Heaven Is Exalted, Earth Is Lowly — The Positioning of All Transformation
A reading of the first chapter of the Xi Ci Shang (Commentary on the Appended Phrases, Part I). Addressing why 'Heaven exalted, Earth lowly' is not a hierarchy of rank: exalted and lowly denote spatial position, not judgments of worth. Lowliness is where abundant virtue resides. Through the hexagrams Qian (Modesty), Tai and Pi (Peace and Stagnation), and the pairing of Qian and Kun, we see how the pre-Qin Confucian and Daoist traditions envisioned the intercourse of Heaven and Earth — positioning that gives rise to ceaseless generation.
IX. Qian Achieves Through Ease, Kun Achieves Through Simplicity
The latter half of this chapter, beginning with "Qian achieves through ease; Kun achieves through simplicity," shifts register: from the positions of Heaven and Earth to the virtues of Heaven and Earth — their way of doing things. This passage is the deepest treasure buried in the chapter, and is often read too hastily.
Qian achieves through ease; Kun achieves through simplicity. What is easy is easy to understand; what is simple is easy to follow. What is easy to understand wins affection; what is easy to follow achieves results. With affection comes durability; with results comes greatness. Durability is the virtue of the worthy; greatness is the enterprise of the worthy. Through ease and simplicity, the principle of all under Heaven is grasped.
Qian takes "ease" (yi) as its guiding principle; Kun takes "simplicity" (jian) as its mode of accomplishment. Ease: plain, not abstruse. Simplicity: spare, not complicated. These words sound mild at first hearing, but are astonishing upon reflection: Heaven and Earth have accomplished the greatest work of all time — nurturing the myriad things, turning the four seasons — and they have done it by the plainest and sparest means. When has Heaven ever issued dense and elaborate decrees$29 The sun rises, the moon sets, cold comes, heat goes — that is all. When has Earth ever erected layer upon layer of barriers$30 It receives, it bears, it gives birth, it nourishes — that is all. No contrivance, no complication, no showing off, no resort to clever stratagems — and yet every living thing achieves its life. The Xi Ci Xia describes this pair of qualities: "As for Qian — resolute and firm, it shows ease to humankind. As for Kun — yielding and serene, it shows simplicity to humankind." Qian, robust and resolute, demonstrates ease by its example; Kun, pliant and serene, demonstrates simplicity by its example.
What follows is a beautiful chain of reasoning, cascading like water down stone steps: ease, so people readily understand; simplicity, so people readily follow. Readily understood, it wins affection; readily followed, it achieves results. With affection comes durability; with results comes greatness. Durability — that is the virtue of the worthy. Greatness — that is the enterprise of the worthy. Note the first cause in this chain: it is not power, not stratagem, not eloquence, but the two characters "ease and simplicity." Whatever is abstruse and impenetrable, people cannot understand, and therefore wins no affection. Whatever is encumbered with elaborate rules and restrictions, people cannot follow, and therefore achieves no results. Without affection, nothing endures; without results, nothing grows great. How many undertakings throughout history have failed on the shoal of "complication"! How many bodies of learning have died of "obscurity"! But the Way of Heaven and Earth — the great Way — is simplicity itself. The Master, speaking of governance, said: "To govern by virtue may be compared to the Pole Star — it occupies its place and the multitude of stars revolve around it." The Pole Star remains at its post, and the stars naturally orbit it; we see it issue no commands. The Most High said: "I take no action and the people transform of themselves; I cherish stillness and the people correct themselves." All of these are the human echoes of the virtue of ease and simplicity.
"Through ease and simplicity, the principle of all under Heaven is grasped." Master ease and simplicity, and one holds the principle of all under Heaven in hand. Why$31 Because the principle of all under Heaven is inherently not complicated: one yin and one yang, one going and one coming, one opening and one closing — the transformations are endless, but the essentials are only these. That is why the Zhouyi dares to portray an infinite world with just two symbols and six positions: it has firm faith that Heaven and Earth take ease and simplicity as their Way, and therefore the book that portrays Heaven and Earth likewise takes ease and simplicity as its form. All sixty-four hexagrams are nothing more than the permutations of one odd and one even line — and one odd and one even are simply Qian and Kun.