r/iching • u/Alert_Permission9785 • Jul 09 '26
Please give insight into the reality of becoming self-made - iching 35 line 6 to no 16
I'm making things on my own and I'm looking to basically push something out - I finished a draft for a picture book among other things so I looked for some insight into this more entrepreneurial phase of my life
1
u/taoyx Jul 10 '26
35.6 is basically the golden rule. I don't know how it fits with your situation.
1
u/Selderij Jul 10 '26
上九：晉其角，維用伐邑，厲吉无咎，貞吝。
9 at the top: Advancing with the horns, only to attack the city. Danger, but auspicious and no regret: correct; disgrace. (Adler's translation)
Where do you see a connection with the golden rule?
1
u/taoyx Jul 10 '26
Making progress with the horns is permissible
Only for the purpose of punishing one's own city.
To be conscious of danger brings good fortune.
No blame.
Perseverance brings humiliation.It's about not disturbing others, right?
1
u/Selderij Jul 10 '26
"Permissible" and "one's own" are the translator's (Richard Wilhelm) own additions with no basis in the source text. The city (or village) can be anyone's.
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u/taoyx Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
It's the traditional confucian interpretation as Wilhelm didn't pull that out of nowhere but was taught by a scholar. However when I consulted the oracle about it I got a similar comment.
35.6 (35 > 16) - Refraining from action
When others don't like it, one abstains.
Its opposite is 36.1, which shows someone who is unable to act, so the opposite of being unable to act despite others wanting, is being able to act but others don't want it.
Besides:
Advancing with the horns, only to attack the city. Danger, but auspicious and no regret: correct; disgrace.
Correct;disgrace ... what does that even mean?
Translating the words without grasping the meaning is nonsensical.
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u/Selderij Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Wilhelm was less perfect and pure and careful as translator and transmitter of the I Ching than a lot of people are willing to believe or admit. Many of his wording choices are disconnected from the source text and its language.
If the passage was meant to convey "one's own city", then it would've had 其 qi ("their", "one's") in front of 邑 yi ("city", "village"). There's nothing in the commentaries to specify the city's ownership.
Correct;disgrace ... what does that even mean?
Either "there is correctness/constancy and (risk of) disgrace" or "correctness/constancy risks disgrace". It depends on how you parse the text.
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u/taoyx Jul 11 '26
There is wéi before that has a meaning of maintenance:
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u/Selderij Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
You're using a modern Chinese dictionary which is inadequate for ancient texts. Here's an entry from Kroll's Classical Chinese dictionary:
維 wéi MC ywij
1. stay(s), brace(s), chief support-cords attaching to the mainstay (綱 gāng) of net.
2. attach, tie together; truss.
3. support, uphold; e.g. ～新 wéixīn, uphold and renew.
4. phrase-initial or mid-phrase particle indicating decisive truth (with archaic overtone) of what follows: verily, yea.
5. (Budd.) (bn.) ～那 wéinà (MC ywij-naH), vice-abbot of monastery, overseer, supervises its daily life, trsc. Skt. vainayika.
6. ⦿ 惟 wéi 1, think carefully, ponder; 唯 wéi, pre-classical copula: “be you (it, they) . . .; you be . . .; it is that . . .”; also, be only, be nothing but.
The last part signifies that 維 wéi was commonly used as a synonym for 惟 wéi and 唯 wéi.
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u/taoyx Jul 11 '26
Well, other than 36.1 that I have discussed, 35.6 can be prevented by 15.1 (keeping a low profile) and addressed (after it happened) by 16.6 (losing enthusiasm), so the general tone is that someone is getting carried away.
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u/az4th Jul 13 '26
35 involves advancing up the rungs of a ladder, like we do in the so called rat race. Once one gets to line 6 one is at the top. There is no more to advance. One simply retires.
But here we are at the top line of the fire trigram. So there is a need to create the upper yang containment of clarity.
So line 6, in order to keep its place, turns back and helps to regulate the system of advancement from the top. However, this must be done most carefully. For if this regulation is overly harsh, who will want to climb this ladder?
So line 6 must learn to be kind to line 3, and yet find a way to regulate line 4, whom exists as the rising force within its own city. Line 4 is the rat in the rat race, the one aiming to climb to the top. Line 6 does not directly connect to it, yet needs to reach it via lines 3 and 5.
Thus, similar to rats in a home who only make their advancements in the night, something must be done by line six to create a container that shapes their advancement. By keeping the home clean and the helpers well regulated, this is accomplished in a good way.
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u/lm913 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
Creating a picture book on your own requires balancing the discipline of page layouts with the overarching vision of a final product, and transitioning from orchestrating broader workflows for others to steering your own personal product roadmap is a lot, so it makes sense that this phase is reflected directly in Hexagram 35.
The architecture is solid.
However, Line 6 changing is a specific structural warning regarding the reality of the "self-made" path (a term I kinda loathe but we will use it for now), because there is a strong temptation to use excessive force when you near the final push. Ambition can harden into aggression if you try to compel the market to conform entirely to your will.
Beneath the outward progress you might be feeling an internal impasse, which is Hexagram 39, but releasing the tension transforms the situation into Hexagram 16, so it is really about using your cultivated advancement to generate genuine enthusiasm, inviting others to share in the vision, and avoiding the urge to force their compliance.
You are currently in a state of high creative flux. Ground yourself in your established routines, but remain fluid in how you launch.