is caused by clinging to the image and forgetting the idea. Conversely, if one forgets the image and seeks its idea, the principle appears of itself. The “gan” here is the Qian hexagram; the base text writes gan. By “interlocking trigrams” is meant taking the second, third, and fourth lines, or the third, fourth, and fifth, of a hexagram to form a new hexagram for explaining the classic—a common method of the Han Change, and this chapter of Wang Bi’s is precisely a general reckoning with it.

案，象無初上得位失位之文。又，繫辭但論三五，二四同功異位，亦不及初上，何乎？唯乾上九文言云，貴而無位；需上六云，雖不當位。若以上為陰位邪？則需上六不得雲不當位也；若以上為陽位邪？則乾上九不得雲貴而無位也。陰陽處之，皆云非位，而初亦不說當位失位也。然則，初上者是事之終始，無陰陽定位也。故乾初謂之潛，過五謂之無位。未有處其位而云潛，上有位而云無者也。歷觀眾卦，盡亦如之，初上無陰陽定位，亦以明矣。

Examining the Xiang zhuan (象傳, Commentary on the Images), it never speaks of the first line or the top line obtaining or losing position. Looking further at the Xici zhuan, it discusses only that the third and fifth have the same function but different positions, and that the second and fourth have the same function but different positions; it does not touch the first and the top. Why is this? Only the Wenyan zhuan (文言傳) of Qian’s top nine says “honored and without position,” and Xu (需, Waiting) top six says “though not in the proper position.” If one counts the top place as a yin position, then Xu top six is a yin line occupying a yin position, and one ought not to say it is not in the proper position; if one counts the top place as a yang position, then Qian top nine is a yang line occupying a yang position, and one ought not to say it is honored and without position. Both yin and yang lines occupying this place are said not to be a position, and the first line likewise is not discussed in terms of being in or out of position. Seen thus, the first and the top are the end and beginning of an affair, and by nature have no fixed yin-yang position. Therefore Qian’s first nine is called “submerged,” and past the fifth place it is called “without position”; there has never been a case of saying it occupies its proper place and also saying it is submerged, nor of saying the top has a position and also saying it has none. Looking through all the hexagrams it is the same: that the first and top lines have no yin-yang positioning is quite clear. The “gan” here is the Qian hexagram; the base text writes gan. The Han Change, in discussing line-positions, takes first, third, and fifth as yang positions and second, fourth, and top as yin positions, and judges each line as in or out of position; what this chapter of Wang Bi’s aims to overthrow is precisely the received teaching that brings the first and the top also into yin-yang positioning.

夫位者，列貴賤之地，待才用之宅也。爻者，守位分之任，應貴賤之序者也。位有尊卑，爻有陰陽。尊者，陽之所處；卑者，陰之所履也。故以尊為陽位，卑為陰位。去初上而論位分，則三五各在一卦之上，亦何得不謂之陽位？二四各在一卦之下，亦何得不謂之陰位？初上者，體之終始，事之先後也，故位無常分，事無常所，非可以陰陽定也。尊卑有常序，終始無常主。故繫辭但論四爻功位之通例，而不及初上之定位也。然事不可無終始，卦不可無六爻，初上雖無陰陽本位，是終始之地也。統而論之，爻之所處則謂之位；卦以六爻為成，則不得不謂之六位時成也。

What is called position is the place where honor and lowliness are arrayed, the dwelling that waits for talent to be applied; what is called a line is that which undertakes the duty of keeping its position and fulfilling its lot, and answers to the order of honor and lowliness. Positions have honor and lowliness; lines have yin and yang: the honored place is where yang dwells, the low place is where yin treads, so the honored position is fixed as a yang position and the low as a yin position. Setting aside the first and the top and speaking only of the division of positions, the third and fifth each occupy the upper place of the upper and lower two bodies—how can they not be called yang positions? The second and fourth each occupy the lower place of the upper and lower two bodies—how can they not be called yin positions? As for the first and the top, they are the end and beginning of the hexagram-body, the before and after of an affair, so their positions have no fixed allotment, and affairs have no fixed place; they cannot be judged by yin and yang. Honor and lowliness have a constant order; end and beginning have no constant host. Therefore the Xici zhuan discusses only the general rule of function and position for the four lines two, three, four, and five, and does not touch the positioning of the first and the top. Yet an affair cannot be without end and beginning, and a hexagram cannot be without six lines; although the first and the top have no proper yin-yang place, they are where end and beginning reside. Taken together, the place a line occupies is called a position; since a hexagram is completed by six lines, one cannot but call it, as the Tuan zhuan says, “the six positions completed in their time.” The conclusion of this chapter is: the division of positions belongs only to the middle four lines; the first and the top have a separate meaning of end and beginning—this both keeps the skeleton of the teaching of line-positions and makes room for “the meaning of the time.”

凡體具四德者，則轉以勝者為先，故曰“元亨，利貞”也。其有先貞而後亨者，由於貞也。凡陰陽者，相求之物也，近而不相得者，志各有所存也。故凡陰陽二爻，率相比而無應，則近而不相得；有應，則雖遠而相得。然時有險易，卦有小大。同救以相親，同闢以相疏。故或有違斯例者也，然存時以考之，義可得也。

Whenever a hexagram-body possesses all four virtues—yuan, heng, li, and zhen (元亨利貞)—one turns and puts the stronger virtue first, and so one says “yuan heng, li zhen.” There are also cases that speak of zhen first and heng after, because their opening comes from holding to the correct. Yin and yang are by nature things that seek one another; some are near yet cannot come together, because each one’s aim belongs elsewhere. Therefore of yin and yang lines, those that for the most part neighbor one another and have no corresponding line are close at hand yet cannot come together; those that have a corresponding line, though far apart, can obtain one another. Yet times are dangerous or easy, hexagrams small or large: those who share distress and rescue one another grow close; those who both wish to avoid grow distant. So there will also be cases that go against this general rule, but if one puts “time” into the examination, the meaning can still be obtained. This article discusses the general rule of “neighboring” and “corresponding” and its exceptions, and still takes the meaning of the time as the final standard.

凡彖者，統論一卦之體者也。象者，各辯一爻之義者也。故履卦六三，為兌之主，以應於乾；成卦之體，在斯一爻，故彖敘其應，雖危而亨也。象則各言六爻之義，明其吉凶之行。去六三成卦之體，而指說一爻之德，故危不獲亨而見咥也。訟之九二，亦同斯義。

The Judgment is always a comprehensive discussion of the body of a hexagram; the Image distinguishes and clarifies the principle of each line. Thus Lü (履, Treading) six in the third is the host of the lower body Dui (兌), and corresponds above to Qian; the key to completing this hexagram-body lies in this one line, so the Judgment looks to its correspondence with the upper body and says that though it is in danger it can in the end open through. The Image, however, speaks of the principle of each of the six lines and points out the direction of the auspicious and inauspicious: setting aside six in the third’s identity as the host that completes the hexagram, and speaking only of the virtue of this one line, one sees only its danger and not its opening, and instead it meets the misfortune of “treading on a tiger’s tail, it bites a man.” Song (訟, Conflict) nine in the second is the same principle. The same line is spoken of in opposite ways in the Judgment and the Image precisely because the standpoint differs: the Judgment takes the whole hexagram as host, the Image takes the single line as host.

凡彖者，通論一卦之體者也。一卦之體必由一爻為主，則指明一爻之美以統一卦之義，大有之類是也。卦體不由乎一爻，則全以二體之義明之，豐卦之類是也。

The Judgment is always a comprehensive discussion of the body of a hexagram. If the body of a hexagram does indeed have a certain line as host, the Judgment points out the excellence of that line and uses it to gather the meaning of the whole hexagram; Dayou (大有, Great Possession) belongs to this kind—Dayou has five yang and one yin, and six in the fifth is the host. If the hexagram-body does not depend on any one line, it is clarified entirely by the combined meaning of the upper and lower two bodies; Feng belongs to this kind—Feng is Zhen (震) above and Li (離) below, taking the meaning “brightness whereby one moves,” and does not name a particular line as host. This article is the regularization of the two teachings in “Clarifying the Judgment,” “one line as host” and “or raising the two bodies.”

凡言無咎者，本皆有咎者也，防得其道，故得無咎也。吉，無咎者，本亦有咎，由吉故得免也。無咎，吉者，先免於咎，而後吉從之也。或亦處得其時，吉不待功，不犯於咎，則獲吉也。或有罪自己招，無所怨咎，亦曰無咎。故節六三曰：“不節若，則嗟若，無咎”。象曰“不節之嗟，又誰咎也”？此之謂矣。

Whenever a line-statement says “no blame” (無咎), there was originally a fault; only because the guarding was well done can there be no error. Those that say “auspicious, no blame” also originally had a fault, and because they obtained the auspicious they were able to escape disaster. Those that say “no blame, auspicious” first escape from fault, and then the auspicious follows. There are also cases where the situation exactly fits the time, and one obtains the auspicious without needing to establish merit, and does not come to offend against fault. There is yet another kind: the crime is brought on by oneself, and one cannot blame others; this too is called “no blame.” Therefore Jie (節, Restraint) six in the third says: if one cannot restrain, there will be sighing, no blame; the Xiang zhuan says: sighing from lack of restraint—whom else can one blame? This is precisely the meaning. This article distinguishes four uses of “no blame,” the place in reading line-statements most easily blurred, which Wang Bi especially picks out.

屯。此一卦，皆陰爻求陽也。屯難之世，弱者不能自濟，必依於強，民思其主之時也。故陰爻皆先求陽，不召自往；馬雖班如，而猶不廢；不得其主，無所馮也。初體陽爻，處首居下，應民所求，合其所望，故大得民也。蒙。此一卦，陰爻亦先求陽。夫陰昧而陽明，陰困童蒙，陽能發之。凡不識者求問識者，識者不求所告，暗者求明，明者不諮於暗。故童蒙求我，匪我求童蒙也。故六三先唱，則犯於為女；四遠於陽，則困蒙吝；初比於陽，則發蒙也。

Zhun (屯, Difficulty at the Beginning). The general rule of this hexagram is that the yin lines are all seeking the yang lines. In an age of difficulty, the weak cannot save themselves and must attach to the strong; it is precisely the time when the people long for a bright ruler. Therefore the yin lines all go first to seek yang, and go of themselves without waiting to be summoned; though the line-statement says “riding horses in confusion”—the horses hesitate and do not go forward—they still will not give up, because without obtaining the person who is to be host they have nothing to rely on. First nine is a yang line, occupying the head of the whole hexagram yet placed at the very bottom, which exactly answers the people’s seeking of help and fits their hope; therefore the line-statement says “by the honored placing itself beneath the lowly, it greatly obtains the people.” Meng (蒙, Youthful Folly). This hexagram too has the yin lines first seeking yang. Yin governs darkness and yang governs illumination; yin is trapped in youthful folly, and only yang can open it. Those who do not understand go to ask those who do; those who understand do not of themselves go seeking people to hear them. The dark seek the bright; the bright do not consult the dark. Therefore the hexagram statement says “the youthful ignorant seeks me; it is not I who seek the youthful ignorant.” Thus six in the third, going first to sing and answer, offends against the suspicion of a girl going of herself without being betrothed; six in the fourth is farthest from a yang line, and so is “trapped in folly” and has regret; first six neighbors nine in the second, and so can “open the ignorant.” The chapter “Brief Notes on the Hexagrams” applies the general rules of the preceding chapters to concrete hexagrams, and may be seen as a demonstration of Wang Bi’s examples of the Changes.

履。雜卦曰：“履，不處也”。又曰，履者，禮也；謙以制禮。陽處陰位，謙也。故此一卦，皆以陽處陰為美也。臨。此剛長之卦也。剛勝則柔危矣，柔有其德，乃得免咎。故此一卦，陰爻雖美，莫過無咎也。觀。觀之為義，以所見為美者也。故以近尊為尚，遠之為吝。

Lü. The Zagua zhuan (雜卦傳) says: Lü is the meaning of not remaining at rest. It also says: Lü is ritual; and ritual is to be regulated by humility. A yang line occupying a yin position is precisely the image of humility, so this hexagram takes yang occupying yin as excellent. Lin (臨, Approach). This is a hexagram in which the firm lines are gradually growing. When the firm lines prevail, the yielding lines are in danger; a yielding line can escape fault only if it has virtue of its own. Therefore in this hexagram, however excellent a yin line may be, the best result is no more than “no blame.” Guan (觀, Contemplation). The meaning of Guan takes as excellent the excellence of what is seen, so nearness to the honored place is to be valued, and distance becomes regret. Each of the three hexagrams has a general rule: Lü takes yang occupying yin as excellent; Lin limits the yin lines at most to no blame; Guan values nearness to the honored—this is precisely the concrete working-out of “the hexagram preserves time”: the same kind of line-position is evaluated entirely differently in different hexagrams.

大過。大過者，棟橈之世也。本末皆弱，棟已橈矣。而守其常，則是危而弗扶，凶之道也。以陽居陰，極弱之義也，故陽爻皆以居陰位為美。濟衰救危，味在同好，則所贍褊矣。故九四有應，則有它吝；九二無應，則無不利也。遯。小人浸長。難在於內，亨在於外，與臨卦相對者也。臨，剛長則柔危；遯，柔長故剛遯也。

Daguo (大過, Preponderance of the Great). Daguo is an age in which the ridgepole is bent: both ends, root and tip, are yielding, and the ridgepole is already bent; if at this time one still clings to the ordinary rule, it is to watch a crisis and not support it, which is the way of taking misfortune. A yang line occupying a yin position takes the meaning of placing oneself at the extreme of weakness, so the yang lines of this hexagram all take occupying a yin position as excellent. In relieving decline and supporting a crisis, if one attends only to one’s own kind, the range one can assist is narrow. Therefore nine in the fourth has a corresponding line and instead “has other regret”; nine in the second has no corresponding line and instead “nothing that is not advantageous.” Dun (遯, Retreat). The power of small people gradually grows; difficulty is in the inner hexagram, opening-through in the outer, exactly opposite to Lin: Lin is the firm growing and the yielding in danger; Dun is the yielding growing, and therefore the firm withdraws. The article on Daguo most clearly shows Wang Bi’s meaning—correspondence is ordinarily a good thing, yet in this hexagram it becomes a burden, because what the time requires is not to be partial to one’s favorites.

大壯。未有違謙越禮能全其壯者也，故陽爻皆以處陰位為美。用壯處謙，壯乃全也；用壯處壯，則觸藩矣。明夷。為暗之主，在於上六。初最遠之，故曰：“君子于行”。五最近之而難不能溺，故謂之“箕子之貞，明不可息也”。三處明極而征至暗，故曰“南狩獲其大首”也。

Dazhuang. There has never been one who, violating humility and overstepping ritual, could yet preserve his strength, so the yang lines of this hexagram all take occupying a yin position as excellent. Using one’s strength yet placing oneself in humble withdrawal, strength is then preserved; using one’s strength and also placing oneself in a place of strength, one will be like the line-statement “a ram butts a fence,” the ram stuck on the fence, able neither to go forward nor back. Mingyi. The host of darkness is the single line top six. First nine is farthest from it, so the line-statement says “the noble man is on a journey,” the noble man traveling far to avoid trouble; six in the fifth is nearest to it yet the disaster cannot drown him, and so it is called “the correctness of Jizi; the light cannot be extinguished”—Jizi feigned madness and held to the correct, and his light could not be put out; nine in the third stands at the extreme of brightness and campaigns straight to the place of darkness, and so it says “hunting in the south, he captures the great head,” hunting southward and seizing the chief villain. The same standing in a dark age: far from it, one travels; near it, one holds to correctness; at the extreme of brightness, one campaigns—the three choices are all decided by the line’s distance from top six.

睽。睽者，睽而通也。於兩卦之極觀之，義最見矣。極睽而合，極異而通，故先見怪焉，洽乃疑亡也。豐。此一卦明以動之卦也。尚於光顯，宣陽發暢者也。故爻皆以居陽位又不應陰為美，其統在於惡暗而已矣。小暗謂之沛，大暗謂之蔀。暗甚則明盡，未盡則明昧；明盡則斗星見，明微故見昧。無明則無與乎世，見昧則不可以大事。折其右肱，雖左肱在，豈足用乎？日中之盛而見昧而已，豈足任乎。

Kui. The meaning of Kui is that though there is estrangement, in the end there can be communication. Looking from the place where the upper and lower two hexagrams are estranged to the extreme, this layer of meaning is most clear: estrangement at its extreme instead meets, difference at its extreme instead communicates, so top nine first “sees a pig covered with mud, a cart loaded with ghosts,” seeing all sorts of strange images, and once there is harmony the doubts disappear. Feng. This hexagram is the hexagram of “brightness whereby one moves”—Li below is brightness, Zhen above is movement; it honors what is bright and illustrious, and proclaims yang qi so that it may issue and flow freely. Therefore the lines all take occupying a yang position and not corresponding with a yin line as excellent; the purport of the whole hexagram lies only in disliking darkness. A small darkness is called “pei” (沛); a great darkness is called “bu” (蔀). When darkness is too extreme, brightness is entirely lost; when it is not yet entirely lost, brightness is dim. When brightness is entirely lost one sees the Dipper in daylight; when brightness is faint one is only dim. Without brightness one cannot take part in the world’s affairs; seeing only dimness one cannot be entrusted with great matters. If the right arm is broken, though the left arm remains, how can it suffice? At the very fullness of midday one sees only dimness—how can one bear the charge? The base text ends here; the end of the scroll is incomplete, and the remaining hexagrams under the heading “Brief Notes on the Hexagrams (1)” are also not included. The received Outline of the Zhou Changes has appended to it the notes of Xing Chou of the Tang; this source text does not include them either, so what the book preserves is only Wang Bi’s main text, and the reader need not take the lack of notes as a doubt.