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.
XLVIII. Further Reflection Six: Six Common Misreadings
The first misreading turns "Heaven is exalted, Earth is lowly" directly into a worship of power. The high and low of Heaven and Earth are first of all natural positions; Qian and Kun each have their own irreplaceable virtue. A high position among human beings must be achieved through virtue and achievement, and cannot be used, by itself, as proof that one already possesses virtue. If occupying a high position harms those below, this directly violates the mutual completion of Heaven bestowing and Earth generating.
The second misreading treats Qian and Kun as two things sealed off from each other. This chapter goes on immediately to speak of rubbing and stirring against one another: Qian's beginning needs Kun's completion, and Qian's ease together with Kun's simplicity jointly attain the principle of all under Heaven. The two are distinct and yet not separate. To speak only of opposition without mutual completion, or only of mutual completion without distinction, is incomplete either way.
The third misreading equates the firm and the yielding with good and evil, or with male and female strength and weakness. The firm and the yielding are modes of function, and either can attain the mean, or either can lose its proper measure. A man must have yielding virtue, and a woman too holds firm integrity; everyone needs both the setting of resolve and the bearing of completion. That the Way of Qian forms the male and the Way of Kun forms the female is a great image of generation and transformation, not a warrant for violence and force on one side or submission on the other.
The fourth misreading treats fortune and misfortune as an external, predetermined fate. Fortune and misfortune arise from gathering by kind, dividing by group, and advance and withdrawal within time and position; the hexagram image reveals them, and yet a person must still cultivate virtue, correct fault, and respond to change. Revering fate does not mean shirking responsibility; being cautious in divination does not mean abandoning action. The more one understands the principle of fortune and misfortune, the more one should take responsibility before anything has taken shape.
The fifth misreading treats ease and simplicity as carelessness and shortcut. Ease is being upright, great, and knowable; simplicity is according with principle and being able to complete things. Complex reality still requires careful examination; long-term completion of things still requires diligent effort. Lazy simplicity refuses to acknowledge difference; true simplicity accommodates difference while grasping the root.
The sixth misreading understands "forming one's place" as occupying the center of everything. That a person is "in the midst" shows that he takes part among Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things, not that he lords over them. Forming one's place depends on virtue and achievement, not on self-conferral; it depends on assisting transformation and growth, not on enslaving the myriad things. The more a person is able to form his place, the more he knows humility and reverence.
Avoiding these six misreadings, this chapter shows its complete character: it establishes order, and also opens change; it affirms difference, and also demands mutual completion; it speaks of the Way of Heaven, and also returns to human affairs; it allows a person to act, and also restrains reckless action. Its words are few, but its meaning is not thin; its Way is easy to know, but its practice demands a whole lifetime.