First Reading of Chapter One of the Upper Xici: Heaven and Earth Take Their Places, and Virtue Is Formed Through Ease and Simplicity
A close reading of Chapter One of the Upper Xici within the context of pre-Qin thought, moving through the layers of Heaven and Earth, Qian and Kun, the firm and the yielding, image and form, change, ease and simplicity, virtue and achievement, and the taking of one's place -- to see how the Yi runs through the Way of Heaven, the Way of Earth, and the Way of Man.
XLVI. Further Reflection Four: Resolving Doubt Does Not Mean Seeking a Single, Eternally Unchanging Answer
The Yi is bound up with the resolving of doubt, but the method of resolving doubt taught in this chapter is not to store up a fixed answer for every category of problem. It first lets a person discern Heaven and Earth, order of position, movement and stillness, the firm and the yielding, group and kind, image and shape, and then examine their rubbing and stirring together with the coming and going of the seasons. A matter becomes doubtful so often because several relations are interwoven; resolving the doubt means making these relations clear once more.
Facing a choice between advancing and withdrawing, one can ask: is this a time for lying hidden, or a time for manifest use; would advancing overstep one's position, would withdrawing lose the opportunity$6 Facing a dispute, one can ask: does this call for firm decision on principle, or for yielding acceptance of a differing view; what is the great shared righteousness between the two sides, and what is the private opinion in which they differ$7 Facing the employment of a person, one can ask: what kind does this person gather with, do his words and deeds correspond, can he complete things if placed in this position$8
Facing a policy, one can ask: is its beginning correct, is its implementation simple, can the people follow it, can its short-term achievement endure$9 Facing one's own personal calling, one can ask: can what one knows become today's action, does what one does accord with the long-term direction$10 Asking in this way does not necessarily eliminate all uncertainty at once, but can reduce being swept along by momentary emotion.
The hexagram obtained through divination should likewise enter into this kind of reflection, rather than replace it. The image of a hexagram offers a structure for viewing, letting a person step back slightly from his existing preconceptions. It may point to relations such as danger, stopping, advancing, withdrawing, gathering, or scattering, but in the end it must still be examined and verified against reality. To treat the hexagram statement as a command that lets one evade judgment is to lose "Qian's knowing" altogether.
The Most High said, "One who knows others is wise; one who knows himself is enlightened." Resolving doubt is so often difficult precisely in self-knowledge. When a person seeks counsel, he may already harbor a desire, hoping only for permission; if the answer received does not match his heart, he asks again and again. True ease and simplicity first honestly acknowledges one's own desire, and only then weighs it by righteousness and by time and position. When the heart does not deceive itself, the problem is often already half clear.
Master Guiguzi's emphasis on listening in reverse and looking inward lets the speaker discern true feeling through the other party's response; this is useful for resolving doubt as well. One should not listen only to the voices that support oneself, but let different forces rub against one another. Yet such probing must not degenerate into manipulation, because the end point of resolving doubt remains forming virtue and completing things, not winning over others. Only one who can accommodate counter-evidence while holding to the greater righteousness has truly joined the firm and the yielding together.