شش خطی 41
کاهش دادن (Sun)

NOTES
1. “Be without blame, and may practice constancy” translates wujiu, kezheng. Wang Bi may not have read these phrases this way, for in his commentary to the Commentary on the Judgments there occurs the phrase, “what blame should ever befall such a one and what is there that he could ever rectify?” Here Wang apparently glosses zhen (constancy) as zheng (rectify).
2. This and all subsequent text set off in this manner is commentary by Wang Bi.
3. See note 1 above.
4. Cf. Wang Bi’s commentary to Laozi, section 20, p. 47: “Finches have mates, as do doves. People who live in wintry climes are sure to know one type of fur from another. That which by nature is already sufficient unto itself will only come to grief if one tries to add to it. Therefore, what is the difference between lengthening the duck’s legs and cutting down the legs of the crane?” Here and in his remarks on the Commentary on the Judgments to Hexagram 41, Wang is alluding to a passage in the Zhuangzi: “The long as such cannot be taken for excess, and the short as such cannot be taken for insufficiency. This is why, although the duck’s legs are short, to lengthen them would cause it grief, and, although the crane’s legs are long, to cut them down would cause it distress. Therefore, what is by nature long is not something that should be cut down, and what is by nature short is not something that should be lengthened.” See Zhuangzi, 21/8/8.
5. The lower trigram is Dui (Lake, Joy), and the upper trigram is Gen (Mountain, Restraint).
6. Neither Wang Bi nor Kong Yingda attempts to explain the image further, but Cheng Yi has this to say about it:
The vapors [qi] [of the Lake] well upward and moisten what is above [the Mountain]. The depth of the one is decreased in order that the height of the other be increased, so both contribute to the image of Diminution of what is below. When the noble man observes the image of Diminution, he uses it as a guide to bring Diminution to himself. In the course of cultivating himself, the things that he ought to diminish are, of course, anger and desire.
See Zhouyi zhezhong, 12: 23b.
7. See section seven of the Commentary on the Appended Phrases, Part Two.
8. If First Yang undergoes Diminishment and becomes a yin line and then if Second Yang does so also, Sun (Diminishment) would be trans formed into Hexagram 23, Bo (Peeling) image.
9. Or, “one here keeps his will fixed on the Mean.”
10. Both Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi interpret Third Yin differently. They think that Sun (Diminution) image is the result of a transformation of Hexagram 11, Tai (Peace) image. In their view, the “one person lost” is the Third Yang of Tai, which has become the Top Yang of Sun—the three persons traveling together being the original three yang lines in Qian, the lower trigram of Tai—and the “companion” found is Top Yang of Sun, in resonance with Third Yin, formerly Top Yin of Tai. See Zhouyi zhezhong, 6: 10a.
11. This paraphrases section five of the Commentary on the Appended Phrases, Part Two: “Heaven and Earth mesh together, and the myriad things develop and reach perfect maturity; male and female blend essences together, and the myriad creatures are formed and come to life.”
12. Kong Yingda expands upon Wang Bi’s remarks:
The “three persons” refers to the three yin lines from Third Yin on up. The first mentioned “one person” is Top Yang, and the one mentioned second is Third Yin…. Third Yin is in resonance with Top Yang, but above it there are two other yin lines, Fourth Yin and Fifth Yin. As the Dao of Diminution moves upward, this means that each line follows the other in succession, but if Third Yin joins with the other two yin lines and travels with them, even though it wants to provide increase for this “one person,” Top Yang, they [the three yin lines], each one in turn, would cause Top Yang to feel suspicious, and once suspicion is aroused, it would destroy the sense that Third Yin was its proper mate…. This is why the text says: “If three persons travel together, one person [Top Yang] will be lost,” but if the “one person” [Third Yin] travels alone, Top Yang will accept it without any suspicion, and so it [Third Yin] “will find his companion.”
See Zhouyi zhengyi, 4: 2b.
13. “Anxiety” translates ji, which can also mean “sickness, fault, flaw,” etc. This is how Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi understand it. Cheng glosses ji as jibing (illness) and bushan (not good, shortcoming, failing), and Zhu glosses it as yinrou zhi ji (the shortcomings of softness and weakness inherent in the yin). Their reading of Fourth Yin would be: “One here has the chance to diminish his shortcomings, so if he were to act quickly, he would find joy and be without blame.” See Zhouyi zhezhong, 6:10b. However, Kong Yingda glosses ji as xiangsi zhi ji (anxiety associated with longing), i.e., that of Fourth Yin for First Yang. See Zhouyi zhengyi, 4: 28b. My translation of Fourth Yin and Wang Bi’s commentary to it follows Kong’s subcommentary.
14. Kong Yingda comments:
Fourth Yin has had its feelings stirred by First Yang but for a long time has been unable to unite with First Yang, thus it has suffered the grief of anxious expectation. Thus, by now acting quickly, it has cause for joy. First Yang diminishes itself in order to increase Fourth Yin. But if Fourth Yin did not quickly accept this help, then it would incur the blame of having missed this opportunity to enjoy increase. This is Wang Bi says: “By having cause for joy, he should be without blame.”
See Zhouyi zhengyi, 4: 28b.
15. The text of Fifth Yin to this point is identical to that of Hexagram 42, Yi (Increase), Second Yin.
16. This paraphrases the Laozi, section 32, p. 82: “If one were to make an analogy for the way the Dao works in the world, it would be like the way all the rivulets and streams run into the great river and the sea.” Wang’s own commentary to this passage reads:
The rivulets and streams seek the great river and the sea not because the great river and the sea summon them but because they return to them of their own accord without any summoning or seeking taking place. To practice the Dao in the world is to achieve equity spontaneously without issuing any orders about it, to realize the Dao spontaneously without consciously trying to do so. This is why the text says: “It would be like the way all the rivulets and streams run into the great river and the sea.”
17. Cf. Laozi, section 42, p. 117: “What a person hates to be is an orphan, someone lonely without a spouse, or one without food, yet rulers and lords take these terms as names for themselves. It thus happens that at times things will enjoy increase by being diminished and at times suffer diminishment by being increased.” Kong Yingda comments on Fifth Yin: “When one who abides in the noble position is yet able to restrain and diminish himself, there will be none in the world who fail to return to him and bring increase to him.” See Zhouyi zhengyi, 4: 29a.
18. Both Wang Bi and Kong Yingda take “tortoises” to refer to the wise, the talented, and the worthy. As the heating and cracking of tortoise shells were a means to decide issues and foretell the future, so the tortoise could serve as a symbol or metaphor for a person who exercised such capabilities. Cheng Yi interprets the “tortoises” differently. He thinks that they represent the general consensus (gonglun) of the masses of common folk, something that is sure to accord with “right principles” (zhengli), which “even tortoise shell and yarrow stalk cannot oppose.” Zhu Xi’s interpretation is again different, for he takes the expression “tens of coteries of tortoises” to mean “ten pairs of tortoise shells,” a great treasure, something of tremendous value, and Fifth Yin to mean: “Someone brings increase to him with these [i.e., such wealth], which he cannot refuse, so his good fortune is readily apparent.” See Zhouyi zhezhong, 6: 11a–11b. This passage has prompted much controversy; see Lou, Wang Bi ji jiaoshi, 2: 427 n. 32.
19. Kong Yingda says that “above” refers to Heaven. See Zhouyi zhengyi, 4: 29a. This is hinted at in Wang Bi’s commentary to Fifth Yin: “all the help that could be rendered by Heaven and man.” Cheng Yi expands upon Wang’s remark: “It is because one here can take over completely the views of the mass of common folk and stay in perfect accord with the principles of Heaven and Earth that blessings descend upon him from Heaven above.” See Zhouyi zhezhong, 12: 25a.