Hexagram Statement
卦辭
正義曰：謙者，屈躬下物，先人後己，以此待物，則所在皆通，故曰亨也。小人行謙則不能長久，唯君子有終也。然案：謙卦之象，謙為諸行之善，是善之最極，而不言元與利貞及吉者，元是物首也，利貞是幹正也。於人既為謙退，何可為之首也？以謙下人，何以幹正於物？故不云元與利貞也。謙必獲吉，其吉可知，故不言之。凡《易經》之體，有吉理可知而不言吉者，即此謙卦之繇及乾之九五「利見大人」，是吉理分明，故不云吉也。諸卦言吉者，其義有嫌者，爻兼善惡也。若行事有善，則吉乃隨之。若行事有惡，則不得其吉。諸稱吉者，嫌其不吉，故稱吉也。若坤之六五，及泰之六五，並以陰居尊位，若不行此事，則无吉，若行此事，則得其吉，故並稱元吉。其餘皆言吉，事亦倣此。亦有大人為吉，於小人為凶，若否之九五云「休否，大人吉」是也。或有於小人為吉，大人為凶，若屯之九五「小貞吉，大貞凶」，及否之六二「包承，小人吉」之類是也。亦有其吉灼然而稱吉者，若大有上九「自天祐之，吉无不利」之類是也。但《易》之為體，不可以一為例。今各隨文解之，義具諸卦之下。今謙卦之繇，其吉可知也。既不云吉，何故初六、六二及九三並云吉者？謙卦是總諸六爻，其善既大，故不須云吉也。六爻各明其義，其義有優劣，其德既小，嫌其不吉，故須吉以明之也。
The Correct Meaning states: Modesty means bending oneself low before things, putting others first and oneself last.
" Now, examining the image of the Modesty hexagram: modesty is the finest of all virtuous conducts, the utmost extreme of goodness, yet the text does not mention "Sublime Beginning" (yuan), "Benefit" (li), "Correctness" (zhen), or "auspicious" (ji).
"Sublime Beginning" means being the foremost among things; "Benefit and Correctness" means managing and rectifying. Since a person is already humble and yielding, how could they claim to be foremost? Since one humbles oneself below others, how could one manage and rectify things?
" Modesty inevitably obtains good fortune, and this good fortune is self-evident, so the text does not state it. " When other hexagrams do say "auspicious," it is because their meaning is ambiguous, as the lines encompass both good and ill.
If one's actions contain good, then good fortune follows accordingly. If one's actions contain ill, then one does not obtain good fortune. All those that say "auspicious" do so because there is doubt about whether things might not be auspicious.
" The rest that say "auspicious" follow the same principle. " However, the structure of the Changes cannot be reduced to a single rule. Here we explain each passage according to its text, with the meaning detailed under each hexagram.
For this Modesty hexagram statement, its good fortune is self-evident. Since it does not say "auspicious," why then do Initial Six, Six in the Second, and Nine in the Third all say "auspicious"?
" Each of the six lines clarifies its own particular meaning, and their meanings have relative strengths and weaknesses; since their individual virtue is smaller, there is doubt about whether they might not be auspicious, so "auspicious" must be stated to make this clear.
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Source: eee-learning.com (易學網) · Edition: 武英殿十三經注疏