THE TAMING POWER OF THE SMALL

Nine in the fifth place means:
If you are sincere and loyally attached,
You are rich in your neighbor.

Loyalty leads to firm ties because it means that each partner complements the other.... This relation of mutual reinforcement leads to a true wealth that is all the more apparent because it is not selfishly hoarded but is shared with friends. Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled.

THE JOYOUS

Lakes resting one on the other:
The image of The Joyous.
Thus the superior man joins with his friends
For discussion and practice.

....Knowledge should be a refreshing and vitalizing force. It becomes so only through stimulating intercourse with congenial friends with whom one holds discussion and practices application of the truths of life. In this way learning becomes many-sided and takes on a cheerful lightness, whereas there is always something ponderous and one-sided about the learning of the self-taught.

FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN

Fellowship with men in the open.
Success.
It furthers one to cross the great water.
The perseverance of the superior man furthers.

True fellowship among men must be based upon a concern that is universal. It is not the private interests of the individual that create lasting fellowship among men, but rather the goals of humanity. That is why it is said that fellowship with men in the open succeeds. If unity of this kind prevails, even difficult and dangerous tasks, such as crossing the great water, can be accomplished.

POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE

Nine in the third place means:
A prince offers it to the Son of Heaven.
A petty man cannot do this.

A magnanimous, liberal-minded man should not regard what he possesses as his exclusive personal property, but should place it at the disposal of the ruler or of the people at large. In so doing, he takes the right attitude toward his possession, which as private property can never endure. A petty man is incapable of this. He is harmed by great possessions, because instead of sacrificing them, he would keep them for himself.

CONTEMPLATION

Contemplation. The ablution has been made,
But not yet the offering.
Full of trust they look up to him.

Contemplation of the divine meaning underlying the workings of the universe gives to the man who is called upon to influence others the means of producing like effects. This requires that power of inner concentration which religious contemplation develops in great men strong in faith. It enables them to apprehend the mysterious and divine laws of life, and by means of profoundest inner concentration they give expression to these laws in their own persons. Thus a hidden spiritual power emanates from them.

Return. Success.
Going out and coming in withoout error.
Friends come without blame.
To and fro goes the way.
On the seventh days comes return.
It furthers one to have somewhere to go

After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force.... The transformation of the old becomes easy. The old is discarded and the new is introduced.... Societies of people sharing the same views are formed. But since these groups come together in full public knowledge and are in harmony with the time, all selfish separatist tendencies are excluded, and no mistake is made.

INNOCENCE

Innocence. Supreme success.
Perseverance furthers.
If someone is not as he should be,
He has misfortune,
And it does not further him
To undertake anything.

Man has received from heaven a nature innately good, to guide him in all his movements. By devotion to this divine spirit within himself, he attains an unsullied innocence that leads him to do right with instinctive sureness and without any ulterior thought of reward and personal advantage.... However, not everything instinctive is nature in this higher sense of the word, but only that which is right and in accord with the will of heaven.

INCREASE

Increase. It furthers one
To undertake something.
It furthers one to cross the great water.

Sacrifices on the part of those above for the increase of those below fills the people with a sense of joy and gratitude that is extremely valuable for the flowering of the commonwealth. When people are thus devoted to their leaders, undertakings are possible, and even difficult and dangerous enterprises will succeed.

THE CALDRON

The Caldron. Supreme good fortune.
Success.

The highest earthly values must be sacrificed to the divine. But the truly divine does not manifest itself apart from man. The supreme revelation of God appears in prophets and holy men. To venerate them is true veneration of God.

THE AROUSING

Shock brings success.
Shock comes - oh, oh!
Laughing words - ha, ha!
The shock terrifies for a hundred miles,
And he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon
And chalice.

When a man has learned within his heart what fear and trembling mean, he is safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences. Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around; he remains so composed and reverent in spirit that the sacrificial rite is not interrupted. This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men - a profound inner seriousness from which all outer terrors glance off harmlessly.

KEEPING STILL

Nine at the top means:
Noblehearted keeping still.
Good fortune

This marks the consummation of the effort to attain tranquility. One is at rest, not merely in a small, circumscribed way in regard to matters of detail, but one has also a general resignation in regard to life as a whole, and this confers peace and good fortune in relation to every individual matter.