I Ching 6 Hexagram Sòng (Conflict)
I Ching 6 Hexagram Sòng (Conflict)
Keywords
Conflict. Confront.
Short interpretation of Hexagram 6 – Conflict
Misunderstandings in both personal and working relationships. Find a moment of constructive confrontation.
I Ching – General Description
The upper original sign, whose image is the sky, tends to move upwards. The lower primal sign, water, is by its nature directed downward. The directions of motion of the two halves cause them to move away from each other; this gives the idea of the dispute. The quality of the creative is the strength, that of the abyssal the danger, the snare. Where cunning finds violence before it, quarrel arises. A third deductive interpretation, concerning the character, is suggested by the union of an abyss of perfidy, inside, and a strong resolve, outside. Such a character will certainly be contentious.
I Ching – Comment on sentence
The quarrel: you are true and are prevented.
Careful stopping halfway brings health.
Leading to completion brings misfortune.
It is auspicious to see the great man.
It is not propitious to cross the great water.
The quarrel arises when resistance is encountered while feeling on the side of reason. Without the conviction of being right, the encounter with a resistance leads only to perfidy or violent prevarication, but not to open quarrel. When one is involved in a quarrel, the only thing that can bring health is a powerful sensibility ready to abandon the quarrel at any moment, and to reconcile halfway. Pursuing the quarrel to the bitter end is bad even if you end up being right, because in this way enmity is eternal. It is important to see the great man, that is, an impartial man whose authority is sufficient to settle the dispute peacefully or to settle it fairly. On the other hand, it is necessary to avoid ″ crossing the great water ″ in times of conflict, that is to start dangerous enterprises, as these, if they are to succeed, they require the gathering of all forces. Lite within paralyzes the strength to overcome external danger.
I Ching – Image
Sky and water move away from each other: The image of the quarrel.
Thus the noble, of every business he undertakes, ponders the beginning.
The image hints at the fact that the causes of the dispute lie in the already pre-existing opposite directions of the two parties. From the mere existence of such conflicting addresses, the quarrel follows by necessity. Therefore, in order to avoid it, everything must first be carefully thought through in the beginning. When rights and duties are exactly established, or if in the union of persons their spiritual addresses are parallel, the causes of quarrel are eliminated from the outset.
I Ching – Series
Food and drink is certainly a cause for dispute. Therefore follows the sign: the Conflict.
I Ching – Single Lines
Analytical description of each individual line
I Ching – First line:
Six at the beginning means:
If the thing is not eternal, a little bickering occurs.
In the end comes health.
As long as the quarrel is still in its infancy the best thing to do is to drop it. Especially in the face of a stronger opponent, it is not advisable to risk continuing to the end. Perhaps we come to a small argument, but in the end everything settles down.
I Ching – Second line:
Nine in the second place means:
You can’t fight, you go home by another way.
The people of their own city, three hundred houses, Remain free from guilt.
Struggling against a superior opponent of forces, retreat is not a shame. If you withdraw in time, you avoid bad consequences. If one wished to provoke an unequal quarrel out of a misunderstood sense of honor, one would attract misfortune from oneself. In this case, a wise compliance is redundant for the benefit of the whole neighborhood, which in this way is not involved in the dispute.
I Ching – Third line:
Six in the third place means:
Feeding on ancient virtue gives perseverance.
Danger, in the end comes health: If by chance you follow the service of a king,
Do not seek works.
There is a warning here for the danger of wanting to hoard. Only things honestly acquired on previous merit remain in lasting possession. Such a possession can, it is true, sometimes be attacked, but we cannot be defrauded of it as we are its legitimate holders; since what belongs to us by virtue of the strength of our essence we cannot lose it. By entering the service of a superior one can avoid a quarrel only by not seeking works for oneself. We must be satisfied that they are carried out. The honor of having performed them also remains with others.
I Ching – Fourth line:
Nine in the fourth place means:
You cannot quarrel,
You go back and surrender to fate,
You change and find peace in perseverance. Health !
For now the soul is without peace. It doesn’t feel good in our situation, and we would like to get a better one by fighting. You have a weaker opponent in front of you and would therefore be very well able to do it – unlike nine in second place – but you cannot argue because you do not find in yourself the intimate justification and good conscience to act in this sense. . So you go back surrendering to fate. One changes one’s mentality, thus finding lasting peace in accordance with the eternal law. This brings health.
I Ching – Fifth line:
Nine in the fifth place means:
Quarreling before him brings sublime health.
Here is shown the one who settles the dispute, who is powerful and just, and who has the strength to give force to the law. The subject of the dispute can be confidently referred to him. If you are right, you get great health.
I Ching – Sixth line:
Nine above means:
Even if we are accidentally bestowed with a leather belt,
at the end of a morning it is torn from us three times.
Here is depicted a man who led the quarrel to the bitter end and was right. He receives an honor; but luck doesn’t last. It is always questioned again, and endless quarrels are the consequence.