Hexagram 08

Bǐ

Stand by

To stand by. Auspicious
The source of oracle consulting with yarrow stalks
Eminent long range determination
No fault
The border states which are not peaceful will come
The man who comes late: pitfall

The great image says:
On the earth water flows: standing by. The ancient kings founded innumerable territories, maintaining close relations with the feudal lords.

Water
Earth

day 6 of a yang moon

  When Yu the Great had conquered the flood, he held an assembly of the gods on a mountain. He did so in order to found a state, the only way to conquer floods or enemies with joined forces. He “founded innumerable territories, maintaining close relations with the feudal lords”. This was the beginning of the Xia dynasty, the first one of the three big dynasties.
  It is the making of foundations, and it is extremely important that they are perfect. A small imperfection at the beginning will be a huge flaw at the end. So he rejected FangFeng, who arrived too late for the meeting, as being not capable, and beheaded him. “The man who comes late: misfortune”
  “Source of oracle consulting”: when people join forces, everyone has responsibilities. There is not just one master whose words are the law. So there will be meetings with discussions and agreements. To prevent fights, a neutral voice is needed, a voice from the gods. Not one summoned by sacrifices, which brings good fortune, but one summoned by a question, bringing an answer.  

Bi3: The character represents two people standing or walking behind each other. Original meaning: to juxtapose. Later to be close to, compare, equal, similar. A person turned to the left, REN2, (2) is man, a person turned to the right, BI3, (3 and 4: deceased mother) is a symbol for female. North, BEI3, (5) is two people standing back to back - or a man and a woman. The middle between East and West? 
BI3: Equal, similar, compare, just like, accord with (great principles, with what is good and also accomplishing it), successive, come to, when, as, arranged orderly, classified correctly, like preceding cases, category, metaphor, equation (math), mime, to inspect.
 BI4 unite, go together with, to be neighbors, follow, concordant, partisan, sectarian (opposite to zhou, universal), aid, accord with, on behalf of, to be intimate with, combine, join forces, according to expectation, several together, close, dense, tight, put under patronage, to be the origin of, thanks to, accomplish one’s task, every, continuation, succession, before one’s turn, in advance, accomodant, unit of 5 families (Zhou-dynasty), to form a clique.

About hexagrams 7 and 8
6 at 3: Standing by bad people.
 Be severe in what you accept and what not. One rotten apple can spoil a whole basket, so throw it out. If that is not possible, then leave yourself. You have just one life, don’t waste it.
(Changes to hex.39)

Above 6: Standing by without a head. Pitfall.
Standing by also means standing behind. Back your people, your team, your beliefs, your background. Show who you are and to whom you belong with. Beware of the crowing cock of Petrus.
(Changes to hex.20)

 

6 at 2: The origin of standing by is inside. Determination auspicious. 
 If you want to function well in your group, then be a real member, in your heart. Just doing all the right things is not enough, if you are not really committed the others will know. Accept them the way they are, even if they are weird, be proud of your group, even if it is a motley crew. All your actions will testify what you feel, so make your feelings great.
(Changes to hex.29)

 

 9 at 5: Manifestation of standing by. The king uses three beaters and lets go the game ahead. No warning of the people of the county, auspicious. 
When people have a base of ethics, known and self-evident to everyone, they make the strongest of unions. Nobody has to be coerced, no laws and punishments are necessary. They stand by each other as the natural thing to do.
(Changes to hex.2)

Initial 6 : Inspire confidence in standing by. Without fault. Being true filling the jar. In the end, there it is. Auspicious. 
 Do not try to show what you are inside, what you might accomplish, what your talents are, but show what you actually do with your assets. If this one side is bright enough, people will see the rest too, because it will shine through your actions. Being true is something real, not something that might be.
(Changes to hex.3)

 

 6 at 4: Standing by outside. Determination auspicious. 
 Open up to views beyond your own and connect with what feels worthwhile to you. Staying inside a narrow circle will shut you off from the larger world, both from people and inside your own mind. Good fortune can only come to you if you yourself draw it towards you.
(Changes to hex.45)
The Sabian Symbols for the hexagram-lines
6 at 3 corresponds to b 06: An old-fashioned woman and a flapper
 Both okay but wrong combination 		Above 6 corresponds to h 06: A performer of a mystery play
6 at 2 corresponds to ` 06: Drilling for oil
 The fuel for the fireplace which makes home to a home comes from deep down 		9 at 5 corresponds to f 06: A game of cricket
Initial 6 corresponds to ^ 06: A square brightly lighted on one side

6 at 4 corresponds to d 06: The ideals of a man abundantly crystallized
 To change magma into diamond, many different forces are involved

 
For the meaning of  Eminent - expansion. Harvest - determination click HERE
'A region' is Fang: on-all-sides, square, region. Feels like 'this here place' GSR.740a a man with carrying pole?
'Long range' (or ever flowing) is a picture of a person swimming in a river, but I guess the 'old man river' himself is moving along. If you live in a tiny village next to the huge river, the ever flowing waters are an image of eternity. Your great-great-great-grandparents knew him already, and your descendants will all live next to him.
Line 1. Ta¹, often translated as 'this', is the picture of a foot treading on a snake: the old meaning was danger, harm, obstacle, and maybe also pointing at the suddenly appearing snake: 'here, watch out!', causing the meaning 'this'.
Line 3. 'Bad' or wrong.
  For Western eyes the upper figures in the picture seem to go forward. But in China writing goes from right to left, so the figures look backwards. The lower ones look forward.
  This idea about forward and backward is entirely my own: both characters are sometimes written reversed. But in the course of time, they became established this way, and probably not without reason.  
  In the commentaries it says: Calculating the past is a forward movement. Knowing the future is a backward movement. Thus the Changes has backward-moving numbers.