Ch'ien / The Creative
above: Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
below: Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
The first hexagram is made up of six unbroken lines. These unbroken
lines stand for the primal power, which is light-giving, active,
strong, and of the spirit. The hexagram is consistently strong in
character, and since it is without weakness, its essence is power or
energy. Its image is heaven. Its energy is represented as unrestricted
by any fixed conditions in space and is therefore conceived of as
motion. Time is regarded as the basis of this motion. Thus the hexagram
includes also the power of time and the power of persisting in time,
that is, duration.
The power represented by the hexagram is to be interpreted in a dual
sense in terms of its action on the universe and of its action on the
world of men. In relation to the universe, the hexagram expresses the
strong, creative action of the Deity. In relation to the human world,
it denotes the creative action of the holy man or sage, of the ruler or
leader of men, who through his power awakens and develops their higher
nature.
The Judgement
THE CREATIVE works sublime success,
Furthering through perseverance.
According to the original meaning, the attributes [sublimity,
potentiality of success, power to further, perseverance] are paired.
When an individual draws this oracle, it means that success will come
to him from the primal depths of the universe and that everything
depends upon his seeking his happiness and that of others in one way
only, that is, by perseverance in what is right.
The specific meanings of the four attributes became the subject of
speculation at an early date. The Chinese word here rendered by
"sublime" means literally "head," "origin," "great." This is why
Confucius says in explaining it: "Great indeed is the generating power
of the Creative; all beings owe their beginning to it. This power
permeates all heaven." For this attribute inheres in the other three as
well.
The beginning of all things lies still in the beyond in the form of
ideas that have yet to become real. But the Creative furthermore has
power to lend form to these archetypes of ideas. This is indicated in
the word success, and the process is represented by an image from
nature: "The clouds pass and the rain does its work, and all individual
beings flow into their forms."
Applied to the human world, these attributes show the great man the way
to notable success: "Because he sees with great clarity and cause and
effects, he completes the six steps at the right time and mounts toward
heaven on them at the right time, as though on sic dragons." The six
steps are the six different positions given in the hexagram, which are
represented later by the dragon symbol. Here it is shown that the way
to success lies in apprehending and giving actuality to the way of the
universe [Tao], which, as a law running through end and beginning,
brings about all phenomena in time. Thus each step attained forthwith
becomes a preparation for the next. Time is no longer a hindrance but
the means of making actual what is potential.
The act of creation having found expression in the two attributes
sublimity and success, the work of conservation is shown to be a
continuous actualization and differentiation of form. This is expressed
in the two terms "furthering" (literally, "creating that which accords
with the nature of a given being") and "persevering" (literally,
"correct and firm"). "The course of the Creative alters and shapes
beings until each attains its true, specific nature, then it keeps them
in conformity with the Great Harmony. Thus does it show itself to
further through perseverance."
In relation to the human sphere, this shows how the great man brings
peace and security to the world through his activity in creating order:
"He towers high above the multitude of beings, and all lands are united
in peace."
Another line of speculation goes still further in separating the words
"sublime," "success," "furthering," "perseverance," and parallels them
with the four cardinal virtues in humanity. To sublimity, which, as the
fundamental principle, embraces all the other attributes, it links
love. To the attribute success are linked the morals, which regulate
and organize expressions of love and thereby make them successful. The
attribute furthering is correlated with justice, which creates the
conditions in which each receives that which accords with his being,
that which is due him and which constitutes his happiness. The
attribute perseverance is correlated with wisdom, which discerns the
immutable laws of all that happens and can therefore bring about
enduring conditions. These speculations, already broached in the
commentary called Wên Yen , later formed the bridge connecting
the philosophy of the "five stages (elements) of change," as laid down
in the Book of History (Shu Ching) with the philosophy of the Book of
Changes, which is based solely on the polarity of positive and negative
principles. In the course of time this combination of the two systems
of thought opened the way for an increasingly intricate number
symbolism.
The Image
The movement of heaven is full of power.
Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.
Since there is only one heaven, the doubling of the trigram Ch'ien, of
which heaven is the image, indicates the movement of heaven. One
complete revolution of heaven makes a day, and the repetition of the
trigram means that each day is followed by another. This creates the
idea of time. Since it is the same heaven moving with untiring power,
there is also created the idea of duration both in and beyond time, a
movement that never stops nor slackens, just as one day follows another
in an unending course. This duration in time is the image of the power
inherent in the Creative.
With this image as a model, the sage learns how best to develop himself
so that his influence may endure. He must make himself strong in every
way, by consciously casting out all that is inferior and degrading.
Thus he attains that tirelessness which depends upon consciously
limiting the fields of his activity.