16 story

The image of hexagram 16
Yú, weaving images

Hexagram 16 has trigram Earth below or inside, Thunder above or outside. Earth is a fertile soil for ideas and ideals, and Thunder will make them hatch. Make them grow and conquer the sky.

What does it mean, 'inner' and 'outer trigram' (popup)

When trigram Earth is below (popup)

When trigram Thunder is above (popup)

Earth below Thunder: the electricity of Thunder wakes up seeds, makes chicks hatch, and fills the air with energy. The fertile soil of Earth needs little to make ideas and plans grow into big trees, eagles, inventions, but also into tiny ants, small gestures, and everything else which renews life over and over again.

The old diviners gave this combination of trigrams a name: Yú. It means imagination, which can express itself as anticipation, intuition, tall stories or Nobel-prize-worthy ideas.

Ideogram of the hexagram name: the left part is a shuttle, the little thing a weaver throws from side to side through the warp. The right part is an elephant. Weaving elephants, but since elephant also means ‘image’: weaving images.
In later characters the shuttle looks more like two hands, passing on of handing over, which one does with a shuttle: throwing it left-hand to right-hand and back through the warp. Meanings of Yù: enthusiasm; in advance, beforehand, make or get ready; participate in; pleased, content, happy, comfort; travel, a trip; to cheat, lie, hesitate, indecision. It can range from anticipation to cheating, from inventions to sight-seeing. Imagination in all its forms.

The 'Great Image' says: Thunder emerges from the Earth, flying over the fields: YU. The ancient kings composed music, honored virtue, with dancers worshipped the Lord on High. They associated with the deceased ancestors.

Hex.16 is the contrast of 9, which is about all those daily duties which make up a solid and safe life.
Hex.16 is the grand vision, hope and fear for the future, the imagination which colors the days and fills the mind with possibilities. And also expressing the joy they bring and the reverence for the spirits which grant those inspirations.

  Inspiration needs big images. They don’t have to represent big things – even out of something small one can make a big idea. An elephant surpasses human size, it carries people and heavy weights, it can move about immovable things. Only an image of more than human size can sweep along people.
   Touch the elephant first: is it real? It might be a dream, or someone might try to cheat with a virtual elephant. But if it can really carry the things promised, then it is the means to surpass the borders of an idea or existence that is only-human.
   It encompasses all those feelings which make an impression of coming from somewhere else, from the gods, from heaven - certainly not from logical human thinking. How can one explain the origins of a great inspiration, an insight, a foreknowledge of an event? Who can catch motivation or find the source of creativity? They come and go inspired by greater forces. But if you are close to this source you will have succes (see line 4).

The image of hexagram 16Yú, weaving images

The image of hexagram 16
Yú, weaving images