VII. Position Is Fluid

There is something stranger still. If "Heaven exalted, Earth lowly" were truly a fixed hierarchy, then the positions of Heaven and Earth in the Zhouyi should always be Heaven above and Earth below, never to be reversed. But consider the hexagram Tai (Peace).

The hexagram image of Tai places Kun above and Qian below — Earth above, Heaven below! By the "hierarchy" reading, this is insubordination, an overturning of Heaven and Earth, and should be an image of dire misfortune. Yet the judgment of the Tai hexagram reads: "Tai: the small departs, the great arrives. Auspicious and smooth." Auspicious and smooth. The Tuan Zhuan explains: "Heaven and Earth intercourse and the myriad things are unobstructed; above and below intercourse and their purposes align." The qi of Heaven descends, the qi of Earth ascends — the image of Heaven situated below Earth is precisely the image of the two qi interpenetrating. When Heaven and Earth intercourse, all things are unobstructed; when above and below intercourse, their wills are united. Tai — peace, openness — is one of the most serene and harmonious hexagrams among the sixty-four. Conversely, the hexagram Pi (Stagnation) places Qian above and Kun below — Heaven in Heaven's position, Earth in Earth's position, each properly in its "station," orderly and undisturbed. The result$24 "Pi: this is not the way of humankind. It does not benefit the noble person's constancy." The Tuan Zhuan says: "Heaven and Earth do not intercourse and the myriad things are not unobstructed; above and below do not intercourse and there are no states in the world." Heaven stays loftily above, Earth stays lowly below, the two having nothing to do with each other — this picture most "in accordance with hierarchy" is precisely the image of blockage, decay, the ascendancy of petty people — the image of misfortune!

This point most repays careful reflection. A text that truly worshipped hierarchy could never have written the hexagrams Tai and Pi. Heaven perpetually pressing down upon Earth is, in the Zhouyi's view, not order but death. Heaven willing to descend and Earth able to ascend, each leaving its fixed station to intercross — this is vitality. Clearly, the positioning in "Qian and Kun are established" fixes the character and function of two forces, not the seating arrangement of two classes. Seating arrangements must not be disrupted, but the relative positions of Qian and Kun are meant to be continually "disrupted" in the course of their operation: Heaven descends, Earth ascends, they cross — and the myriad things are born. In the world of the Zhouyi, position is fluid; above and below are meant to come and go. "Each secure in its station, never interacting" has never been this book's ideal. Its ideal is called "intercourse"; its ideal is called "unobstructed flow."

The encounter of male and female exemplifies this especially well. This chapter says "the way of Qian completes the male; the way of Kun completes the female," which some suspect lays the groundwork for "male superior, female inferior." But see how the Zhouyi itself arranges the hexagram of male-female encounter — the hexagram Xian (Influence/Feeling). Xian means mutual feeling; it is the hexagram among the sixty-four devoted to the theme of the mutual attraction between man and woman, the inception of marriage. Its image places Dui above and Gen below: Dui is the youngest daughter, in the upper position; Gen is the youngest son, in the lower. The Tuan Zhuan says: "Xian means influence. The yielding is above and the firm is below; the two qi feel and respond to each other in mutual giving. … The man places himself below the woman — therefore it is smooth, beneficial, and correct. To take a wife: auspicious." The man is positioned below the woman — the man humbles himself, deferring to the woman, and thus feeling and response flow between them, and thus "to take a wife: auspicious." In the ancient marriage rite, it was the groom who personally went to the bride's home to receive her, bearing a wild goose as his offering and bowing — the masculine, the strong, placing itself below. This is exactly the image of the Xian hexagram. The Tuan Zhuan then extends this single act of feeling to the cosmic: "Heaven and Earth feel and the myriad things are born through transformation. The sage moves the hearts of the people and all under Heaven is at peace. Observe what they are moved by, and the true nature of Heaven, Earth, and all things becomes visible." Heaven and Earth feel — the myriad things are born. Man places himself below woman — marriage comes into being. The sage moves people's hearts — the world comes to peace. A book that opens with "Heaven exalted, Earth lowly," when it comes to the most intimate encounter of yin and yang, writes: "The man below the woman — auspicious." The exalted stoops — then there is mutual feeling. The high descends — then there is mutual openness. This is the Zhouyi's incessant counsel. The Tuan Zhuan of the Yi hexagram (Increase) contains another telling line: "Diminish the above and augment the below — the people's joy is without limit." Reduce the upper and increase the lower — the happiness of the people knows no bounds. The very purpose of the upper position is to transmit downward, not to accumulate upward. All of this converges into one unshakeable conclusion: the "above and below" in the Zhouyi are a living above-and-below, perpetually engaged in stooping and reaching, offering and receiving. The kind of hierarchy that is unidirectional, frozen, with the upper riding upon the lower — this book not only provides no basis for it; it everywhere pronounces judgment against it: the full must wane, the arrogant dragon has regret, without intercourse comes stagnation, without descending comes misfortune.