Clarifying the Judgments [Ming tuan]

[This is taken from Wang Bi's "General Remarks on the Changes of Zhou" Lynn, pp. 25 ff]
The first section of the essay is called 'Clarifying the Judgments [Ming tuan].' The Lynn translation follows: {ABF note: remember, this was written around 249 ce}
 
What is a Judgment? It discusses the body or substance of a hexagram as a whole and clarifies what the controlling principle is from which it evolves.
    The many cannot govern the many; that which governs the many is the most solitary [the One]. Activity cannot govern activity; that which controls all activity that occurs in the world, thanks to constancy, is the One. Therefore for all the many to manage to exist, their controlling principle must reach back to the One, and for all activities to manage to function, their source cannot but be the One.
    No thing ever behaves haphazardly but necessarily follows its own principle. To unite things, there is a fundamental regulator; to integrate them, there is a primordial generator. Therefore things are complex but not chaotic, multitudinous but not confused. This is why when the six lines of a hexagram intermingle, one can pick out one of them and use it to clarify what is happening, and as the hard ones and the soft ones supersede one another, one can establish which one is the master and use it to determine how all are ordered. This is why for mixed matters the calculation [zhuan] of the virtues and the determination of the rights and wrongs involved could never be complete without the middle lines. This is why if one examines things from the point of view of totality, even though things are multitudinous, one knows that it is possible to deal with them by holding fast to the One, and if one views them from the point of view of the fundamental, even though the concepts involved are immense in number and scope, one knows that it is possible to cover them all with a single name. Thus when we use an armillary sphere to view the great [heavenly] movements, the actions of Heaven and Earth lose their capacity to amaze us, and if we keep to a single center point when viewing what is about to come to us, then things converging from the six directions lose their capacity to overwhelm us with their number. Therefore when we cite the name of a hexagram, in its meaning is found the controlling principle, and when we read the words of the Judgment, then we have got more than half the ideas involved. Now, although past and present differ and armies and states then and now appear dissimilar, the way these central principles function is such that nothing can ever stray far from them. Although kinds and gradations of things exist in infinite variety, there is a chief controlling principle that inheres in all of them. Of things we esteem in a Judgment, it is this that is the most significant.
    The rare is what the many value; the one that is unique is the one the multitudes make their chief. If one hexagram has five positive lines and one negative, then we have the negative line be the master. If it is a matter of five negative lines and one positive line, then we have the positive line be the master. Now, what the negative seeks after is the positive, and what the positive seeks after is the negative. If the positive is represented by a single line, how could the five negative lines all together ever fail to return to it! And if the negative is represented by a single line, how could the five positive lines all together ever fail to follow it! Thus although a negative line may be humble, its becoming the master of a hexagram is due to the fact that it occupies the smallest number of positions. And then there are some hexagrams for which One may set aside the hexagram lines and take up instead the two constituent trigrams, for here the substance of the hexagrams involved does not evolve from individual lines. Things are complex, but one does not worry about their being chaotic; they change, but one does not worry about their being confused. To tie things together, thus preserving the broad significance involved, and to bring forth the simple nature of things, thus being up to dealing with their multiplicity, there is indeed only the Judgments! To deal with the chaotic and yet manage to avoid confusion and to handle change and yet manage not to drown in it, only it [the Changes], being the most profound and subtle device in the whole world, could ever be up to doing these things! Therefore if we view the Judgments in the light of this, the concepts involved should become clear.

The Seal of the Unity of the Three

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An Account of Lü Dongbin

“Lü Dongbin” (Cavernguest Lü), from Zengxian liexian zhuan (Illustrated Immortals’ Biographies)

            Lü Yan, also known as Cavernguest Lü [Dongbin], lived under the Tang dynasty and was a native of Yongle District in Puzhou. He was later called the Master of Pure Yang [Chunyang]. When his mother gave birth to him, an unearthly perfume pervaded the house and the sounds of celestial music wafted from the sky. A white crane flew down from heaven, appeared between the curtains of her bed, and vanished again.

            Even as a newly born infant, Lü’s body had a golden shimmer and his flesh a radiant freshness. The crown of his head formed a high dome resembling a crane’s, while his back was arched like that of a tortoise. His eyes were as brilliant as those of a phoenix, and his eyebrows extended on either side to meet the hair on the temples.

            While still a child, he was very quick at learning, being able to memorize ten thousand words a day. His language was fluent and couched in classical terms. Eight feet two inches in height, he resembled the immortal Zhang Zifang. At the age of twenty, he had not yet taken a wife.

            The Patriarch Ma had seen him at the beginning of his life, when he was still in swaddling clothes, and exclaimed: “This child’s bones are of no ordinary mortal. Extraordinary in character, he will hold aloof from worldly affairs. Whatever hovel he happens upon he will make his home. Whenever he sees a goblet of wine he will partake of it. Mark well my words!”

            Later on Dongbin wandered to Mount Lu. There he met a Taoist known as Master Firedragon [Huolongl, who instructed him in acquiring supernatural invisibility by the magic sword method.

            During the reign period Accomplished Prosperity [841-46], he went up twice for the imperial degree, but failed. At that time he was sixty-four years of age.

            Once he wandered into a tavern in Chang’an to see a Taoist priest, dressed in a gray cap and white gown, spontaneously scribble a poem on the wall. It ran,

            Sit or lie–I always grasp a pot of wine,

            No need to tell my eyes to see the starry zone.

            Vast like heaven and like earth,

            I never have a name,

            Among so many mortals,

            I’m scattered and alone.

Impressed and attracted by the Taoist’s strange appearance and unusual old age, as well as by the grace and naturalness of his verse, Dongbin bowed to him and inquired his name.

            “I am Master Cloudchamber [Zhongli Quan],” he answered.

            “My home is the Crane Ridge in the Zhongnan Mountains. Would you like to join me in my wanderings?” Dongbin hesitated to agree to this proposal, so Master Cloudchamber took him to an inn. While he attended to the preparation of a simple meal, Dongbin reclined on a pillow. Soon he became oblivious of his surroundings and fell asleep.

            He had a dream. He dreamt that he went up to the capital as a candidate of the imperial examination and passed it at the top of the list. Starting his career as a junior secretary to one of the Boards, he rapidly rose in rank to positions at the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy. Eventually he became a Privy Councillor after he had occupied, in the course of his unbroken success, all the most sought-after and important official posts.

            Twice he was married, he further dreamt, and both wives belonged to families of wealth and position. Children were born to him. His sons soon took themselves wives, and his daughters left the paternal roof for their husbands’ homes. All these events happened before he even reached the age of forty.

            Next he found himself Prime Minister for a period of ten years, wielding immense power. This corrupted him. Then suddenly, without warning, he was accused of a grave crime. His home and all his possessions were confiscated, his wife and children separated. He himself, a solitary outcast, was wandering toward his place of banishment beyond the mountains. He found his horse brought to a standstill in a snowstorm and was no longer able to continue the journey.

            At this juncture in his dream Dongbin woke with a heavy sigh.

Lo and behold! The meal was still being prepared. Laughing at his surprise, Master Cloudchamber intoned a verse.

            The yellow millet simmers yet uncooked,

            A single dream and you have reached the world beyond!

            Dongbin gaped in astonishment. “Sir,” he stammered, “how is it you know about my dream?”

            “In the dream that just came to you,” Master Cloudchamber replied matter-of-factly, “you not only scaled the dizziest heights of splendor but also plumbed the uttermost depths of misery. Fifty years were past and gone in the twinkling of an eye. What you gained was not worth rejoicing over, what you lost was not worth grieving about. Only when people have a great awakening, they know that the world is but one big dream.”

            Impressed by this incident, Dongbin received spiritual enlightenment. He fell to his knees before the master and entreated him for instruction in the arts of transcending the limitations of this earthly sphere.

            To try his determination, Master Cloudchamber said, “Your inner stature is not yet fully developed. Before you can attain transcendence of this world, many generations shall come and pass.”

            Having uttered these strange words, he suddenly vanished into thin air. After that Dongbin abandoned his semiofficial position as a literatus preparing for examination and lived in retirement.

            Master Cloudchamber duly subjected him to ten tests of his immortal stamina.

The first of these occurred when Dongbin returned home after a long journey to find his entire family dead from a mortal sickness. There was no feeling of vain sorrow in his heart. Instead he manfully set about making lavish preparations for the funeral, when–lo and behold!–they all rose up alive and well.

            The second time Dongbin was put on trial he had sold some copper ware to a dealer who soon wanted to return the merchandise and asked for his money back. They sought out the market inspector, and Dongbin handed over the required sum without any ado. Another day, he was negotiating the sale of some of his belongings and had come to a definite agreement about the price. This notwithstanding, the dealer wished to cancel the bargain and pay only half the stipulated sum. Dongbin acquiesced and, handing over the goods, walked away without anger or engaging in dispute.

            The third ordeal took place at the time of the New Year. As Dongbin was leaving his house he was accosted by a beggar demanding alms. He handed over all he carried, cash and gifts in kind. But the beggar remained dissatisfied and threateningly demanded more, using the most abusive terms. Yet Dongbin kept a smiling face and again and again apologized to him politely.

            The fourth time he was put to the test, he was looking after some sheep in the mountains. A hungry tiger came upon them, with the result that the flock scattered in all directions. Dongbin interposed his own person between the tiger and the terrified sheep. The tiger gave up the chase and crept away.

            In his fifth ordeal he had retired to a simple thatched hut in the mountains to study. One day a beautiful lady came to his door, graceful and lovely and radiant with such unearthly beauty that she was positively dazzling. She explained she was a newly married bride on the way to visit her parents but had become lost. Would he allow her to rest a short while in his hut? Dongbin granted her request. She then tried in a hundred different ways to snare him from the path of virtue, but he remained steadfast and unmoved to the end.

            Dongbin’s character was put to a test the sixth time when, on returning home from a walk in the country, he found that during his absence thieves had carried away all his goods and chattels, leaving the house bare. Not even then was his equanimity disturbed. He just set himself to earn a livelihood by tilling the ground. One day when at work with his hoe he unearthed gold pieces to the number of several score. Yet he took not a single one, but quickly covered them all up again.

            In his seventh trial he again met Master Cloudchamber who told him, “In obedience to the summons of the Celestial Emperor, I am on the way to present myself before his throne. If you behave virtuously during your abode among humankind, thus acquiring merit, you will in time reach a place similar to mine.”

            “My aim,” Dongbin replied with another deep bow, “is not to emulate you, sir, but to bring salvation to every living creature in this world. Only when this vow of mine has been fulfilled shall I ascend on high.”

            The eighth ordeal occurred when he bought some potent drugs from a crazy Taoist, who used to wander about selling them in the streets. He claimed that whoever partook of his wares would instantly die, but would attain the Tao in a future existence.

            As Dongbin was about to buy the drug, the Taoist warned him, “The only thing for you to do now is to make speedy preparation for your death.”

            Yet Dongbin swallowed the stuf without batting an eyelid, and no harm befell him.

            The ninth test Dongbin had to pass came in the spring when the entire country was flooded. Together with the rest of the local population, he was seeking safety in boats. Just as they reached the middle of the waters, a violent storm burst upon them. The waves rose high, lashed into fury by the wind. All were in a panic except Dongbin, who remained erect in his seat, calm and unconcerned.

            On the tenth occasion, Dongbin was sitting alone in his house, when without warning there appeared to him an innumerable host of demons in weird and terrifying shapes, all seemingly determined to beat him to death. Yet he was not in the least afraid or dismayed. Then a sharp word of command came from the sky, and the whole crowd of devils vanished.

            The voice was followed by a person who, descending from above, clapped his hands and laughed with delight. It was Master Cloudchamber.

            “I have subjected you to ten tests,” he said, “all of which have left you utterly unmoved. There can be no doubt you will succeed in attaining the Tao. I will now disclose to you the mysteries of alchemy in order that the knowledge may enable you to save humankind. When you have continued this meritorious work for three thousand years, you will have completed your full period of probation. In addition you have to spend eight centuries in research on your own behalf. Then, and only then, will you transcend the human sphere.”

            “Pray, sir,” Dongbin asked, “when will my transformation take place?”

            “Only after three thousand years of meritorious service will you be restored to the state of your original physical purity.”

            “Alas!” Dongbin exclaimed, changing color with vexation. “With the prospect of having to wait three thousand years, how can I maintain my zeal for such a time?”

            “Your courage,” his mentor assured him with a smile, “will carry you not only over the three millennia but also over the additional eight centuries. Have no doubt!”

            Thereupon he took Dongbin to the Crane Ridge and imparted to him the most profound truths and deepest mysteries of the Tao, including the secret methods of Numinous Treasure. He also presented him with a few grains of the cinnabar elixir.

            While teacher and disciple were thus engaged, two immortals appeared. Each reverently held a golden tablet, the emblem of office, in their hands.

            They announced to Master Cloudchamber: “The Celestial Emperor summons you to serve as the guardian of the Golden Towers in the Ninth Heaven.”

            Master Cloudchamber immediately climbed into the cloudy carriage provided for him, and gradually the entourage vanished into the open sky.

            Dongbin in due course succeeded in mastering the Tao as taught by Master Cloudchamber. He also perfected the magic sword techniques he had received from Master Firedragon. Then he took to wandering along the banks of the Yangtze and Huai rivers.

            He put the power of his magical two-edged sword to the test by ridding the country of the inundations wrought by a nasty waterdragon. He could become invisible to human eyes and transform his shape at will.

            For over four hundred years he constantly journeyed around the country, visiting places as far apart as Henan and Hunan, Zhejiang and Shensi. Nobody ever recognized him. He used to call himself the Man Who Returned to the Tao [Hui Daoren].

END

From Livia Kohn, The Taoist Experience, 1993, pp. 126-132.

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A Fourth Century Taoist Poem

Rhapsody on Roaming the Celestial Terrace Mountains

  

            Sun Chuo (314-371)                                                   

                                                                                              

(Translated by David Knechtges, Wen xuan, or Selections of Refined Literature, Volume 2, [Princeton University Press, 1987] pp. 243-253.)

            I

The Celestial Terrace Mountains indeed are the divine eminence of all mounts and peaks. Cross the sea and there will be Fangzhang and Penglai. Climb the plateaus and there will be the Four Luminaries and Celestial Terrarce. All are places where mystic sages roam and transform themselves, sites of the grotto dwellings of sacred immortals. In their form of towering pinnacles, and the goodliness of their fair omens, they possess all the precious wealth of mountains and seas, contain the grandest beauty of man or god. As for the reasons they are not ranked among the Five Peaks, and lack a notice in the standard canons, could it be because the place they stand is dark and obscure, and the road to them secluded and remote? Or is it because they cast their shadows into the layered depths, or hide their peaks among a thousand ranges? One begins by traversing the paths of sprites and goblins, and ends by treading a realm devoid of men. In the whole world there are few who can ascend or scale them, and among the kings, none has observed devout offering there. Thus, accounts about them are omitted from ordinary documents, and their name is signaled only in exotic records. Yet, the flourishing of charts and illustrations, how could this be fanciful? If one is not a man who abandons the world to “play with the Tao,” who shuns grains to dine on mushrooms, how can he levitate in order to dwell in them? Unless one “confers himself afar” and “darkly explores,” steadfastly and sincerely communes with the gods, how dare he presume to preserve them in distant imaginings? The reason I gallop my spirit and turn my thoughts over and over, sing by day and rise at night, is that in the space of a nod, it seems I have already ascended them twice. Now I shall release my ropes and bonds, and forever entrust myself to these peaks. Being unable to bear the extremes of recitation aloud and silent thought, I shall resort to literary elegance to dispel my feeling:

            II

            The Grand Void, vast and wide, unhindered,

            Propels sublime Existence, which is naturally so.

            Melting, it forms rivers and waterways;

            Coalescing, it forms mountains and hills.

            Ah, the wondrous protrusion of Terrace Peaks,                           

            Verily things upheld by the gods!

            Sheltered by the Oxherd, which illumines their crests,

            Resting upon numinous Yue, which squares their base,

            They set roots broader than those of Hua and Dai,

            Point straight up, taller than the Jiuyi.                                           

            They match “the counterpart of Heaven” of the “Tang Canon,”

            Equal the “towering pinnacle” of the “Zhou Odes.”

            III

            So far is that trackless realm,

            So dark and deep, secluded and sequestered,

            Men of shallow knowledge, because of their guarded vision,

                        do not go there;                                                                           

            And or those who go, because the path is cut, none knows it well.

            Scorning the summer insect for doubting ice,

            I preen my light wings longing to soar.

            No Noumenon is so obscure to remain ever unmanifest;

            By unfolding their dual wonders they show their auspice:              

            Scarlet Wall, rising like rosy clouds, stands as a guidepost;

            The Cascade, spraying and flowing, delimits the way.

            IV

            Seeing these numinous signs, I resolve to go on;

            Suddenly I begin to move.

            I meet plumed men on Cinnabar Hill,                                                

            Search for the blessed chambers of immonality.

            As long as the Terrace range can be scaled,

            Why yearn for the Storied City?

            Released from the constant cravings of the “realm-within,”

            Cheered by the exalted feeling of transcendency,                              

            I don wooly homespun, all furry and fleecy,

            Wield a metal staff, jingling and jangling.

            I push through a murky mass of wild thickets,

            Scale the soaring steepness of scarps and cliffs, 

            Ford You Stream and straightway advance,                                    

            Cross the Five Boundaries and swiftly push on.

            Straddling the vaulted Hanging Ledge,

            I look down into absolute darkness, a myriad fathoms below.

            I tread slippery stones covered with moss,

            Cling to Azure Screen that wall-like stands,                      

            Grasp the long fig creepers on bending trees,

            Snatch flying stalks of trailing grape.

            Though once imperiled at the brink,

            I shall exist forever in eternal life.

            As long as I steadfastly plight my faith to the Hidden Darkness,    

            I can tread the layered steepness and find it smooth.

            V

            Once I successfully scale the nine switchbacks,

            I find the road straight and smooth, long and clear.

            I indulge in the vast clarity of mind and eye,

            Give free rein to the relaxed ease of slowly pacing.                            

            Spreading tender grasses, lush and luxuriant,

            Shaded by tall pines, stalwart and stately,

            I view the graceful gliding of soaring simurghs,

            Hear the concordant chorusing of singing phoenixes.

            Once I cross the Numinous Stream and wash myself,                      

            I purge vexatious thoughts from mind and breast,

            Cleanse the residual dust in its whirling flow,

            Expel the haunting gloom of the Five Hindrances.

            I pursue the vanished tracks of Xi and Nong,

            Tread the dark trail of the Two Laos.                   

            VI

            I climb up and down for one night, two nights,

            Until I reach the City of Immortals.

            Twin gateways, thrusting into the clouds, flank the road,

            Carnelian terraces, mid-sky, hang overhead,

            Vermilion pavilions stand lucent and lustrous through the woods,    

            Jade halls dimly shine from high nooks.

            Rose clouds, streaked and striped, glide into lattices;

            The dazzling sun fulgently flares through silken filigree.

            Eight Cinnamon, thick and tall, brave the frost;

            Five Polypores, laden with blooms, unfold at dawn.                          

            Gentle breezes store fragrance in sunny groves,

            Sweet springs bubble and burble from shady moats,

            The Standing Tree erases shadows for a thousand xun,

            Gem trees, glittering and gleaming, hang with pearls.

            Wang Qiao, driving a crane, pierces the sky;                          

            “Correspondents-to-truth,” their staves flying, tread the void.

            Galloping with the swift speed of spiritual transformation,

            Suddenly they emerge from Existence and enter Non-existence.

            VII

            And then

            When my sightseeing completes its circuit,

            My body is calm, my heart is at ease.                              

            What “harms the horses” has been expelled,

            Worldly affairs all are rejected.

            Wherever I cast my blade it is always hollow;

            I eye the ox but not as a whole.

            I focus my thoughts on secluded cliffs,                             

            Clearly chant by long streams.

            Then,

            When Xihe reaches the meridian,

            The coursing vapors are lifted high.

            Dharma drums, booming, spread their sounds;

            Various incenses fragrantly waft their fumes.                              

            Now we shall pay our respects to the Celestially-venerated,

            And assemble the immorral hosts.

            I ladle the black jade oil,

            Rinse my mouth in Floriate Pond springs.

            Inspired by the doctrine of “beyond images,”                          

            Illumined by the texts on “non-origination,”

            I become aware that I have not completely dismissed Existence,

            And realize that there are interruptions in the passage to Non-existence.

            I destroy Form and Emptiness, blending them into one;

            Suddenly I proceed to Existence where I attain the Mystery.             

            I release the two names that come from a common source,

            Dissolve the Three Banners to a single Non-existence.

            All day long giving oneself to conversation’s delights,

            Is the same as the still silence of not speaking.

            I merge the myriad phenomena in mystic contemplation,          

            Unconciously join my body with the Naturally-so.

END

Hexagram Name Comparisons - Alphabetically by Pinyin

Here is a list of hexagram names arranged alphabetically by their Pinyin spelling. 49 of the 64 names are rendered differently in Pinyin and Wade-Giles, and therefore offer a way of comparing how the two systems differ. 

#	Graph	Pinyin	Wade-Giles
22	賁	Bì	Pi
8	比	Bǐ	Pi
23	剝	Bō	Po
45	萃	Cuì	Ts’ui
26	大 畜	Dà chù	Ta Ch’u
28	大 過	Dà guò	Ta Kuo
14	大 有	Dà yǒu	Ta Yu
34	大 壯	Dà zhuàng	Ta Chuang
50	鼎	Dǐng	Ting
58	兌	Duì	Tui
33	遯	Dùn	Tun
49	革	Gé	Ko
52	艮	Gěn	Ken
44	姤	Gòu	Kou
18	蠱	Gǔ	Ku
43	夬	Guài	Kuai
20	觀	Guān	Kuan
54	歸 妹	Guī mèi	Kuei Mei
63	既 濟	Jì jì	Chi Chi
37	家人	Jiā rén	Chia Jen
53	漸	Jiàn	Chien
39	蹇	Jiǎn	Chien
60	節	Jié	Chieh
40	解	Jiě	Chieh
35	晉	Jìn	Chin
48	井	Jǐng	Ching
29	坎	Kǎn	K’an
38	睽	Kuí	K’ui
47	困	Kùn	K’un
2	坤	Kūn	K’un
36	明 夷	Míng yí	Ming I
1	乾	Qián	Ch’ien
15	謙	Qiān	Ch’ien
7	師	Shī	Shih
21	噬 嗑	Shì hé	Shih Ho
6	訟	Sòng	Sung
11	泰	Tài	T’ai
13	同 人	Tóng rén	T’ung Jen
3	屯	Zhūn	Chun
64	未 濟	Wèi jì	Wei Chi
31	咸	Xián	Hsien
9	小 畜	Xiǎo chù	Hsiao Ch’u
62	小 過	Xiǎo guò	Hsiao Kuo
5	需	Xū	Hsü
27	頤	Yí	I
42	益	Yì	I
16	豫	Yù	Yü
51	震	Zhèn	Chen
61	中 孚	Zhōng fú	Chung Fu