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Eminent - expansion. Harvest - determination.
Eminent
YUAN means (literally) a person’s head. It indicates head, first,
chief, great, primary, fundamental, good, spring. The Yuan-sacrifice is a
sacrifice brought in spring, in the time of the beginning of growth, the time of
sowing.
When it says in a hexagram ‘yuan’, this means there is an opening,
new fields for things to happen or make them happen, new paths. There is
creative potential, or material to work with.
Resources are still small, but do with them
whatever you can. Make the best use of them, and don't be afraid to invest them.
Expansion
HENG is also the name
of a sacrifice, one brought in summer. The crop is growing, and now the gods are
implored to make it a big and rich one. There are already enough proceeds to
offer to them, so this sacrifice is two-way: offering and receiving.
In a hexagram it indicates expansion, growth, success, abundance. Be
willing to offer from what you have, it will make your profits larger. Stingy
people rarely make a success of anything. Important too is to believe in what
you do. Confidence is a great fertilizer.
Harvest
LI means ‘harvest’: it is a wheat-plant and a knife. For a hexagram
it means that there are possibilities and opportunities, but one has to grasp
them. There will be a return on time and energy invested*. It is important now to gather and use everything, to store it safely, and
to make sure it will not become moldy.
Determination
ZHEN, finally, is oracle-consulting, but also receiving an answer. And
most important: to follow the advice of the gods. That is why it is usually
translated as perseverance or determination or correctness.
Everyone has a different name for the gods: God or intuition or Manitou
or the spirit of grandmother. It is not really important, what counts is if one
listens. So when it says ‘determination auspicious’ it is good in this
context to ask your higher counselor what to do, and to stick to it. Sometimes,
not very often, it says determination is not favorable. Then one should be open
and alert and react to every new moment. Without any predetermined course. Not
even with too much virtue. Virtue is a good thing, but in some circumstances a
little less virtue can save one from calamities. The Yi is practical: he wants
the highest spirit possible, but not your misfortune.
(more about zhen on page 'Divination and repentance')
* Bradford Hatcher
*
About yuan, heng, li and zhen:
According to the records of Zuo zhuan xiang gong jiu nian 左传·襄公九年 (the
Ninth Year during the Reign of Duke Xiang of State Lu) (i.e., 564 B.C.), Mu
Jiang 穆姜, the princess of State Lu, died in the East Palace. Before her being
imprisoned into this palace due to the variety of her faults, she had conducted
a divination, encountering with hexagram Gen (
,
52) to ba ( 八, lit.,
eight):
The official diviner interpreted: “It is called Gen to Sui (
,
17). Sui (indicates) following out. (This indicates) you will soon be released.”
Jiang responded: “It states in the Zhouyi
: ‘ Sui 随
(following), yuan heng li zhen
元亨利贞 (lit., Sui
indicates penetrating, advantageous, correcting and firm even in
the very beginning), there will be no error.' (As the saying goes,)
yuan connotes the head of the body,
heng the assemblage of excellences, li the harmony of all that
is right, zhen the faculty of action. Those embodying benevolence are
fit to preside over man; he who presents the assemblage of virtues is fit to
show in himself the union of all propriety; he who benefits all creatures is fit
to exhibit the harmony of all that is right; correct and firm, he is fit to
manage (all) affairs. If all these qualities have been correctly accomplished,
there will be no error in following. Now for me, as a woman, I committed incest.
Therefore, that I who is in low position and conduct no benevolence could not
match (the quality of) yuan ; my not being loyal to the state is
incongruous with (the quality of) heng; my abdication from the venerable
position and coquettishness can not be called zhen. Those who possess
the four virtues (of yuan, heng, li and zhen
) can follow out without any error. Now, none of them is in the possession of
me, how can I follow out? On the contrary, as I have conducted much malevolence,
can I have no error? So, I will certainly be sentenced to life in here and will
never be released.”