坤kun

The Correct Meaning states: This passage is King Wen’s statement on the virtue of Kun placed beneath the Kun hexagram. Since Qian and Kun are paired as a unified body, Kun follows directly after Qian.

It says that Earth as a substance can also initiate the birth of the myriad things, each attaining successful passage—hence ‘Sublime Beginning, Success,’ the same as Qian. As for ‘Beneficial is the steadfastness of a mare,’ this differs from Qian.

’ Kun is the Way of yin and should take yielding compliance as its steadfastness, borrowing the image of yielding compliance to illuminate the virtue of yielding compliance. ‘Female’ contrasted with ‘male’ represents softness; ‘horse’ contrasted with ‘dragon’ represents docility.

’ The mare is a natural image from the external world; this is the sage using Kun’s Sublime Beginning and Success, and the natural virtue of the mare’s steadfastness, to transmit his teaching.

It says ‘horse’ rather than ‘ox’ because although the ox is yielding and compliant, it cannot travel across the earth without limit and thus cannot manifest Kun’s virtue of broad generation.

Though the horse is inferior compared to the dragon, its range of travel is likewise broad and far-reaching, symbolizing Earth’s extensive nurturing.

‘When the noble person has somewhere to go’: because of yielding compliance and beneficial steadfastness, the noble person benefits from having somewhere to go.

‘Going first, one loses the way; following after, one finds a master and gains benefit’: because of its utmost yin quality, it should wait for the lead before harmonizing.

In all undertakings, if one acts before others one becomes confused; if one acts after others one finds a master and gains benefit. This is because yin cannot take the lead, just as a minister cannot precede the ruler, and the lowly cannot precede the noble.

‘In the southwest one finds companions’: this borrows an image to illuminate human affairs. The southwest is Kun’s position, which is yin.

Now yin going to yin finds companions, but since both are of the yin kind, this does not yield good fortune—like a person who harbors yielding and soft conduct and also heads toward a yielding and soft place: this is pure yin, weak and pliant, and therefore not auspicious.

‘In the northeast one loses companions—peaceful steadfastness brings good fortune’: since the southwest is yin, the northeast, being its opposite, is yang.

Going by the way of yielding compliance toward yang means losing one’s yin companions, and thus one attains the good fortune of peaceful steadfastness, because yin then also partakes of yang.

In terms of human affairs, this symbolizes a minister leaving his faction to enter the ruler’s court, or a woman leaving her family to enter her husband’s household. Master Zhuang said: ‘Going first, one loses the way; following after, one finds a master—refers only to a minister serving the ruler.

’ But this interpretation is narrow and restrictive, not the broad and comprehensive Way of the Changes.

’ The Correct Meaning states: ‘Through utmost compliance one then attains success, hence it benefits only the steadfastness of a mare’—the yielding quality of the mare is utmost compliance.

’ That it instead says ‘through utmost compliance one then attains success,’ inverting the text above, reflects Wang Bi’s intention: since the following phrase already says ‘the steadfastness of a mare,’ he avoids the word ‘steadfastness’ and says ‘success’ instead.

’ Kun’s virtue, through the mare’s utmost compliance, attains steadfastness. The text below also says ‘in the northeast one loses companions’—departing yin and approaching yang—and thereby attains the good fortune of steadfastness.

That the upper and lower meanings seem contrary is simply because the Changes encompasses the myriad images, now contracting, now expanding. This phrase is paired with Qian: one cannot be purely hard in opposition to Qian, hence the benefit of the mare.

The following phrase discusses all interactions: one cannot be purely yin but must have the interlacing of hard and soft, hence the good fortune of losing companions.

’ The Correct Meaning states: Kun’s position is in the southwest. ’ Since Kun nourishes things, heading toward the southwest is sharing the same Way as Kun.

‘The nature of yin is that it must leave its own kind and go toward the opposite kind, and only then attains peaceful steadfastness and good fortune’: just as when two women live together their aims diverge, they must go toward yang—this is going toward the opposite kind, and only then attaining good fortune.

Whenever we speak of ‘companions,’ it is not only people who form a group; those of the same nature and conduct also form a group. Suppose a person is of yielding yin nature yet goes toward the hard and upright—this too is leaving one’s kind.

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