Receiving, tolerance, gentleness, patience, openness, accommodation, gratitude

Assent, contentment, comprehension, understanding, embrace, room, allowance

Endurance, perseverance, acquiescence, compliance, groundedness, support, care

Potential, capacity, raw material, substance, suchness, realism, consent, upholding

Simplicity, naturalness, surety; latitude, range, breadth, largesse, fields of options

Power of possibility, first accept givens; absorbing, learning, growing, accessing


Kun1 (to) receive, accept, support, absorb, substantiate, realize (s, ed, ing); (a, the) 
receiving, acceptance, compliance, substance, matter, material, field (of options), 
potential, basis, support, ground, capacity, earth; (to be) subordinate, humble(r), 
passive, accepting, compliant; the earth; (a, the) female, rou, or yin principle

Notes:
On Yin: The Zhouyi was written long before there was a metaphysics of Yin and Yang. The authors did have a strong concept of the interplay of opposiites, but this was still more of a description of the Way the world behaved than a cosmology of two ultimate and universal forces. The contrast of Qian and Kun, Gua 01 and 02, along with other pairs, notably 11-12, 41-42 and 63-64 could perhaps be regareded as early prototypes of the Taijitu and the Yin-Yang idea, but they simply did not have the more complex reasoning that came with the Yinyang Jia or School of Yin-Yang philosophy. For purposes here, then, Heaven-Earth, Creating-Creation or even Energy-Mass are less anachronistic names than Yang-Yin.

Zhun1 (to) rally, muster, collect (together), store up, bank (up), assemble, accum-
ulate, pull together, bring together, summon (help), congregate, secure; need help, 
need assistance, struggle, sprout, start (out) small (s, ed, ing); (to be) in difficulty, 
in need of (help, assistance), sparing, hard, difficult; (a, the) village, congregation, 
camp, rally, initial difficulty, difficult start, birth pains, early trials, rites of pas-
sage; a single blade of grass, bending and twisting; (to consolidate gains while 
cutting losses); to garrison or station soldiers; also pronounced Tun2.

Notes:
The link between Sprout and Difficult Beginnings is the image of the feshly sprouted plant emerging from the Earth into a storm, with no alternative but to call upon or rally all of its resources. The ability to secure whatever resources and help it requires will be its answer to evolution's selection process.

Meng2 (a, the) inexperience, immaturity, innocence, darkness, obscurity, cover, 
ignorance, insensibility, foolishness, deception, folly, stupidity, fool, halfwit, 
(tangled, untrained) green vines; (to) cover, conceal, hide, cheat, dupe, deceive, 
darken, stun, receive, suffer, undergo (s, ed, ing); (to be) inexperienced, uncul-
tivated, rudimentary, rude, crude; passive, subjected to; entangled, obscure, im-
mature, young, ignorant, foolish, dull, green, blind, in the dark, darkened, en-
veloped, uninformed, shrouded, unenlightened, unconscious, insensible, foolish; 
the small of a thing; go with covered eyes

Notes:
The continuum here is is from Ignoring, willfully or stubbornly failing to consider new experience, to the more innocent kind of Ignorance, not yet having had the opportunity to learn. Ignorance, then, when purely pejorative and not used in fun, is not the best Gua Ming.

Xu1 (to be) essential, needful, necessary, insufficient, tantalized, suspended; (a, 
the) anticipation, suspense, expectation, desire, demand, need, duty, obligation, 
necessity, requirement, prerequisite; (to) wait, await, abide, bide time, postpone, 
tarry, stop, defer, do without, watch for, look out for, need, require (s, ed, ing); 
Shuowen has stopped by rain, waiting it out instead of waiting for rain; [deferred 
gratification]

Notes:
Xu is a Janus word, a word with two seemingly or partially opposite meanings. The only one that seems to be in use here means to wait, for rain or nourishment, with the advice being to make proper use of the time in getting ready for or worthy of fulfillment, to optimize or maximize the meanwhile. The other meaning, to be soaked by rain, does not seem to have any relevance in the Zhouyi context. The other Xu, given in the Wings, is also polysemous in the Yi, with meanings elsewhere of Beard and Older Sister.

Song4 (a, the) contention, conflict, challenge, dispute, dissent, litigation, argu-
ment, quarrel, contest, antagonism; (to) contend, dispute, challenge, contest, dis-
sent, litigate, accuse, argue, quarrel, reprimand, advocate, speak out publicly,
bring (suit, a complaint, a grievance), demand justice, plead before a court (s, ed, 
ing); (to be) quarrelsome, adversarial

Notes:
The biggest problem in using the word Conflict for a Gua Ming here is its seeming implication of some necessary ill-will. Conflict doesn't cover the other conditions possible here: of jousting, sport, sporting competition, lively debate, the free marketplace of ideas, or healthy dialectic. Argument can be used here in the sense of a rational argument. These all need to be recognized as having potential positive value. Contention is one of the options broad enough to encompass this wider range, or at least that is my contention.

Shi1 (a, the) militia, military, reserves, army, armies, host, hosts, legion(s), troops, 
garrison; general, master, specialist, teacher, tutor, expert, leader, instructor, director, sage, 
assessor, example, (role) model; expertise, organization, preparedness, readiness; 
[liquidity]; all; the people, the multitude, population; (to) teach, instruct, emulate, 
imitate, take as a norm or standard; model or pattern after another; militarily; unit 
of 2500 troops

Note:
It is a little misleading to gloss this as The Army, especially with its modern connotation of “standing army.” However, the late 20th century army (militia) of Switzerland provides a nearly perfect example of the hidden, liquid and mobile reserves described and advocated in this Gua. Their knives also have the corkscrews and fingernail files, for performing their alternate duties as regular people and citizens. The notions of Leader, Teacher, or the role of experience, also figure importantly in 07's core meaning, providing the instruction or instilled/ingrained structures that allow the masses to change their shape when the need arises.

Bi3 (to) accord, belong, combine, go together, join, affiliate, unite, associate (to, 
with); sort, compare, match, assemble, join, follow, (put, hold) together, draw an 
analogy (s, ed, ing); (to be) affiliated, paired (with), concordant, well-disposed; 
close, familiar; successive, comparable, analogous, similar; on behalf of; (a, the) 
union, belonging, affiliation, association, togetherness, congestion, commonality

Notes:
Joining together for a purpose or a cause, as for an alliance, security or support, is much more consistent with the core meaning of Gua 45. Both are formed of Water over the Earth, but more artifice is required, in the form of dams or embankments, to contain the body of water than the stream. The Togetherness in Gua 08 is out of a natural affinity and common ground. The water here is free-flowing.

Xiao3  (to be) average, common, diminished, homogeneous, humble, insignificant, 
lesser, light, little, low(ly, er, est), mean, mediocre, minor, minute, modest, ordi-
nary, slight, small(er, est), petty, tiny, trifling, trivial, unimportant, young(er, est), 
minimal; (a, the) commonness, homogeneity, littleness, meanness, mediocrity, 
pettiness, smallness; commonly, ordinarily; in detail; some small, of little, a little; 
for a short (time, while); (to) diminish, minimize, shrink, belittle; does not imply 
bad or wrong, but sometimes inferiority.
Chu4 (to) take care of, care for, provide for, tend (to), attend (to), keep, raise, 
feed, nurture, sustain, nourish, rear, bring up, support, shelter, cherish, train, 
manage, cultivate, retain, restrain, tame, (bring under) control, herd, domesticate, 
raise beasts animals, brutes; accumulate, store up, gather, hoard, reserve (s, ed, 
ing); (a, the) nurture, cultivation, culture, domestication, husbandry, management, 
training; domestic animal; raising ... beasts; also pronounced xu4 in verb form, to raise animals

Notes:
The expression “God is in the detail” is attributed to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Being an architect, this may well have been uttered in a moment of pompous self-congratulation. The expression “The Devil is in the details” soon followed. If we put it to a vote as to who’s really in there, the Devil gets nine times as many Google hits. In any event, it's awfully crowded down in those details. To Micromanage the world is like herding cats: it will keep you occupied and well away from more important endeavors, well-trained, tamed and domesticated. This Gua is a reminder that there are different scales in life. The value of the small scale diminishes when this polishing or refinement is overdone.

Lu3 (to) step, take steps, take a step, tread, walk, trample (on, upon); perform, 
conduct oneself, carry (on, out), honor, fulfill (s, ed, ing); (a, the) step, footstep 
(s); shoes, sandals; conduct, behavior, path, track; function, performance, ceremony; respectful conduct, heedful conduct

Notes:
Finding the optimum balance between what you want to do and what the world will allow, you are, in a sense, what you get away with. At least we have mortality and extinction to keep us in check, and at least in this we are guaranteed one reason to cultivate some respect in our conduct.

Tai4 (a, the) (free) interplay, harmony, peace, facility, prosperity, happiness, 
success, extravagance, affluence; grandiosity; smooth interaction; (to be) har-
monizing, prospering, prosperous, pervading, exalted, honorable, superior, 
extravagant, flowering, flourishing, great, affirming, broad minded, liberal, 
extensive, large, permeating, pervasive, grand, most, extreme, interactive, safe,
peaceful, tranquil; the west wind; (to) spread out, suffuse, interpenetrate, permeate, pervade, communicate (s, ed, ing); greatly

Note:
Peace doesn't really convey the core meaning of 11, even though this can occur within Tai. The core meaning  is closer to "everything working together in a greater good, as if this is how things should be." Peace may be a nice, positive state, but the word doesn't convey any sense of the dynamic energy and productive output of this exuberant interaction of forces. Synergy would be a better name if it wasn't so anachronistic.

Bi3 (to be) inferior, wrong, worthless, decaying, bad, stagnant, stagnating, disin-
tegrating, alienated, inappropriate; (to) deny, refuse, stop, negate, disapprove (of), 
separate (from) (s, ed, ing); on the contrary; not, if not, or not, not do; (a, the) 
standstill, stagnation, separation, disintegrity, negation, denial, incoherence; [en-
tropy]; what is not so; not, wrong; also pronounced fou3: to not be, if not, if out of

Note:
Obstruction is a poor choice of names in this context, even without the confusion with Gua 39. It may be a valid gloss for the word Pǐ (also pronounced Fǒu) in its broader usage in the language, but its use here betrays a misunderstanding of the forces at work in this Gua. These forces are moving in different directions, away from each other, not in opposition or confrontation. The core meaning is that we have a choice between the superior and the inferior, an opportunity to exercise our own good judgment and conscience, and to practice Selection, the neglected half of the evolutionary process. Bad is actually a fairly good name for this Gua, but drawing this does not mean that things will be bad. It is simply an opportunity to make a good choice.

Tong2 (to) agree, assemble, assimilate, affiliate, associate, belong, come together, 
commune, partake in, conform to, congregate, converge, concur, gather, harmo-
nize, identify, join, make uniform, share, unite (s, ed, ing) (in, with, to); (to be) 
alike, all, as one, colloquial, concordant, conforming, consensual, equal, identical, 
identified, in the company of, like minded, one, one with, similar, the same, united,
together with, unanimous,; (a, the) community, assembly (ies), associates, asso-
ciation, colleagues (of), agreement, convergence, fellowship (with), meeting, joining, 
gathering, harmony, identity, oneness, partners, sameness, unity, union; of the same 
...; fellow...; simultaneously, concurrently; and, with, as well as
Ren2  (a, the) person, people, man, woman, one(s), other(s), another, human being, 
individual (s); each (one), other persons/people; anybody, anyone, everybody, 
everyone, somebody, someone (else)(’s); some, those; humanity, humankind, 
mankind, society; character, citizen, fellow, folk; inhabitant, member, occupant, 
participant, persona, personality, population, personnel, staff, role; (in) adulthood; 
(of) maturity; (to be) human, adult, grown, mature; humanity’s; (a, the) person’s, 
people’s, occupant’s; fellow-; -body, -man, -person, -ist

Notes:
What binds us together here, our consensus or shared intention, is an important part of the core meaning of 13, since this is what defines the line between Us and that Fellowship over there, across the Great Stream. This is cultural anthropology then, and has, as its highest goal, to define the line that surrounds us all, the search for human nature and its proper realtionship with the stars that hover so high above our campfires, to borrow the image from the Da Xiang.

Da4  (to be) accomplished, best, better, big, complete, critical, crucial, developed, 
enormous, entire, extreme, far, full, fully grown, good, grand, great(er, est), hea-
vy, high, large(r), (very, greatly) important, long, loud, major, mature, mighty,
more, most, noble, noteworthy, old, overall, (more, most) perfect, pure, realized,
ripe, seasoned, serious, significant, strong, successful, vast, whole, wholesome, 
vital; a lot of, full of, lots of; master-, (a, the) completeness, (full) development, 
entirety, grand(eur, ness), greatness, growth, (great) importance, largesse, ma-
jority, maturity, vastness, wholeness; a great deal, (very) much, very; already, 
completely, entirely, fully, greatly, thoroughly, wholly, en masse, well-; of (great, 
crucial, vital) importance
You3 (to) be, (in) being; (there, one, it, this, they, those) is, am, are, was, were, 
being, has, have, had, has/have been, will be, come(s) to be; (there is) one, some-
one, something; exist, remain, stay (s); become, arise, appear, grow, attain to, 
learn to be, turn into; (there) will, would, could, may, might, can (be); (this) will 
get; (if there) is, are, was, were; (were) there, one, it, they; have, (in) having; (one, 
that, they) has, have, had; has one’s, have their; had (one’s, their); contain, hold 
(onto), keep, maintain, own, retain, possess, stay; presume, assume, remember, 
take ... for granted; will have, (one they) (will, could, might, may) have; bring (up, 
about); get, achieve, acquire, attain, capture, claim, earn, find, gain, learn, take on; 
seize, take, took (possession of) (s, ed, ing); (to be) present, there; in possession of, 
possessed of, with; contained, held; abundant, rich, plentiful; (a, the) attainment, 
claim, possession (of); being, existence, presence; domain, dominion (in, over); 
what exists/is there; the, this, this one, the one in question; something; anybody, 
somebody, someone (’s); given this/that, this (being) given; of, about, with, for; 
His (especially of the sovereign), his, her, its, their; will, would ... with, to, for; 
-ing, -ous

Note:
In the Shi Yi section, Gui1 Yan2, Belonging Here, is from the Xu Gua. The word Domain in my own Gua Ming translation comes from the Latin Domus, home. A Domine was the lord of a household manor, and by analogy, became a name for the Western deity. Dominion, then, is to lay claim to a domain, to own it, to make oneself at home in this part of the world. And, as with owning up to something, it implies a sense of taking responsibility. A deed or title may not be necessary to one who has control over what owning and valuing really mean in the end. Great Possessing, then might be a better name than Great Possessions.

Qian1 (a, the) authenticity, respectfulness, respect, modesty; (to be) unassuming, 
authentic, respectful, yielding, deferent, reverent, humble, modest; deficient

Note:
Modesty is a little weak here as the Gua Ming, even though, ironically, this is the best translation of the word Qian as used in several of the lines. These lines describe what is wrong with our conventional understanding of modesty, especially the disingenuous self-effacement. This understanding is confirmed by the Mawangdui Gua Ming, also Qian, which toadies and sycophants would use to describe themselves as Unworthy. Humility is weaker still, this coming much closer to the subject of 62. Honesty would be a better gloss for the core meaning of the Gua, and "tell it like it is" or "call a spade a spade" a better description. In the Da Xiang many translators drift towards saying the objective is to make things equal, to level things out. This is incorrect. The objective is to know them for what they are, to give a fair assessment. There is in this Gua a little bit of holding back or conservative reluctance to go too far in assessing things. Note that the unbroken line is back of center, suggesting reticence. See the notes at Gua 16 for contrast.

Yu4 (to) prepare, provide, allow, (get, make) ready, prearrange, anticipate, pre-
sume, make allowance(s), take precaution(s) (for); think beforehand; be happy, be 
content, rejoice (s, ed, ing); (a, the) preparation, preparedness, readiness, antici-
pation; willingness, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, contentment; complacency, smug-
ness, indulgence, swinishness, surplus, surfeit; responsive action, easy movement; 
excursions back and forth; (to be) prepared (for), ready (for); alerted, cautious, 
careful; willing, content (to); comfortable, satisfied, at ease, happy (with); docile; 
idle, remiss; preliminary, provisional; already, previously, beforehand; elephant-
like, slow, heavy, ponderous, deliberate, inertial; in advance, in preparation

Notes:
There is a confusing ambivalence in the way Yu is translated, in a range from a thrilled enthusiasm to a weary or even smug complacency. Between these is a Readiness or a Preparedness to go either way, along with the flow. Maybe the key here is in the Tuan Zhuan's gloss of Shun Dong, Responsive Movement, which also handily accounts for the reference to music in the Da Xiang text. The unbroken line in the image leans just forward of center, perhaps indicating a slight predilection for forward motion, given the right excuse, just as 15's line holds itself slightly back in a more conservative position.

Sui2 (to) follow (up, through); succeed, trail, go along, fall in with, wait on, com-
ply, accord, let, allow, adopt, adapt, conform, respond (in, with, to); lag behind, 
accompany, imitate, look like, resemble, carry out, pursue, chase, go after, come 
after (s, ed, ing); (to be) followed by, successive, succeeding, consecutive, sub-
sequent; pursued, chased; (a, the) consequence, succession, pursuit, company, 
success, response; obsequiousness; subsequently, afterward(s), next, then, at once, 
presently, instantly, forthwith, right behind, in due course, in the course of time, 
accordingly, according to

Note:
Without question, Following is the perfect Gua Ming here, but this only leaves us the task of unfolding it like a Chinese word and exposing its many dimensions to cover the proper territory of this Gua. Following should carry a broad set of connotations that include active, even aggressive, modes of following, such as tracking, hunting and pursuit. You can follow your gut or follow a hunch. It is not just doing what your deity's minister tells you what the deity tells you to do. To follow properly is to Succeed. It is not merely Following passively along: there is Thunder in the Lake here, and the movement is driven by a sensible pulse. The pulse occurs in time, like a drum beat, and ''following in time' is brought up in the Tuan Zhuan and described in the Da Xiang. Finally, the Nuremberg defense of "I was only following orders" is suggested in 17.6, where it follows that there are consequences to being someone else's consequence.

Gu3 (a, the) corruption, decay, decadence, rot, putrefaction, worms (in food or the
belly), toxicity, poison, pestilence; bad medicine, bad magic, slow poison, venom; 
fixation (s), stagnation, deception, guile, delusion, insanity; (glossed in guwen as 
chong M1519: worms, insects, reptiles); (a, the) renewal, healing, curing, purging, 
detoxifying; [neurosis, toxic ideas, a closed mind] ; (to be) fixated, degenerating, 
deteriorating, decaying. This is a janus word, meaning both to be poisoned and to 
cure from poison.

Notes:
Fixing or Arresting Decay is a little peculiar here since the problems have come from things being fixed, stuck or stagnant in pathological patterns and thus decaying for the lack of refreshing movement and vitality. Correction, then, involves putting things back in motion. Gu is a Janus word in this context, meaning both toxins and the recovery from toxins. Gu was a dark magic poison: one put a venomous snake, a scorpion, a spider, a lizard and a centipede together in a bowl. Then the remains of the last survivor were used to make a slave, cause insanity or work evil (young boys make this kind of concoction all the time, though actual creatures used may vary). This is Bad Medicine: not fresh, not alive and not changing. The idea of correcting injurious fixations in one's own lineage may have been sensitive at the time in the light of traditions of filial piety and reverence for the ancestors. The Zhouyi authors might have been taking an opportunity to broaden the spirit of this tradition by calling it a form of respect to improve one's lineage and in the process become better ancestors ourselves.

Lin2 (a, the) management, undertaking, oversight, responsibility, supervision, 
commitment, accession, prospect, project, prospectus; exalted approach; (to) 
supervise, oversee, manage, take command, take charge, commit (oneself), arrive, 
near, approach, go to, be about to, view from above, look down on, look in on, 
inspect, condescend to, favor (s, ed, ing); (to be) temporary, provisional, ad hoc, 
near to, about to, on the brink of, imminent, at hand; [rolling up sleeves, getting 
down and dirty]

Notes:
The core meaning of Lin derives from its assocaition to the 12th Month of the year, the month of getting ready to really get ready to begin working on this new year's harvest, now a mere "eight months" away. But you don't work on it by counting the 8th Month's harvest so far ahead of time. It is untimely to step back and admire your work now. Fast Approaching is the busiest season in an agricultural community. It is Nearing the time to roll up the sleeves and get dirty. If you are not in motion yet then you are laying out plans of attack, hiring workers, clearing the irrigation ditches (see the Gua Xiang as a furrow in the Earth) and readying the equipment, hence the references to leadership and management skills, and glosses of overseing and oversight. Some people who draw this aren't farmers, but some kind of Accession, stepping up into a position of greater work or responsiblility, is indicated.

Guan1 (to) attend, behold, comprehend, consider, contemplate, divine, evaluate, 
examine, gaze (at, upon), gaze with concentration, look (at/for/to), observe, per-
ceive, see, study, view, watch, scry, regard (s, ed, ing); (a, the) comprehension, 
observation, perception, perspective, prospect, scenery, sight, view, vista

Note:
Guan is the same word found in Guan Yin, the goddess of compassion. Yin there means calls or cries, which are heard and felt, not seen. Guan, then, is attending with more senses than vision. Most glosses emphasize the sight, but the understanding of Guan here should be broader than this. Attending or Studying may work somewhat better for this particular aspect of Guan. The six lines trace a gradual improvement in perspective, from narrow to comprehensive, and in our access to alternative or additional points of view. Also important to the mix is the idea of being viewed, trying to see ourselves more objectively, which attends the gain of alternative points of view. Exemplary behavior, becoming a better, cleaner person is the flip side of earnest study.