Guī Mèi — The Marrying Maiden

Modern Interpretation

Undertakings bring misfortune. Nothing that would further. A girl taken into the family but not as the chief wife must behave with special caution and reserve. She must not take it upon herself to supplant the mistress of the house—that would mean disorder and untenable relationships. While legally regulated relationships evince a fixed connection between duties and rights, relationships based on personal inclination depend entirely on tactful reserve. Affection as the principle of relatedness is of the greatest importance in all relationships.

Modern Interpretation

Thunder over the lake. Understand the transitory in the light of the eternity of the end. Thunder stirs the water of the lake, which follows it in shimmering waves—symbolizing the girl who follows the man of her choice. But every relationship bears the danger of wrong turns leading to endless misunderstandings. Constantly remain mindful of the end. If we drift along, we come together and are parted as the day determines. But if you fix your mind on an end that endures, you succeed in avoiding the reefs that confront closer relationships.

「澤上有雷，歸妹。」雷震動湖水，水波跟隨它閃爍——象徵女子跟隨她選擇的男子。但每一段關係都潛藏著走錯方向的危險，導致無盡的誤解。象辭說君子「永終知敝」——時刻記住結局，才能理解破敗。如果隨波逐流，聚散由天。如果心裡有一個持久的目標，就能避開親密關係中的暗礁。

Hard ice and yellow earth; the bird mourns in sorrow. No white grain to be seen, only goosefoot and wormwood. Startled again and again by birds of prey; this weighs upon my heart.

Manet's controversial modernist work depicts a reclining nude woman, likely a courtesan, gazing directly at the viewer while a servant presents flowers from a client. The painting scandalized the 1865 Paris Salon by presenting transactional intimacy without idealization. This unequal relationship and subordinate position connect to The Marrying Maiden's theme of improper or secondary unions.

The Judgment

A girl who is taken into the family, but not as the chief wife, must behave with special caution and reserve. She must not take it upon herself to supplant the mistress of the house, for that would mean disorder and lead to untenable relationships. The same is true of all voluntary relationships between human beings. While legally regulated relationships evince a fixed connection between duties and rights, relationships based on personal inclination depend in the long run entirely on tactful reserve. Affection as the essential principle of relatedness is of the greatest importance in all relationships in the world. For the union of heaven and earth is the origin of the whole of nature. Among human beings likewise, spontaneous affection is the all-inclusive principle of union.

The Image

Thunder stirs the water of the lake, which follows it in shimmering waves. This symbolizes the girl who follows the man of her choice. But every relationship between individuals bears within it the danger that wrong turns may be taken, leading to endless misunderstandings and disagreements. Therefore it is necessary constantly to remain mindful of the end. If we permit ourselves to drift along, we come together and are parted again as the day may determine. If on the other hand a man fixes his mind on an end that endures, he will succeed in avoiding the reefs that confront the closer relationships of people.

First (Bottom) Line

The princes of ancient China maintained a fixed order of rank among the court ladies, who were subordinated to the queen as are younger sisters to the eldest. Frequently they came from the family of the queen, who herself led them to her husband. The meaning is that a girl entering a family with the consent of the wife will not rank outwardly as the equal of the latter but will withdraw modestly into the background. However, if she understands how to fit herself into the pattern of things, her position will be entirely satisfactory, and she will feel sheltered in the love of the husband to whom she bears children. The same meaning is brought out in the relationships between officials. A man may enjoy the personal friendship of a prince and be taken into his confidence. Outwardly this man must keep tactfully in the background behind the official ministers of state, but, although he is hampered by this status, as if he were lame, he can nevertheless accomplish something through the kindliness of his nature.

Second Line

Here the situation is that of a girl married to a man who has disappointed her. Man and wife ought to work together like a pair of eyes. Here the girl is left behind in loneliness; the man of her choice either has become unfaithful or has died. But she does not lost the inner light of loyalty. Thought the other eye is gone, she maintains her loyalty even in loneliness.

Third Line

A girl who is in a lowly position and finds no husband may, in some circumstances, still win shelter as a concubine. This pictures the situation of a person who longs too much for joys that cannot be obtained in the usual way. He enters upon a situation not altogether compatible with self-esteem. Neither judgment nor warning is added to this line; it merely lays bare the actual situation, so that everyone may draw a lesson from it.

Fourth Line

The girl is virtuous. She does not wish to throw herself away, and allows the customary time for marriage to slip by. However, there is no harm in this; she is rewarded for her purity and, even though belatedly, finds the husband intended for her.

Fifth Line

The sovereign I is T'ang the Completer. This ruler decreed that the imperial princesses should be subordinated to their husbands in the same manner as other women (cf. Hexagram 11, six in the fifth place). The emperor does not wait for a suitor to woo his daughter but gives her in marriage when he sees fit. Therefore it is in accord with custom for the girl's family to take the initiative here. We see here a girl of aristocratic birth who marries a man of modest circumstances and understands how to adapt herself with grace to the new situation. She is free of all vanity of outer adornment, and forgetting her rank in her marriage, takes a place below that of her husband, just as the moon, before it is quite full, does not directly face the sun.

Sixth (Top) Line

At the sacrifice to the ancestors, the woman had to present harvest offerings in a basket, while the man slaughtered the sacrificial animal with his own hand. Here the ritual is only superficially fulfilled; the woman takes an empty basket and the man stabs a sheep slaughtered beforehand–solely to preserve the forms. This impious, irreverent attitude bodes no good for a marriage.