9. The Taming Power of the Small

The two trigrams

above

☴

The Wind

巽 · xùn

wind and wood

below

☰

Heaven

乾 · qián

heaven, the sky

The Judgement

The name of this hexagram means small restraint: a single weak line, the fourth, is trying to hold back five strong ones. The restraint is small and cannot last long, and that is why the Judgment promises progress and success. But then comes the image that matters: dense clouds, and no rain coming from our borders in the west. The sky is loaded with promise, everything is ready, and yet the rain does not fall; the blessing that could enrich everyone is being held back. If these days you feel that something good is very close, a promotion, an answer, a change at home, but it does not arrive, and the waiting frays your nerves, that is no accident: you are under those clouds. The strength is there, only temporarily checked by a minor obstacle, a missing signature, a permit, somebody's doubt. Do not try to force the clouds to rain: it cannot be done. Practical advice: use this time to take care of the small details, the order of your papers, the tone of your e-mails, punctuality, because when the restraint gives way, and it will, you will want to be found ready and impeccable.

The Image

The Image is the sky with wind moving above it. Wind, the commentators say, is simply air without solid substance: it can restrain, but not for long. The wise person, Legge says, in accordance with this, adorns the outward manifestation of his virtue. When you cannot yet affect the big things, you can look after the small ones: the way you speak, how you present yourself, the kindness in everyday gestures. This is not superficiality, it is preparation. Advice: in this period work on the form, your image, your way of communicating, because that is what you can really control right now.

First line

First line: you return and pursue your own course. What mistake should you fall into? There will be good fortune. You were checked, perhaps by an objection, a postponement, but your nature is strong and your road is the right one. Do not wait for someone to give you permission to be yourself: pick up the project, the routine, the direction you had chosen. The commentary says it is right that there should be good fortune. Advice: begin again where you left off, without excuses and without resentment.

Second line

Second line: drawn by the attraction of the former line, you too return to the proper course; there will be good fortune. You are not alone: someone beside you has already taken up the right road again, and their example pulls you along. If a colleague, a friend, a relative has just made a sensible choice, follow them, make common cause with them. The commentary adds that, being in the central place, you will not err in what is due from you. Advice: join those who are already doing well, rather than starting from scratch on your own.

Third line

Third line: the image of a carriage from which the strap beneath has been removed, and of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes. This is the line of blockage: the vehicle will not move, and at home people no longer look each other in the face. If you are forcing your way past an obstacle and the tension is discharging onto the people you love, stop. The commentary speaks of one who cannot maintain correctly his relations with his wife. Advice: before you set the carriage going again, mend the conversation with the person who shares your life.

Fourth line

Fourth line: you are possessed of sincerity; the danger of bloodshed is thereby averted, and your ground for apprehension dismissed. There will be no mistake. You are the weak line that has to restrain many forces, and you feared being overrun. But your sincerity, and your correct position, make the others align with you instead of attacking you. If you have to say no to people stronger than you, say it honestly and without aggression: the commentary says those above agree in aim with you. Advice: set out your reasons calmly and without threats.

Fifth line

Fifth line: you are possessed of sincerity, and you draw others to unite with you. Rich in resources, you employ your neighbours in the same cause as yourself. This is the line of someone who has means, experience, credibility, and does not keep them to himself: he shares them with those beside him, and together they reach the goal. If you have something more than others, money, skills, contacts, this line invites you to pool it. The commentary says you do not rely only on your own rich resources. Advice: involve your neighbours, your colleagues, your family, in what you are building.

Sixth line

Sixth line: the rain has fallen and the onward progress is stayed; so must we value the full accumulation of virtue. But a wife exercising restraint, however firm and correct she may be, is in a position of peril, like the moon approaching the full. If the superior man prosecutes his measures in such circumstances, there will be evil. You have obtained what you wanted through patience: now stop. Whoever boasts of the result, or keeps pushing when the moon is already full, begins to wane. Advice: once the goal is reached, stay quiet and do not raise the stakes.

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