#31咸 Affection – Engage Emotionally
咸 泽山咸 兑上艮下
I-Ching is divided into two main parts. The first part consists of 30 hexagrams beginning with 1Heaven and 2Earth ending with 29Pit and 30Fire. It talks about the ways of heaven and earth or the laws of the universe and the natural environment. The second part of I-Ching contains 34 hexagrams beginning with 31-Affection and 32-Long Lasting and ending with 63-Complete and 64-Yet-to-complete talks about the way of man or social relationships. More specifically, it covers how men should live with each other harmoniously.
The old Chinese meaning of the word 咸 is made up of 戌 which means to harm or kill and 口 which is the mouth, hence meaning to harm with the mouth or to stir up or trigger a reaction. It is also the word 感 (meaning emotionally touched in the heart) without the heart 心. From the description of the hexagram, it says 咸 is 感 – to stir up emotion.
The hexagram is made up of the trigram Lake(also means joy, youngest daughter or female) at the top and trigram Mountain ( also means stop, youngest son or male). It represents an interaction of a soft female being supported by a strong male. A mountain supporting the lake. A harmonious and beautiful scene and relationship.
It is great to see the way human interaction begins with stirring up the emotion of the heart to build a relationship. The next hexagram is perseverance or lasting. Relationships should be emotionally engaged and lasting.
Description
- 亨: smooth flow. Success.
- 利贞: good for perseverance in righteousness
- 取女吉: marrying a wife is a good blessing or fortune.
Textual Commentary:
彖曰：咸，感也。柔上而刚下，二气感应以相与，止而说， 男下女，是以亨利贞， 取女吉也。 天地感而万物化生，圣人感人心而天下和平； 观其所感，而天地万物之情可见矣！
咸 (Affection) means emotional engagement or feeling. Soft on top and strong below. The two flows of spirit (literally breath) interact and engage. It stays together with joy. The Male stood down to serve the female, and hence it is a smooth flow and it benefits righteousness. Marrying a wife is a good blessing. Heaven and earth respond to each other and provide for all the living things. Wise men touch the hearts of the people and ensure world peace. Observe the ways of emotional engagement and we can appreciate the loving and harmonious fellowship among the living things and the surrounding environment, the sky, and the earth.
Pictorial Commentary 象曰：山上有泽，咸；君子以虚受人。
There is a lake on top of the mountain. Wise men use humility to accept and influence others.
Morally Teachings:
- We need to build relationships with each other.
- Relationship building begins with the stirring of the heart and engaging each other emotionally. It is about caring for others. See 19臨 Approaching – Leadership too..
- As heaven and earth take good care of all the living things within, men should also accept each other with respect and loving care of each other.
- Caring is from the heart. There are no bad motives or superficial for show courtesies. Relationship building must be based on purity and righteousness from within the heart.
- Let the sparks of this emotional engagement spread to all other people to create a harmonious society.
Stage 1 Begin Six: Affection begins from the big toe. 初六：咸其拇。
The pictorial commentary explains that the stirring of affection comes from the big toe because of the desire to move out to accomplish great things. 象曰：咸其拇，志在外也。
The toe is the lowest part of the body. The stirring starts first at the lowest point. But it has not resulted in any apparent action. There is no movement yet. But the intention to move is felt first at the toe.
Stage 2 Second Six: The stirring has reached the calf of the leg. It is a misfortune. Staying put brings blessings. 六二：咸其腓，凶，居吉。
The pictorial commentary further explains that even though there is misfortune, staying home brings blessings. Following the situation will not bring any harm. 象曰：虽凶，居吉，顺不害也。
We walk by using the hips and thighs and not the calf of the leg. Since the stirring is up to the calf of the leg only, any movement will be unnatural and lead to fall – misfortune. It is better to wait, and stay put. We wait for a greater gathering of influence and support and a clearer indication first.
Stage 3 Third Nine: The stirring has reached the thighs. Insistence in following the leading of others will lead to difficulty and regrets. 九三：咸其股，执其随，往吝。
The pictorial commentary explains that stirring reaching up the thighs means it is not suitable to stay. However, the difficulty encountered is the result of following others in using the lower and sub-standard methods. 象曰：咸其股，亦不处也。 志在随人，所执下也。
We are ready to move but we must choose the higher and not the lower and sub-standard ways to do things. We should not blindly follow sub-standards or corner-cutting ways even if the crowd is doing them.
Stage 4 Fourth Nine: Perseverance in righteousness brings blessings and there are no regrets. Being unsettled in the mind results in going forward and backward. True friends will eventually follow your mind. 九四：贞吉悔亡，憧憧往来，朋从尔思。
The pictorial commentary explains that perseverance in righteousness brings blessings and no regrets because have not fallen into harm (due to righteous behavior and staying away from temptations). Moving back and forth uneasily because we have yet to reach the stage of a clear conscience and openly and boldly doing the right things. 象曰：贞吉悔亡，未感害也。 憧憧往来，未光大也。
Continue to do the right things. In the beginning, there may be some hesitation and backtracking. But trust God, the right ways will always win in the end. Your friends will soon see the benefits of your ways and then follow you. It also shows that people follow our actions rather than talk (see Stage 6).
Stage 5 Fifth Nine: The stirring occurs at the back of the body. There is no regrets. 九五：咸其脢，无悔。
The pictorial commentary adds that one’s ambition is too small or ending. 象曰：咸其脢，志末也。
There are quite a few interpretations of this line. The word 末 can mean ending or small. One interpretation compares heart vs back and thinks the influence is not touching the heart but rather in the insensitive back and hence the influence is limited and small. My own thinking is that the flow, from the stage lines, is about bone structure and the flesh on it (the soft flesh supported by the hard bones), starting from the toe, calf of leg, thigh, spine&back, and jaws & cheeks. We are now at stage line 5 reaching the end (stage line 6). Hence, I prefer the interpretation of 末 as an ending rather than a little. We use 志穷 as useless and giving up rather than 志末. The end result is no regret so we are encouraged to continue to come to the end; to complete it.
At the end of stage 4, we have friends who see the benefits of our ways and are following us. So we are encouraged to continue with our ways, boldly do them to create greater influence and benefits, and bring them to completion. Complete the transformation.
Stage 6 Top Six: Stirring occurs at the jaws, cheeks, and tongue. 上六：咸其辅，颊，舌。
The pictorial commentary explains that jaws, cheeks, and tongue movement means talking or proclamation. 象曰：咸其辅，颊，舌，滕口说也。
Again, there are different interpretations of this talking. Some interpret it as superficial, insincere, public relations type of talk to persuade people. We use the phrase 花言巧语, flowery language and skillful words, to describe such kind of talk. The text and the picture show much talking like the flow of water but there is no commentary on whether it is good or bad talking. There is no commentary on the outcome of the talk – bringing fortune or misfortune. I think we should just leave it as talking and not describe it. It is a big flow of words and I think proclamation will be a good word to use.
We see the progress over the six lines, starting with stirring at the toe, rising up to the lower leg, and then to the thighs that start the action. Hesitant at first in stage 4, but ending with support. They continued and increased the impact to the back, and ended up with proclamation of the month at stage 6.
The right order should be intention -> plan-> execution -> proclamation.
We can communicate our intentions and plans. But we cannot make big proclamations and empty promises at the start. Proclamations are best done after we have evidence of such successes. We sometimes misunderstand humility and think it means to keep quiet. Yes, humility is not about showing off a person’s greatness, but it is OK to proclaim about a group rather than an individual success. Humility is about truth. Proclaiming the truth, not boasting or lying, is needed to direct and encourage the mass of people.
Summary:
Engage people emotionally, care for them, and build pure and righteous relationships. Spread the caring to more people creating a harmonious society.
- Starts with a small stirring of the heart.
- Don’t move yet, wait for greater support.
- Move correctly and do not follow the crowd in sub-standard ways.
- Don’t hesitate to do the right things openly. Others will follow you soon.
- Boldly continue to the end. Complete the transformation.
- Proclaim and celebrate success. Don’t be shy about it.
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