Hexagram 63: After Completion

Line 1

He brakes his wheels. He gets his tail in the water. No blame. In times following a great transition, everything is bent upon progress and development and presses forward. But this forward surge at the beginning is not good and leads inevitably to loss and collapse through overshooting the mark. A strong character therefore does not allow himself to be infected by the general vertigo, but checks his course in time. Thus he will not remain entirely untouched by the disastrous consequences of the general push, yet it strikes him only from behind, like a fox that has already crossed the water and merely gets its tail wet, and cannot do him essential harm, because his conduct has hit upon the right course.

Line 3

The High Illustrious Ancestor chastises the Devil's Country. After three years he conquers it. Common people must not be employed. The 'High Illustrious Ancestor' is the dynastic title of the ruler Wu Ting of the Yin dynasty. After ordering conditions in the realm with a firm hand, he waged protracted colonial wars to subjugate the northern frontier regions inhabited by the Huns, from which incursions constantly threatened. The situation depicted is that after times of completion, when a new power has arisen and order prevails within, colonial expansion begins with a certain necessity. In this, protracted struggles are generally to be expected. But here a proper colonial policy is especially important. One must not regard the hard-won territories as an asylum for people who have somehow made themselves impossible at home yet are thought just good enough for the colonies. Thereby one ruins every success from the outset. This holds true on a large scale as well as on a small one; for it is not only rising states that pursue colonial policies. The drive toward expansion and its attendant dangers are near at hand for every rising enterprise.

Line 4

The finest clothes turn to rags. Be careful all the day. In times of cultural flowering, tremors occasionally occur that reveal an internal defect of society and at first arouse general consternation. Since the general situation is favorable, however, such defects can easily be patched up and concealed from the public. Then everything disappears from memory again, and it appears as though sheer peace prevailed. To the thoughtful man, however, such incidents are grave hints which he does not neglect. Only in this way can evil consequences be averted.

Line 5

The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox does not attain as much genuine good fortune as the neighbor in the west with his small offering. Religious attitude, too, is influenced by the spiritual mood in times after completion. In place of the simple ancient forms, divine services assume an ever richer elaboration and ever greater outward pomp. But this display of splendor lacks inner earnestness. Human caprice takes the place of conscientious adherence to the divine will. Yet while man looks upon that which is before the eyes, God looks upon the heart. Therefore not so much blessing rests upon a mighty but cold worship as rests upon a simple, devout offering.

Line 6

He gets his head into the water. Danger. Here at the end, a further warning is appended. After crossing a water, one can plunge one's head into the water only if one heedlessly turns back toward it. As long as one moves forward and does not look back, one escapes this danger. Yet there is something tempting in halting and looking back upon the overcome danger. But such vain self-contemplation brings no good fortune. Through it one falls into danger, and unless one resolves to press on relentlessly, one falls victim to this peril.