Hexagram 58: The Joyous, Lake
Hexagram
58. The Joyous, Lake · Dui
Structure of the sign
Like Sun, Dui is one of the eight double trigrams. Dui signifies the youngest daughter; it has as its image the smiling lake, and as its attribute, joy. Joy is not based, as might seem to be the case, upon the yielding quality manifested in the top line. The attribute of the yielding or dark principle is not joy, but melancholy. Joy rests rather on the fact that there are within two firm lines which manifest themselves through the medium of the yielding. True joy therefore rests upon the fact that there are firmness and strength within, which appear externally in a yielding and gentle manner.
The Judgment
The Joyous. Success. Perseverance furthers. The joyous mood is infectious and therefore brings success. But joy must have steadfastness as its foundation, in order that it may not degenerate into uncontrolled merriment. Truth and strength must dwell in the heart, while gentleness reveals itself outwardly in social intercourse. In this way one holds the right position toward God and man and achieves something. By mere intimidation without gentleness one may perhaps accomplish something for the moment, but not permanently. If, on the other hand, one wins the hearts of men by friendliness, one causes them willingly to take every hardship upon themselves, indeed, if need be, not even to shrink from death. So great is the power of joy over men.
The Image
Lakes resting on one another: the image of the Joyous. Thus the superior man joins with his friends for discussion and practice. A lake evaporates upward and thereby gradually exhausts itself. But when two lakes are connected with each other, they are not easily exhausted, because one enriches the other. It is the same in the sphere of scholarship. Knowledge should be a refreshing and vitalizing force. It can become so only through stimulating intercourse with like-minded friends, with whom one discusses and practices the application of the truths of life. Thus learning becomes many-sided and acquires a cheerful lightness, whereas the knowledge of autodidacts always retains something heavy and one-sided.
The lines
Line 1
Contented joyousness. Good fortune! A quiet, wordless, self-contained joy, which desires nothing from outside and is content with everything, remains free of all egotistical likes and dislikes. In this freedom lies good fortune, for it holds the quiet security of a heart fortified within itself.
Line 2▶ ruling line
Sincere joyousness. Good fortune! Remorse disappears. Often one finds oneself in relationship with inferior people, from whose midst other joys beckon than those suitable to a superior man. If one were to participate in such pleasures, this would certainly entail remorse; for a superior man cannot be truly satisfied with base pleasures. When, as a consequence of this recognition, one does not permit one's will to be diverted, so that one finds no pleasure in this kind of thing, then even a dubious environment dares not offer one ignoble pleasures, since they would not please one anyway. – Thus every occasion for regret is eliminated. ±
Line 3
Coming joyousness. Misfortune! True joy must well up from one's own inner being. But if one is inwardly empty, so that one loses oneself to the outside world, pleasures come from without. This is what many people welcome as diversion. People who, out of inner lack of substance, feel the need for diversion will always find opportunity to distract themselves. They attract external pleasures through the emptiness of their being. Thereby they lose themselves more and more, which is naturally an evil.
Line 4
Deliberate joyousness is not at rest. After ridding oneself of mistakes, one has joy. Often a man finds himself poised between different kinds of joy. As long as he is not yet decided which kind of joy he wants to choose, the higher or the lower, he remains inwardly restless. Only when he clearly recognizes that passion brings suffering can he make up his mind to cast aside the lower and strive for the higher joys. Once this decision is sealed, he has found true inner serenity and peace, and the inner conflict is overcome.
Line 5▶ ruling line
Sincerity toward disintegrating influences is dangerous. Even to the best of men dangerous elements draw near. If one involves oneself with them, their disintegrating influence works very slowly but surely, inevitably bringing dangers in its train. But he who recognizes the situation and knows how to see through the danger knows how to be on his guard and remains free of harm. ±
Line 6
Beguiling joyousness. If one is inwardly vain, one attracts the pleasures of diversion and has to suffer from them (cf. six in the third place). If one is not inwardly steadfast, the pleasures of the outer world, from which one does not withdraw, exert so strong an influence that one is swept away. Here there is no longer any question of danger, of good fortune or misfortune. One has given the steering of one's life out of one's hand, and what becomes of one depends on chance and external influences.
Below ☱ Lake (Dui)
- Direction
- W
- Element
- Lake · Metal
- Attributes
- Joyous · Cheerful · Open · Contented · Abundant
- Family
- Youngest Daughter
Above ☱ Lake (Dui)
- Direction
- W
- Element
- Lake · Metal
- Attributes
- Joyous · Cheerful · Open · Contented · Abundant
- Family
- Youngest Daughter