Hexagram 11: Peace

Structure of the sign

The Receptive, whose movement tends downward, is above; the Creative, whose movement ascends upward, is below. Their influences therefore meet one another and are in harmony, so that all beings bloom and prosper. The sign is associated with the first month (February–March), in which the forces of nature prepare the new spring.

The Judgment

Peace. The small departs, the great approaches. Good fortune! Success! In nature, the sign indicates a time when, so to speak, heaven is on earth. Heaven has placed itself beneath the earth. Thus their powers unite in deep harmony. From this arise peace and blessing for all beings. In the human world, it is a time of social concord. Those on high bow down to the lowly, and the humble and lowly are well-disposed toward the high, so that all feud comes to an end. Within, in the center, at the decisive place, is the light; the dark is outside. Thus the light exerts a powerful influence, and the dark is yielding. In this manner, both sides attain their due. When the good occupy the central position in society and hold dominion in their hands, the base also come under their influence and improve. When the spirit proceeding from heaven rules within man, his sensuous nature likewise comes under its influence and finds its proper place. The individual lines enter the sign from below and depart again from above. Hence the small, weak, and base are in the process of departing, while the great, strong, and good are ascending. This brings good fortune and success.

The Image

Heaven and earth unite: the image of Peace. Thus the ruler divides and completes the course of heaven and earth, furthers and regulates the gifts of heaven and earth, and thereby aids the people. Heaven and earth are in communion and unite their effects. This produces a universal time of flowering and thriving. This stream of energy must be regulated by the ruler of men. This is accomplished through division. Thus undifferentiated time is divided by man into seasons according to the succession of its phenomena, and all-encompassing space is differentiated into cardinal directions by human designations. In this way, nature with its overwhelming abundance of phenomena is bounded and tamed. On the other hand, nature must be furthered in its productions. This occurs when one adapts products to the right time and the right place. Thereby the natural yield is increased. This activity of taming and furthering nature is the labor upon nature that redounds to the benefit of man.

The lines