蒙meng
Youthful Folly
See also: Wilhelm commentary for Hexagram 4
Hexagram Statement
卦辭
筮者決疑之物也。童蒙之來求我，欲決所惑也。決之不一，不知所從，則復惑也。故初筮則告，再、三則瀆，瀆蒙也。能為初筮，其唯二乎？以剛處中，能斷夫疑者也。 蒙之所利，乃利正也。夫明莫若聖，昧莫若蒙。蒙以養正，乃聖功也。然則養正以明，失其道矣。
Divination is a means for resolving doubt. The young fool comes seeking me because he desires to resolve his perplexity. If the resolution is not singular, he will not know which course to follow and will become perplexed again.
Therefore, at the first consultation one gives instruction; at the second or third, it becomes importunity — importuning the one in darkness. The one capable of being the 'first consultation' is surely the second line? With firmness dwelling in the center, it is able to decide doubt.
What benefits Youthful Folly is beneficial correctness. Nothing is brighter than the sage; nothing is darker than the fool. To use folly to nurture correctness — this is the work of the sage. But to nurture correctness through manifest brilliance would be to lose the Way.
正義曰：蒙者，微昧闇弱之名。物皆蒙昧，唯願亨通，故云「蒙，亨」。「匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我」者，物既闇弱而意願亨通，即明者不求於闇，即匪我師德之高明往求童蒙之闇，但闇者求明，明者不諮於闇，故云「童蒙求我」也。「初筮告」者，初者，發始之辭；筮者，決疑之物。童蒙既來求我，我當以初始一理剖決告之。「再三瀆，瀆則不告」者，師若遲疑不定，或再或三，是褻瀆，瀆則不告。童蒙來問，本為決疑，師若以廣深二義再三之言告之，則童蒙聞之，轉亦瀆亂，故不如不告也。自此已上，解「蒙亨」之義。順此上事，乃得亨也。故亨文在此事之上也。不云元者，謂時當蒙弱，未有元也。 「利貞」者，貞，正也。言蒙之為義，利以養正，故《彖》云「蒙以養正」，乃「聖功也」。若養正以明，即失其道也。
The Correct Meaning states: 'Meng' (Youthful Folly) is a term for being faint, obscure, dark, and weak. ' 'It is not I who seek the young fool; the young fool seeks me': since things are dark and weak yet desire success, the enlightened one does not seek the dark.
That is to say, it is not I, the teacher of lofty and brilliant virtue, who goes to seek the darkness of the young fool. ' 'At the first consultation I give instruction': 'first' is a word denoting the beginning; 'consultation' (divination) is a means for resolving doubt.
Since the young fool has come seeking me, I should use one initial principle to analyze and instruct him.
'If he asks two or three times, it is importunity; if he importunes, I give no instruction': if the teacher is hesitant and unsettled, going back two or three times, this is desecration, and then one does not instruct.
The young fool comes to ask in order to resolve doubt; if the teacher uses broad and deep double meanings, instructing with repeated words, then the young fool hearing this will in turn become confused and confounded — thus it is better not to instruct at all.
' By following these matters above, one attains success. Therefore the word 'success' is placed above these matters. It does not say 'Sublime' (yuan) because in a time of darkness and weakness, there is not yet a Sublime Beginning.
'Beneficial to be steadfast': 'steadfast' (zhen) means correct. The meaning of Youthful Folly is that it benefits from nurturing correctness. ' If one nurtures correctness through manifest brilliance, one loses the Way.
注「筮」者至「夫疑」者也。正義曰：「初筮則告」者，童蒙既來求我，我當以初心所念所筮之義，一理而剖告之。「再三則瀆，瀆蒙也」者，若以棄此初本之意而猶豫遲疑，岐頭別說，則童蒙之人，聞之褻瀆而煩亂也。故「再三則瀆，瀆蒙也」。「能為初筮，其唯二乎」者，以《彖》云「初筮告，以剛中」者，剛而得中故知是二也。
' The Correct Meaning states: 'At the first consultation one gives instruction' means that since the young fool has come seeking me, I should take the meaning of what was first in mind and divined, and with one principle analyze and instruct him.
'If he asks two or three times, it is importunity — importuning the one in darkness': if one abandons this original and fundamental idea and instead hesitates and vacillates, going off in different directions with alternative explanations, then the person in youthful folly, hearing this, will be confounded and thrown into disorder.
': since the Tuan says 'at the first consultation instruction is given, through firmness and centrality,' firmness dwelling in the center — therefore we know it refers to the second line.
注蒙之至失其道矣。正義曰：「然則養正以明，失其道」者，言人雖懷聖德，若隱默不言，人則莫測其淺深，不知其大小，所以聖德彌遠而難測矣。若彰顯其德，苟自發明，即人知其所為，識其淺深。故《明夷》注云「明夷蒞眾，顯明於外，巧所避」是也。此卦，《繫辭》皆以人事明之。
' The Correct Meaning states: 'But to nurture correctness through manifest brilliance would be to lose the Way' means that even if a person harbors sagely virtue, if he remains hidden and silent, others cannot fathom his depth, nor know his magnitude — thus his sagely virtue becomes ever more remote and unfathomable.
If he makes his virtue conspicuous and deliberately manifests his brilliance, then people know what he does and recognize his depth. ' This hexagram is entirely explained in the Xici (Appended Statements) through human affairs.
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Source: eee-learning.com (易學網) · Edition: 武英殿十三經注疏